Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe WASHINGTON, Sept. 23 (UPI) -- For the first time in almost 30 years, the number of hours Americans spent working has dropped sharply, a forthcoming Harris poll shows. Every year at this time, the pollsters ask people how much time they spend working, how much time they have for leisure, and what their pastimes are. Work includes school, keeping house, studying and commuting. In most years, the numbers don't change very much, Harris Interactive Chairman Humphrey Taylor wrote in a summary. Advertisement Taylor attributed the drop to a weakening of the economy and the end of the boom years of the 1990s, which saw a record number of hours worked. From 1973 to 1980, the number of hours spent working, broadly defined, rose from 41 to 47 hours per week. It then rose slowly to 51 hours in 1994, and dropped back to 50 in 1998, where it stayed through 2001. This year the median number of hours worked has fallen to the 1980 level of 47. People's estimates have not changed as to the number of hours they have available for relaxation, watching television, taking part in sports or hobbies, etc. This year's median estimate of 20 leisure hours per week is typical of a longstanding pattern. The number has not been higher than 20 or lower than 19 since 1989. Advertisement However, another peculiarity of this year's figures is that the number of people who say that watching television is one of their favorite activities has fallen sharply, from 20 percent last year to 15 percent now. The largest number of respondents, 26 percent, listed reading as one of their favorite leisure activities. In order of preference, the top 10 leisure activities are reading, watching TV, spending time with family (11 percent), fishing (8 percent), gardening (8 percent), playing team sports (7 percent), going to movies (6 percent), swimming (5 percent), golf (5 percent) and socializing with friends or neighbors (5 percent). The results were obtained from a nationwide telephone survey of 1,011 adults from Aug. 15 to Aug. 19. The poll will be released Wednesday.
