Dads Get Way More Leisure Time Than Moms on Weekends

We’ve known for a long time that mothers spend more time on childcare and housework than fathers in general, but on the weekends, mom and dad should get an equal amount of leisure time, right?

Sadly—though perhaps unsurprisingly—for moms, that’s not how things usually go.

New analysis of Pew research shows that the “leisure gap” between fathers and mothers only gets bigger on the weekends. Though fathers and mothers have about the same amount of leisure time on weekdays (3.3 and 3.2 hours, respectively), dads get an hour more leisure time than moms on Saturdays and Sundays (5.5 hours, compared to a mother’s 4.5).

And that’s despite the fact that dads are spending more time on housework and childcare than they do during the week: dads spend an average 1.1 hours on chores on weekdays (compared to moms’ 2.4 hours) but 2.0 hours on weekends (compared to moms’ 2.8). They also spend 1.0 hours on childcare on weekdays (compared to moms’ 2.1), but 1.1 on weekends (compared to moms’ 1.5).

The moral of the story? Whether it’s the weekday or the weekend, dads need to spend less time on the golf course or watching TV and more time helping their wives take out the trash and play with the kids.