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Revealed: what we are doing the most during lockdown
Data shows that people have been enjoying gardening, getting more sleep and watching TV furing lockdown. Picture: Getty Images/iStockphoto - Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto
The amount of time bingeing TV, doing DIY and gardening has shot up during lockdown, new figures have revealed.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has analysed how adults spent their time between March 28 and April 26 in comparison to figures from a previous study between April 2014 and December 2015.
It showed on average the population spent an extra 18 minutes sleeping or resting.
The most popular lockdown activity was watching TV or streaming videos, which took up two hours and 53 minutes a day - higher than any other activity including reading (28 minutes a day), playing games (26 minutes) and 16 minutes a day contacting friends and family via phone or messaging services.
More: What you can and can’t do as lockdown rules are easedTime spent gardening increased by 147pc following more people taking up DIY and gardening, with the average adult spending 39 minutes a day on a task.
On average a person spent 83 minutes eating and drinking and just under an hour a day cooking or doing washing up.
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However, the ONS figures show the levels of free time varied based on a household’s income.
Those on monthly household incomes up to £1,700 reported an extra 19 minutes a day on average for entertainment, socialising and other free time, compared with an increase of 46 minutes for those on £1,700 to £3,300.
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The ONS said this may indicate that those in lower-income households were in occupations that could not be undertaken from home.
More: The shops and services that can now reopen from June 15Previous data showed 30.5pc of employees in the bottom three income categories (earning up to £1,450 per month) were considered as key workers in comparison to those earning more than £3,250 per month, which equated to 26.4pc considered key workers.
The new data also showed time spent on childcare rose by more than one-third, but for those over 60 had plummeted by 90pc as a result of shielding and social distancing measures.
The ONS figures found men with children increased their amount of childcare by 58pc, undertaking 15 minutes less a day than women. The levels of childcare also varied based on a child’s age.
On average the amount of time spent caring for a child aged under eight years was four hours five minutes for women and two hours 50 minutes for men.
The ONS has released data on how adults have spent their time in lockdown. Picture: Getty Images/iStockphoto/Maria Symchych-Navrotska - Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto
Agree or disagree? Share your thoughts in our poll of the five things you have done more of during lockdown.
