This was forwarded to me by my daughter, who's apparently already old enough to be skeptical of (still-working) journalists preaching about retirement:
How retirees spend their days- MSN Money
Hey, I prefer to think of it as "keeping up with current events", not "leisure computer use"...
How retirees spend their days- MSN Money
Many people dream about how they will spend the eight or more extra hours per day they will have once they no longer need to go to work. However, Americans between ages 65 and 74 spend only about 1.7 more hours per day on leisure activities than the population as a whole, according to the most recent American Time Use Survey, released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics last week.
Instead, most older Americans spend their extra free time lingering slightly longer over everyday activities like meals and household chores, and they watch considerably more TV than the population as a whole.
How Americans age 65 to 74 spend their day in hours (Results for the total population age 15 and older are in parenthesis.)
* Personal care activities (including sleep): 9.67 (9.47).
* Watching TV: 3.77 (2.52).
* Household activities: 2.41 (1.79).
* Eating and drinking: 1.42 (1.25).
* Working: 1.15 (3.50).
* Purchasing goods and services: 0.94 (0.75).
* Reading: 0.62 (0.29).
* Socializing: 0.59 (0.55).
* Relaxing and thinking: 0.55 (0.28).
* Organizational, civic and religious activities: 0.52 (0.35).
* Leisure computer use: 0.38 (0.39).
* Exercise: 0.31 (0.29).
* Caring for non-household members: 0.31 (0.21).
* Telephone calls, mail, and email: 0.23 (0.18).
* Caring for household members: 0.11 (0.51).
* Education activities: 0 (0.47).
Hey, I prefer to think of it as "keeping up with current events", not "leisure computer use"...