What people say. Each line is the weighted share of one survey's respondents, year by year, who gave an answer at or above the chosen frequency; don't-knows and blanks are left out. The three questionnaires line up on four cut points. 12+ a year is DDB and Data for Progress “12–24 times” or more, GSS “about once a month” or more. 25+ is DDB “25–51 times” or more, GSS “several times a month” or more (for worship, “2–3 times a month”). Weekly is DDB “52+ times”, GSS “once or twice a week” or more (worship: “nearly every week” or more). Never is “none” or “never”. The GSS asks “How often do you spend a social evening with relatives / with someone who lives in your neighborhood / with friends who live outside the neighborhood / at a bar or tavern?”; the DDB and Data for Progress ask how many times in the past 12 months the respondent “entertained people in my home”, “gave or attended a dinner party”, “played cards”, “finished reading a book”, “attended church or other place of worship” and “went to a bar or tavern”. The DDB asked “visited relatives” only in 1975–79.
Weights and samples. GSS shares use WTSSPS, the person post-stratification weight that the 2024 codebook recommends for analysis across 1972–2024 (WTSSALL ends in 2018 and WTSSNRPS begins in 2004, so neither spans the series). The GSS was in person until 2018; 2021 was fielded 87% by web, Dec 2020 to May 2021; 2022 and 2024 mixed web (46%, 53%) and in person. The SOC questions are asked of about two-thirds of respondents (ballots) from 1988. The DDB Life Style panel was a mail survey of married couples until 1984; single people were added from 1985 (the ▾ mark), which is why the “Married” view is the one consistent DDB sample. DDB recorded no age in 1980. Data for Progress gives only all adults, under 45 and 45+, and no marital split. Points resting on fewer than 100 respondents are dropped; hover any year for its n.
Minutes a day. American Time Use Survey respondents recount one day; each line is the weighted mean minutes per day (weight TUFNWGTP) over all diary days of people 18 and over, zeros included. Socializing is activity 1201xx (in person; phone calls are separate); social events 1202xx; worship 140101; reading 120312 (reading for personal interest, any material); games 120307; TV 120303–120304. Time with friends and time alone are BLS's own TRTFRIEND and TRTALONE, which leave out work in every year, so they are not affected by the 2010 change that began recording who was present during work. At home is time on activities located at home or in the yard; sleep and grooming have no location in ATUS and are not counted. 2020 is left out (no interviews from March to May). “Married” here means a spouse in the household.
Checks. The DDB 1975 shares computed here (hosting 42%, cards 39%, dinner parties 16%, finishing a book 37%, church 58%) and the Data for Progress 2026 topline sums (12%, 13%, 6%, 15%, 24%) reproduce the chart that prompted this page; the DDB 1995 “at least once” shares (entertained 88.2%, church 73.8%) match the 1995 figures Data for Progress quotes (88%, 74%). ATUS means for people 15 and over match BLS's published annual tables to within 0.01 hour (socializing and communicating, 2019: 38 minutes; 2024: 0.58 hours; TV 2024: 2.60 vs 2.61 hours).
This page illustrates survey history; it is not a forecast or advice. It is a companion to The Tail End, which uses the same time diaries.
Data built by scripts/build_data.py; the older diaries from scripts/build_ahtus.py.