United States: time spent on games rose 150%; reading and socialising fell
In 2025 the average person aged 15+ played games for 24 minutes a day (10 in 2003), read for 16 (22) and socialised for 31 (41).
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Mean time for all people aged 15+, including those who did not play or read that day. “Games” in this survey include board games, cards and puzzles, not only video games.
One percentage scale relative to 2003: 0% is the starting value, +100% is a doubling, −50% is a halving. Lines show the yearly path; on a short screen, bars show the change to 2025. Equal distances mean equal relative changes. For shares, this is relative change, not percentage points. Gaps are not filled; original values and units are below.
- Playing games: time per day hours per day, people aged 15+
0.16 (2003) → 0.4 (2025)
- Reading for personal interest: time per day hours per day, people aged 15+
0.36 (2003) → 0.27 (2025)
- Socializing and communicating: time per day hours per day, people aged 15+
0.68 (2003) → 0.52 (2025)
Start: 2003; end: the latest year up to 2025 with every series (2025). Published values, no gap filling or smoothing. Thresholds select a story and do not establish statistical significance.
ATUS time-diary survey (US); no causal model. A comparable full 2020 series is unavailable.
A question for this picture
How does socialising time change alongside games and reading?