Senior women and men spend their time in different ways

This table displays the results of Participation rate and time spent on selected activities Participation rate, Average time spent (participants), Men (ref.) and Women, calculated using percent, minutes and hours units of measure (appearing as column headers).
	Participation rate		Average time spent (participants)
	Men (ref.)	Women	Men (ref.)	Women	Men (ref.)	Women
	percent		minutes		hours
Paid work	13	6	398	343	6.6	5.7
Unpaid household work	83	91	177	209	2.9	3.5
Meal preparation	61	76	78	91	1.3	1.5
Indoor cleaning	33	68	75	122	1.2	2.0
Outdoor cleaning/maintenance	30	10	166	99	2.8	1.7
Other unpaid work	28	34	86	80	1.4	1.3
Shopping for goods and services	36	39	82	87	1.4	1.4
Active pursuits	75	77	213	209	3.6	3.5
Engaging in civic, religious and organizational activities	8	10	119	131	2.0	2.2
Socializing and communicating	37	46	135	135	2.2	2.2
Engaging in cultural activities	3	4	138	156	2.3	2.6
Engaging in leisure and physical activities	44	39	132	133	2.2	2.2
Using technology	30	27	129	110	2.1	1.8
Passive leisure activities	92	89	291	276	4.9	4.6
Watching television or videos	87	82	255	235	4.2	3.9
Listening to music and radio	6	3	104	109	1.7	1.8
Reading	35	41	119	119	2.0	2.0
Sleeping	100	100	542	544	9.0	9.1
Source: Statistics Canada, General Social Survey, 2015.

Senior women and men spend their time in different ways. This suggests that gender differences in paid and domestic work persist among seniors, even though they have generally transitioned out of employment and parental roles. For example, the participation rate for paid work among senior men (i.e., the proportion of persons who reported having done an activity on an average day) was 13% versus 6% for senior women.

There are also differences in unpaid household work. The participation rate for senior women was 91% versus 83% for senior men. Further examination of unpaid household work showed differences in the participation rates for certain activities. For example, senior women are two times more likely than senior men (68% versus 33%) to do some indoor cleaning during the day, and they are also more likely to engage in meal preparation than their male counterparts (76% versus 61%). At the same time, women aged 65 and over reported spending, on average, significantly more time on these activities. For instance, senior women spent an average of 47 more minutes per day on indoor cleaning and 13 more minutes on meal preparation.