Women do needlework and men do DIY projects. Women enjoy reading a book, men prefer going to the pub. Women invite friends over and men expect to be waited on. Little seems to have changed in the leisure activities of Germans: the vast majority cling to the traditional image of women. Even if a shift in the female role is becoming apparent among minority groups, the reality in German families is quite different: since housework and childcare are still largely left to women, working women in particular have too little time for personal development. This is the conclusion of a large-scale study by the BAT Leisure Research Institute in Hamburg, which has now been published as Volume 9 of its series on leisure research.
The research, based on a qualitative preliminary study with group discussions and a representative survey of 2,000 people aged 14 and over, focuses on the personal lives and leisure activities of housewives and working women. What do women perceive as leisure time? How much leisure time do they actually have? How important are marriage, family, and partnership in their leisure time? The study also investigated the influence women have on family leisure activities and how they see themselves in relation to men.

Do more in less time

Shorter working hours, more vacation time, fewer children – all of this should theoretically lead to more leisure time. However, compared to the 1950s, these trends have not resulted in more free time for women. Even today, almost two-thirds of women (62 %) still have to do housework on Saturdays – more than over thirty years ago. In 1957, 56 percent were occupied with washing, ironing, and similar tasks on weekends. Modern household appliances are not providing the hoped-for time savings. While washing with a machine is easier, it also means that more laundry is done, and more frequently.
In the past, there were fixed days for washing or ironing; today, many tasks can and are done sporadically. The result: Housewives objectively work more, but subjectively feel they accomplish less. Women today do more in the same amount of time than their mothers did thirty years ago.
This also applies to leisure activities. Since the day only has 24 hours, leisure-time stress is commonplace in German households: many leisure activities are done in a fast-food style or simultaneously. People read, eat, or talk on the phone while watching television.

Working women have the least free time

Germans have an average of 4.1 hours of leisure time per day. Housewives have 12 minutes more than average, while working men have 18 minutes less. Working women, however, have just under 3 hours of leisure time per day. These women are therefore the ones who complain the most about having too little free time: 60 percent of them are dissatisfied with the limited time they have. The situation is reversed for housewives: 58 percent are satisfied, and 19 percent even complain about having too much free time.
Furthermore, working women are forced to manage their free time particularly economically. They distinguish between time off work, which is needed for housework and possibly childcare, family time for shared activities, and personal time that they can use entirely for themselves.

However, since working women often use their limited free time more intensively, and most housewives prioritize other aspects of their lives, working women are not necessarily happier or less satisfied with their leisure time. For the latter, marriage, children, and family come first, while for working women, partnership, friends, and career take precedence. With employment, one's entire life orientation shifts. Family and children become less important.

Leisure individualism versus family

When deciding for or against children and family, the question of remaining free time plays a major role. A study by Hamburg leisure researchers shows that the younger the respondents, the more their focus shifts away from family and towards leisure. While this tendency towards leisure-oriented selfishness is slightly more pronounced among men, a full 70 percent of all singles believe that family life doesn't leave them enough time for their leisure activities. The number of young people for whom personal leisure interests are more important than marriage and starting a family is increasing. 
The scientific director of the BAT Leisure Research Institute, Prof. Dr. Horst W. Opaschowski, summarizes the trend as follows: "Those who forgo children and family today want to keep all their options open, not restrict their own freedom, and not have their personal leisure time impaired." Opaschowski sees a danger of a childless leisure culture in the future.

Is everything the same in your free time?

While women's emancipation has certainly achieved a great deal, its impact hasn't extended to leisure time. A study by the BAT Leisure Research Institute demonstrates this with surprising clarity. Typical male and typically female leisure activities still exist. The survey reveals that attending sporting events remains a male domain, while shopping trips are still women's favorite pastime. What one gender thinks of the other, however, does reflect reality when it comes to leisure time.
Even in upbringing, change is only becoming apparent slowly. Girls are still most likely to be raised to fulfill a dual role, expected to master their traditional feminine profession and acquire traditional masculine skills. Boys are less often expected to possess such dual competence.

Versatile leisure management as a main and secondary occupation

Women are the great organizers of leisure activities. That hasn't changed either. Men behave like leisure-time chauvinists; everything has to be done for them, and they aren't even dissatisfied with their passive role.

„"Within the family, I'm the one who initiates things." This constant role of initiator is not only exhausting for women, but also fraught with conflict. Partner and children's desires have to be reconciled, and the constant "no" and "I don't feel like it" can really get on people's nerves.
And the woman is usually solely responsible for maintaining their shared circle of friends. Women are generally more socially engaged anyway. Prof. Opaschowski: "Men may feel responsible for social honor and social revolutions, but they leave social work to women.".

Great but rare: The new woman

More than women's everyday lives, the public image of women has changed. A shift in the female role is becoming apparent – albeit only among minorities. But change always begins in the minority. The vast majority clings to the traditional image of women. The new woman, who manages to juggle children, career, and a balanced partnership, who strives more for self-realization than for pristine appearances – this superwoman is certainly not a reflection of today's reality, but rather an idealized model for the future.