Rounding out the top five leisure time activities are computer activities, which has risen from seven percent to nine percent and going to the movies, which has dropped from 10 percent to seven percent.

These are some of the results of a Harris Poll of 1,052 U.S. adults surveyed by telephone by Harris Interactive ^® between October 16 and 23, 2007.

Biggest Changes Since 1995

Besides the large changes from 2004, there are also major changes since this survey was first started in 1995. The largest increases in popularity in 12 years are computer activities, perhaps not surprisingly as new technologies have increased (up seven points from 2% to 9%), watching sporting events (up four points), exercise (up three points) and crafts (up three points).

The biggest declines in popularity over the last 12 years are in T.V. watching (down seven points), sewing/crocheting (down five points), entertaining (down four points) and swimming (down four points). With the current writer ’s strike impacting the television season, and potentially turning more people away from TV as their favorite shows go into reruns, this downturn in TV watching must be a concern to the studio executives.

Hours Working and Available for Leisure

The number of hours spent working (including housekeeping and studying) dropped from a median of 50 hours in 2004 to a median of 45 hours this year. This is the first time it has been this low since 1975 when it was at 43 hours.

The number of hours available for leisure per week has not changed much since 2004. Currently it is 20 hours and in 2004 it was 19 hours.