Compared to other Europeans, Italians do not have much free time, especially women who are next to last for having time off, a new report has found.
Based on data from Italy's national statistics bureau Istat, the study concluded that Italian women between the ages of 20 and 74 have only four hours and eight minutes of time for themselves a week.
This placed them on the same level with French women and only above their counterparts in Lithuania when it came to time off. Lithuanian women have only three hours 40 minutes a week for themselves. Italian men have an hour more time than women and this places them above the French, four hours 46 minutes, Latvians, four hours 48 minutes and Lithuanians, four hours
50 minutes.
According to the study, women have less free time because of their home duties while men spend more time at the job. In its sector dedicated to how people spend their free time, the study found that watching TV was the most popular activity for Italians and all Europeans.
Watching TV was the first choice of 39.8% of those interviewed, while 23.4% indicated socialising and 12.6% replied sports or outdoor activities.
While a total of 29% of those interviewed said they read in their spare time - newspapers, magazines and books - women said they dedicated only 7.7% of their free time to this activity, while men 7.4%.
The study was based on interviews taken from some 21,000 families, for a total of around 56,000 people, in 2002 and 2003.
