Have you ever wondered whether your household differs from the household of the average Dutch person? The Dutch have certain ingrained customs that differ from the customs of people in other countries. Our mealtimes are such an ingrained habit. Dutch people have dinner quite early. Furthermore, the internet and the use of social media are fully established in the Netherlands, more so than in countries where the internet is less accessible and where in many places you still have to dial up with a modem to access the internet.
To eat
Dutch people are gradually eating later and later. Yet mealtimes remain unchanged in most households. Lunch takes place around 12:30 PM and dinner in most families around 6:00 PM. The Dutch usually eat meat for their dinner, although we have gradually started eating less meat, and we would rather not do without it.
Household chores
The average Dutch person spends two hours and forty-five minutes per day on housework. The peak in household activities is at the beginning of the evening, which is logical because that is when the food is cooked and the dishwasher is loaded. Sunday has become a cleaning day in dual-income households, although in 2015, despite emancipation, women generally spend more time on housework.
Dutch people are increasingly doing their shopping after 6 p.m. Currently this is just under thirty percent of Dutch people and this percentage is slowly increasing. Most shopping is still done on Friday and Saturday.
Leisure activity
We spend less and less of our free time on hobbies and social contacts. The average Dutch person spends 9.1 hours per week on social contacts. In addition to visiting , this also includes telephone calls and conversations with the partner. We spend
an average of 6.1 hours per week on hobbies . A good thing is the increasing time that Dutch people spend on sports. The average Dutch person exercises 2.6 hours per week. This also includes walking and cycling.
The Dutch spend the vast majority of their free time on media use. After eight, most Dutch people hang out at home in front of the TV, with or without a snack and a tablet/mobile phone at hand. In addition, at least one hour per day is spent on the Internet. This results in 18.9 hours of media use per week.
Going out, which also includes eating out or sitting on a terrace, costs the average Dutch person 2.7 hours of time per week. To get somewhere, you also have to travel. On the way to an entertainment venue, friends and family : it costs the average Dutch person 3.5 hours of travel per week.
Care tasks, church and volunteer work
The Dutch are leaders in this in Europe. We spend an average of 1.8 hours per person on this per week. Despite the individualization of society, the Dutch are socially involved.
What do we do on the weekend?
During the weekend, time is often set aside for walking, cycling, fun shopping and eating out. Walking and cycling often happen as a family or with friends. In recent years, fun shopping and eating out have become less and less. The causes for this are the crisis, which means that people have less money to spend and the convenience of ordering from the comfort of your home. Online shopping, home delivery and takeaway meals are gaining in popularity at the expense of fun shopping and eating out. Furthermore, family and friends are visited at the weekend and time is spent on sports activities. Sleeping is also a weekend activity. Thanks to sleeping in at the weekend, we still get an average of eight hours of sleep per day.
Mobility
On average, Dutch people travel about an hour and a half every day for work. We often spend long periods of time in the car, even on weekends. This means we travel more and longer than other Europeans.
Dutch people abroad
It is remarkable that Dutch people have more free time abroad. Research below often shows what these Dutch people do in this extra free time. It would be much more interesting to investigate the underlying cause. Why do emigrated Dutch people suddenly have more free time? Anyone who has ever moved over a greater distance knows that integration also takes time and energy, so it seems unlikely that more free time is caused by less time spent on social contacts.