The bar chart compares the percentage of men and women who did seven different leisure activities in England.
Overall, women were considerably more likely than men to shop, whereas men showed a clear preference for using the internet and, lesser extent, playing computer games, doing sport, reading. Watching TV and spending time with family were were the activities that attracted broadly similar proportions of the two sexes.
The widest gender gaps oocured in shopping and using the internet. Half of all men used the internet, more than the figure for women, at just 40% . Shopping showed the reserve pattern: almost 75% of women shopped for pleasure, compared with only 30%of men. Playing computer games was also far more popular among men, at around 15% against 10%.
The remaining four activities were more evenly balanced. Slightly more men than women watched TV, at 80% compared with 78%, whilst spending time with family was taken up by almost identical proportions – 78% of women and 76% of men. Slightly fewer women than men did exercise, at approximately 72% compared with exactly 75%. In adittion, both genders registered a slightly different percentage in reading, with men 74% compared with 71% – making it the most comparable activity of the seven.