OF HOMELIFE R E P O R T

DOMINOS.CO.UK 2

CONTENTS

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

INFOGRAPHIC

BUSIER HOME LIVES

THE NEW RHYTHM OF THE WEEK

MEN AND WOMEN: GENDERED DOWNTIME

CONCLUSION: THE FUTURE OF DOWNTIME

PAGE 6

PAGE 3

PAGE 8

PAGE 12

PAGE 16

PAGE 18

1

0

2

3

4

5

DOMINOS.CO.UK 3

Having a drinkLiverpool (13%)

North London: Exercise (28%)

Leeds:Reading (41%)Exercise (24%)

Newcastle: Reading (42%)

DOMINOS 10:30 AM 22%

OVERALL

Half of us check our mobiles at least once an hour when we’re at home

More than a third of us check our mobiles at least every half hour 36%

50%

Almost one in five of us check our mobiles at least every 10-15 minutes

19%

OUR BUSY LIVES ARE BEING MADE BUSIER BY DIGITAL CHATTER WE CAN BE SOCIAL AND CONNECTED WHEREVER WE ARE (INCLUDING AT HOME)

DOMINOS 10:30 AM 22%

MEN AND WOMEN

Nearly a quarter of women check their mobile at least every 10-15 minutes, compared with 15% of men

Two-fifths of women check their mobile at least every half-hour, compared with 31% of men

15% 23%

41%31%

DOMINOS 10:30 AM 22%

AGE

Three-quarters (76%) of 18-24 year olds check their mobiles at home at least once every hour; more than a third (36%) check their mobiles at least every 10-15 minutes

This habit is less ingrained among older age groups: a third of 55-64s and almost half of 65+s say that it’s rare to check their mobile even once a day at home

But it isn’t just the youngest: nearly half (45%) of 35-44 year olds check their mobile at home at least every half hour

45%

50%

76%

AMOUNT OF TIME CURRENTLY SPENT

FAVOURITE CURRENT ACTIVITIES

WANTING TO SPEND MORE TIME ON

Playing computer games Cardiff (17%)

Newcastle spend just 13.8 hours a day at home

Nottingham: Reading (41%)Exercise (29%)

In South London just 5% spend intimate time with their partners

In Glasgow 18% spend some intimate time with their partners

Playing with petsNorwich (11%)

Norwich:Reading (41%)Exercise (30%)Baking (30%)South London:

Exercise (23%)Baking (19%)

Brighton residents spend 16.2 hours a day at home

Southampton: Exercise (32%)

Edinburgh: Baking (20%)

Dubin: Exercise (25%)

DOMINOS.CO.UK 4

OUR CHANGING HOME LIVES HAVE CREATED A

NEW RHYTHM OF THE WEEK

15% of people do work from home on average spending 4.5 hours

54% of people cook at home

25% use social media 33% browse the internet

12% play sport/exercise

People are most likely to clean the house on Saturdays (41%)

16% do personal grooming

21% spend time with their mobile

People spend longer on Thursdays setting up dates – 2.3 hours using a dating app

37% clean or tidy the house and 19% do clothes washing or ironing

40% of people watch recorded TV

CHOR

EMO

NDAY

CHILL

-OUT

TUES

DAY

DIGI

TAL

WED

NESD

AYLO

OK &

LOVE

THUR

SDAY

FEEL

GOO

DFR

IDAY

SUPE

RSA

TURD

AYF&

FSU

NDAY

(FOO

D AN

D FA

MILY

)

21%Do DIY

8%Shopping

from home

11%Play electronic

games

56%Watch live TV

18%Most likely to contact family

79%Eat food prepared

at home

16%Pamper

themselves

15%Look after children

22% People are most likely to drink alcohol at home

DOMINOS.CO.UK 5

DOMINOS.CO.UK 6

Downtime at home is a vital part of people’s lives. As this report reveals, consumers spend nearly 15 hours a day at home, but our at home leisure lives have not been researched in detail before now.

This report uses fresh data to understand how downtime at home has changed, how it is now, and how it will continue to evolve in the future. Technology is allowing the world to come into our homes in increasingly impactful ways, driving not only our leisure time but our ability to shop, work, bank and order food from the comfort of the sofa.

These changes mean that our home lives have changed significantly, and not all time at home is leisure time. Busier lives mean people find it more difficult to find moments of true relaxation, leading to a demand for genuine downtime in our lives – although the desire to cram as much in as possible means that a necessary balance is hard to strike. On average, UK consumers fit in 12.7 activities per day, meaning the challenge is not just to strike a balance between work and leisure, but all the different components of homelife.

D E R E G U L A T E D L I V E S

Deregulation refers to greater fluidity in our lives, with what we do less constrained by routine, by time of day, or by location. This deregulation has been brought about by a number of long term trends, including the prominence of technology, the erosion of traditional gender roles and changes to consumer legislation (such as Sunday Shopping or 24-hour drinking). This report focuses on what this means from an in-home point of view – while in the past work and home may have been distinct the boundaries are blurring. As technology allows us to live our entire lives from our living rooms, they are no longer places purely devoted to leisure and relaxation.

At the same time, the range of leisure activities possible at home is also expanding, with catch up TV, broadband, social media and gaming all mainstream additions to the living room. Not only are we doing more work at home, but we are loading up on leisure activities as well, creating a threat to our in-home downtime and driving a consumer desire to protect this time as much as possible.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY1

DOMINOS.CO.UK 7

T H E N E W R H Y T H M O F T H E W E E K

These changes have resulted in the week having a very different rhythm than it once did. The prominence of digital activities and communication, as well as the desire to cram as much into our weekends, has seen the advent of a new digital day (Wednesday), an exhausting do-it-all Saturday, and a midweek mini-weekend (Tuesday). While once the week may have been quiet to start before building up to a big weekend, now every evening is there to be lived.

These weekday evenings are getting later and later as we watch more TV and spend more time online later into the evening than before. This means we’re going to bed later too, which ultimately results in less sleep and greater fatigue during our downtime hours during the day.

@ H O M E B U R N O U TThis busyness at home is helping drive time pressure and creating the potential for burnout. With our living rooms now often devoted to work, or shopping, or social chatter there is less time for genuine relaxation – whether that’s in front of the TV, simply reading a book or a having a family meal. Our research shows that this – genuine downtime – is what we crave. Instead, as the world increasingly finds its way into our homes, true relaxation is a premium, rather than a given.

G E N U I N E D O W N T I M E I N 2 0 1 6

In many ways, genuine downtime remains the same thing it ever was: watching TV with family or a loved one, a quiet moment to read, or a family meal. But deregulation, social chatter and the desire to do more can make this difficult to achieve. These moments are no longer a guaranteed feature of our time at home, but instead are times to be carved out and created.

DOMINOS.CO.UK 8

In many ways the world is coming indoors as homes become more comfortable and connected technologies revolutionise our access to media, entertainment, news and information. Multi channel TV – now mainstream – gives us more choice of what to watch while the proliferation of on-demand gives consumers more control over when they watch it. The internet is no longer a new addition to our homes, but is accessible in new ways: on mobile, on TV or via connected devices and gives us access to content and entertainment on a scale never experienced before. Tasks that might previously have required leaving the home – banking, shopping, organising a trip – can now be done without leaving the sofa.

This change in the way we spend time indoors is related to a broader Deregulation of Life. This trend refers to our lives being less constrained by routine than before, in a way that permeates all aspects of behaviour – from the work life balance to gender roles. The result is that consumers have more control over what they do, where and when. While this can be enormously positive, it can also create time pressure.

The impact of the deregulation of life is particularly visible at home, simply because we spend so much time there – on average, we spend nearly 15 hours a day at home. The amount of leisure time we spend at home has been increasing steadily over the past few decades:

A In 1995, we spent 3.2 hours per day watching TV, listening to the radio or on ‘other leisure’ – by 2005 that had risen to 4 hours

A In the year 2000 the weekend peak for in home leisure was 20:40, when 49% of us were at home – by 2011 this had shifted to 21:40, and 55% were at home

A Fresh data shows that in 2015, we spend 14.7 hours per day at home

People are leading busier lives than previous generations: taking part in more activities and trying to fit more into their days and weeks. They are juggling work commitments, family time, social lives and leisure activities. And more and more of this juggling and time pressure is taking place in the home.

On average, adults in the UK and Ireland are now managing to fit 12.7 in-home activities into a typical day. These activities are a mix of socialising, household chores, grooming, work commitments, and leisure activities; and they involve both time spent with other people and time spent alone. Some activities are more pleasurable than others and, of course, there’s also the need to fit in some sleep!

Over the past 15 or 20 years, we have heard plenty of concerns about the so-called work/life balance: the challenges that many people face in juggling their work demands with wider family commitments and social lives. But our research suggests that many people also face a challenge to maintain a healthy home/life balance: that is, to ensure that enough of their time at home is spent in genuine downtime (relaxing and recharging their batteries) rather than feeling that home life is an extension of their busy, time-pressured working lives.

BUSIER HOME LIVES 2

DOMINOS.CO.UK 9

L E S S T I M E F O R S L E E P

The 14.7 hours at home each day includes time needed for sleep and there are indications that busy home lives are having an impact on the amount of sleep that people are getting. For instance, research by Trajectory suggests that TV and online activities are eating into our sleep time. People are giving over increased amount of their evenings, nights and early mornings to media consumption and this is happening at the expense of our sleep.

One reason we’re able to shift our downtime to later in the day is that work is starting later for more of us. Getting up later means we can enjoy more free time later in the evening:

A In 1974, 95% were asleep at 1:30am – but this had dropped by 10% to 85% by 2011

A Also in 1974, 28% of people were working at 9am… in 2011, this was only 17% (and 27% were asleep)

A Almost one in five (19%) are watching TV at 11pm (up from 15% in 2000); and almost one in ten (9%) are watching TV at midnight (up from 5% in 2000)

However, whilst we go to bed much later than we used to and are getting up later, we don’t make up enough of that lost sleep in the mornings, resulting in an overall squeeze on sleep.

D I G I T A L C H A T T E RThe increasing presence of smartphones, social media and broadband at home is also driving busier lives. The proliferation of new connected technologies greatly enhances our ability to be social wherever we are and at any time of the day. We also remain incredibly social creatures: our favourite downtime activity is itself a social one (watching TV with someone) and spending time with family and friends features highly in what we’d like to do more of in the future.

But the dominance of smartphones and virtual interactions is another strain on our ability to achieve genuine downtime. Distractions from social media alerts, calls and texts mean that true relaxation – watching TV or eating with our families or reading a book – can be interrupted. Many of us have our phones with us almost all the time – with women and the under 25s the most likely to be constantly connected. In fact, 23% women check their phone every 10-15 minutes, and 41% check their mobile at least once an hour.

A Nearly a quarter (23%) of women check their mobile at least every 10-15 minutes, compared with 15% of men

A Two-fifths (41%) of women check their mobile at least every half-hour, compared with 31% of men

A Half of us (50%) check our mobiles at least once an hour when we’re at home

A More than a third of us (36%) check our mobiles at least every half hour

A Almost one in five of us (19%) check our mobiles at least every 10-15 minutes

DOMINOS.CO.UK 10

A Three-quarters (76%) of 18-24 year olds check their mobiles at home at least once every hour; more than a third (36%) checking their mobiles at least every 10-15 minutes

A But it isn’t just the youngest: nearly half (45%) of 35-44 year olds check their mobile at home at least every half hour

A This habit is less ingrained among older age groups: a third of 55-64s and almost half of 65+s say that it’s rare to check their mobile even once a day at home

There is also evidence that real and virtual conversations are blurring, with significant numbers of people communicating digitally with people they live with. On a typical day, for example, 38% of people use their mobile to speak to someone that they live with; and 36% of people text someone that they live with. Even specific social or instant messaging channels have become important means of communication within the home for some UK consumers – 15% say they use WhatsApp and 12% say they use Facebook to communicate with people they live with on a daily basis. Rather than just being used when people are out and about, the mobile phone has become an ingrained aspect of many people’s home lives.

The conflict between digital chatter and the lack of real downtime is partly down to the way we use technology. The most important element is to balance real downtime with digital communication more effectively – allowing consumers to both take advantage of connectivity while still being able to relax when they need to.

T H E D E S I R E F O R G E N U I N E D O W N T I M EOur research suggests that fitting an increased number of activities into our home lives is creating a demand for more genuine downtime. We have an increased sense of being busy and under pressure at home, even when many of our activities are enjoyable and things that we want to do. We can end up feeling that we’ve haven’t had enough time to relax properly and recharge our batteries; that we haven’t been able to switch off fully from everyday demands on our time and attention.

When people are asked about the in-home activities that they’d like more time for, they are keen on activities that are relaxing and calming (e.g. reading, listening to music) or self-improving (e.g. physical exercise, baking) – rather than activities that are work-related or feel like chores or routines (e.g. cooking). These experiences are also less likely to be tech based – indicating a desire to put devices down when we want true relaxation.

A A third of people (34%) would like more time for reading books

A Almost a quarter of people (24%) would like more time for listening to music

A Almost a third of people (23%) would like more time for exercise

Across the UK, different cities have very different priorities for future downtime. In Brighton, for example, 22% would like more time for family meals, while 24% of consumers in Birmingham want to spending more time Gardening. In South London, almost 1 in 5 people say they’d like to spend more time Baking (19%), while 26% of those in Dublin would like to spend more time exercising.

DOMINOS.CO.UK 11

Watching TV (whether live or catch-up) remains a key activity for many households. It serves a double purpose as an activity that is relaxing but also sociable: we can share the experience with partners, family and friends. 15% of people say that they would most welcome additional time to watch TV with others.

Reading also emerges particularly strongly as the downtime activity we’d most like to do more of. One element of this may be the desire for digital-free experiences in response to the increasing presence of screens, but another may be the way in which technology helps making reading more accessible than ever before – through e-readers, kindles and tablets, books can become more relevant to more parts of our downtime than ever before.

W H A T ’ S D R I V I N G O U R B U S I E R H O M E L I V E S ? There are several factors that are driving the increasing number of activities that we do at home – and our increasing sense of time pressure. These factors are closely related to each other, and most are connected to the growth of technologies in the home, broadening our options in terms of communication, entertainment and access to information and services.

A ‘Deregulation’ of people’s lives: we are no longer so tied to doing certain activities at certain times or places. There are more things that we’re able to do while at home, often via online channels (e.g. work, banking, shopping); and we’re freer to pick and choose when we do things (e.g. catch-up TV, streaming music). Increasingly flexible lives have become both technologically possible and culturally acceptable.

A Improved home environment: our homes are more comfortable and ‘connected’ than for previous generations. They’re more pleasant places to spend time, and we have more options at our fingertips – we’re able to do more from the comfort of our homes without needing to step outside the front door.

A Rising lifestyle aspirations: our sense of what makes a fulfilling, rounded life has expanded, encouraged by the experiences of those around us and media representations of fulfilling lives. We are keener to try more activities and do as much as possible in our free time. Social media also play a role here, as we have greater access to our friends’ leisure time than ever before, creating a fear of missing out.

A Blurring of work/home boundaries: shifting employment patterns (e.g. increase in self-employment) and flexible work practices (e.g. remote working) mean that more people are working at home, often enabled by technology: either on a full-time or part-time basis, or simply taking work home with them for the evening or weekend.

A Digital Chatter and the ‘Always on’ culture: there is a greater expectation of immediacy and around-the-clock contact via email, texts, phone calls and social media – with less sense that the home is somewhere you might close yourself off from the outside world.

A ‘Professional parenting’: today’s parents are more consciously seeking to spend active, ‘quality’ time with their children, whether doing leisure activities together or helping with homework. For younger parents in Gen Y this parenting is also increasingly driven by values and the desire to spend meaningful time with their kids.

DOMINOS.CO.UK 12

The deregulation of life is changing not only what we do on a daily basis but also the structure of the week. The new rhythm of the week is a routine that allows us to take advantage of the flexibility our deregulated lives creates, while cramming more activities in, and managing the potential for time pressure and burnout.

Despite the opportunities to do more with our downtime during the week, consumers still put a lot of pressure on Saturdays making it the busiest day of the week – trying to fit as many activities as possible into one day. There’s a risk that Saturdays become hard work and too busy – meaning Sundays become essential for rest and relaxation, and weekday nights (especially Tuesdays) become mini weekends.

C H O R E M O N D A Y : No-nonsense Monday: we’re focused and utterly in the mode for work and get-things-done e.g. chores – with little room for fun and frivolity. However, we find that we’re not going to be able to sustain that level of focus/no-nonsense approach for a whole week – especially because we haven’t fully recharged our batteries at the weekend…

A Apart from Saturday, Monday is the day when people are most likely to roll up their sleeves and get on with household chores (37%) – tidying up after the weekend and making sure that things are shipshape for the week ahead

A Monday is the day when people are least likely to drink alcohol at home (only 9%) or to pamper themselves (only 6%)

A Among those who do some work from home, they spend an average of 4.5 hours working at home on a Monday e.g. dealing with emails, making phone calls (this is more time spent on work matters at home than on any other weekdays)

A Perhaps reassuringly, Monday is the morning when people have the mildest hangovers. A hangover on Monday morning lasts an average only 0.6 hours (compared with, say, 1.9 hours for a Saturday morning hangover)

THE NEW RHYTHM OF THE WEEK 3

DOMINOS.CO.UK 13

C H I L L - O U T T U E S D A Y : Having got themselves over the hurdle of Monday, many people see Tuesday as the opportunity for a fun evening at home – in many ways a mini weekend. Tuesday’s demonstrate the importance of the deregulation of life to our downtime, as this night in is dependent on On-Demand TV

A Tuesday is the day when people are most likely to cook (54% of people)

A It’s also the peak day for watching recorded TV (40% of people on a Tuesday)

A Among those who indulge in lie-ins, Tuesday is the morning for a longer lie-in than other weekdays (average 1.4 hours)

D I G I T A L W E D N E S D A Y : Wednesdays are all about keeping in touch with people online, on phones and on social media. It’s the day we are most likely to be Facebooking, Whatsapping and calling friends and family. With the comfortable night in of Tuesday behind us, by Wednesday many of us are in peak social mode – with thoughts potentially already drifting ahead to the weekend.

A Wednesday is the high point of the week for using social media and mobiles at home

A A quarter of us (25%) use social media at home on a typical Wednesday

A A fifth of us (21%) use our mobiles from home

With Tuesdays the preferred day for the nation’s new-look night-in we can delve further into the data to understand exactly what mix of activities goes into that night to make it so ideal.

No one activity contributes to it, but rather a healthy cocktail of food, catch up TV and a little intimate time combine to make this the night it is.

Recipe for the perfect night in:

A 0.8 hours cooking (or 0.3 hours ordering a takeaway)

A 1.9 hours of catch up TV

A 1 hour (exactly) of social media

A 1.4 hours of intimate time with our spouse or partner

T H E P E R F E C T N I G H T I N

DOMINOS.CO.UK 14

L O O K & L O V E T H U R S D A Y : On Thursdays it’s clear that people’s thoughts are turning to their plans for the weekend, with increased social media activity from Wednesday and also an increased focus on personal grooming and exercise. But many are waiting until Friday before they properly let their hair down at home.

A One in five (20%) focus their attention on personal grooming on a Thursday, looking ahead to the weekend

A Thursday is the day when the highest share of people (12%) play sport or do physical exercise

A Thursday is also a day for playing non-electronic games (e.g. cards): among those playing games, they’re spending an average 1.9 hours on a Thursday

F E E L G O O D F R I D A Y : Friday is the high point of the week for in-home indulgence. It’s the day people are most likely to indulge with alcohol and more high-tempo socialising. For many consumers it will represent the end of the working week: which may explain the desire to relax and blow off steam.

A It’s the most popular day for drinking alcohol at home (22%)

A It’s a popular day for cooking: almost half (49%) of people cook on a Friday (second only to Tuesday)

A It’s also the day when people are less likely to do any sport or exercise (only 7% of people on a Friday)

T H E N E W R H Y T H M O F T H E W E E K

Source: Domino’s Downtime Research

DAY THEME ACTIVITY

MONDAY Chore Monday Cleaning and tidying, responding to emails, watching live TV, reading

TUESDAY Chill-out Tuesday Cooking, watching recorded TV

WEDNESDAY Digital Wednesday Using social media, browsing the internet, using a mobile

THURSDAY Look & Love Thursday Personal grooming, exercising and sports, using dating apps

FRIDAY Feel Good Friday Drinking alcohol, listening to music, contacting friends

SATURDAY Super Saturday Cleaning and tidying, watching TV, playing computer games, internet shopping

SUNDAY F&F Sunday Lie in, washing, entertaining, looking after kids, eating a home-cooked dinner, contacting family

DOMINOS.CO.UK 15

S U P E R S A T U R D A Y : Saturday is the entertainment high point of the week, but many of us are also trying to cram chores, admin and DIY into the day as well, making it an incredibly busy day and a likely source for time pressure. Technology is also a key part of Saturdays, with shopping online and playing games prominent.

A The opportunity to cram lots of ‘life’ into Saturday is reflected by the fact that people are no more likely to have a lie-in than on a weekday

A However, people might not be feeling at their best as they throw themselves into a busy Saturday. Saturday morning is the high point of the week for hangovers: on average, those who’ve over-indulged on Friday night are likely to spend 1.9 hours nursing a hangover on Saturday

A Saturday is the leading day for cleaning and tidying the house (41% of people) and for DIY and gardening (21%). People spend 2 hours on DIY and gardening on a Saturday.

A Saturday is a peak time for live TV viewing (56%)

A It seems that people are increasingly keen to stay in on a Saturday night to enjoy themselves. The number of people spending Saturday nights at home has actually increased in recent years. In 2011, almost half (49%) of people could be found relaxing at home at 10pm on a Saturday. This was an increase from 38% of people in 2000

F A M I L Y & F O O D S U N D A Y : Sunday is the most relaxed, laziest day of the week – potentially a welcome opportunity for many households to recharge their batteries on the sofa (or in bed) after a busy week and even busier Saturday. Importantly, Sunday is also the day that we are most likely to connect with family – and in many ways this connection takes the familiar form of a Sunday lunch.

A It’s the day when people are most likely to have a lie-in (29% of people – twice as many as on a Saturday, 14%); and on average they enjoy an extra 1.5 hours in bed

A Sunday is also the day when most people (16%) choose to pamper themselves, for instance with a long bath or massage

A 16% of people have an alcoholic drink on a Sunday even though (or perhaps because) it’s the start of the working week tomorrow

A Sunday is the day when people are most likely to make contact with family (18%): able to make time for a relaxed catch-up, free from the pressures and bustle of weekday life

A People spend the longest watching live TV on a Sunday: an average 3.1 hours among those who do

A However, Sundays aren’t all about taking it easy: 18% of people still make time for DIY or gardening

DOMINOS.CO.UK 16

MEN

COOKING

WOMEN MEN

WASHING, IRONING OR MENDING CLOTHES ETC

WOMEN MEN

CLEANING TIDYING, HOUSE

WOMEN

MEN

WORKING FROM HOME

WOMENMEN

LOOKING AFTER & PLAYINGWITH CHILDREN

WOMENMEN

MAINTENANCE OF HOUSE,DIY & GARDENING

WOMEN

1.8 1.6 2.2 2.5

1.0

3.2 4.6

1.0 1.00.80.90.8

T I M E S P E N T ( I N H O U R S ) B Y T H O S E D O I N G T H E M O N D O M E S T I C C H O R E S A N D J O B S

Increasing flexibility in our evermore deregulated lives also refers to the steady decline of traditional gender roles and stereotypes of what men and women do around the home. Our research has uncovered evidence that the total share of chores and domestic duties are split more evenly than ever before. However, there is still some evidence that what is being done has some way to go.

While men and women do spend their downtime in different ways, the gap between the amount of time spent on chores, parenting and household jobs is closing, with men doing much more than they used to.

MEN AND WOMEN: GENDERED DOWNTIME 4

Source: Domino’s Downtime Research

DOMINOS.CO.UK 17

While the data shows that women still spend longer on household chores, cooking and childcare than men, the difference is minimal, and a matter of minutes rather than hours. This is a long term change, with men doing significantly more than they used to since the 1960s.

Today’s men spend more time on domestic chores than previous generations, as the data below demonstrates:

A In 1961, 21% of cooking was done by men; this had risen to 44% in 2011

A In 1961, 27% of childcare was done by men; this had risen to 36% in 2011

A In 1961, 20% of cleaning was done by men; this had risen to 30% in 2011

With this long term data supporting our new research, we can see that gender roles in the home are changing significantly, with men shouldering more of the burden of cleaning, cooking and childcare than ever before. The coming of age of Gen Y as parents is only likely to drive this further in the future. Millennials are a highly values-driven generation and are behind the rise of so-called professional parenting – with emphasis placed on quality time with children above supervision. Of courses, this desire for quality downtime with children can come at a cost. This is an extra pressure on our already busy lives. With parents putting pressure on themselves to spend better quality time with their kids, the need to manage downtime more efficiently rises in importance.

G L O R Y P A R E N T I N GThis is a strong trend and one that represents welcome progress in the burden of household chores and gender equality. However, while there is ample evidence that men are shouldering more of the burden of household management and taking a more active role in childcare, these duties are not necessarily divided evenly – with men perhaps concentrating their efforts in particular places.

When it comes to parenting, there is evidence that fathers are doing more but they’re still tending towards ‘glory’ parenting – that is, focusing their attention on the high-profile, fun aspects of parenting, such as reading bedtime stories or cooking Sunday dinner. By contrast, mothers are continuing to shoulder the main burden when it comes to the more mundane, less glamorous tasks such as getting kids to school or making everyday meals.

DOMINOS.CO.UK 18

Downtime at home has changed drastically in recent years, as our deregulated lives mean the outside world is an increasingly dominant part of our home life. While in many ways this change is positive, it also makes genuine downtime harder to achieve, with social chatter and work commitments distracting us from true relaxation. Despite spending nearly 15 hours a day at home, we are staying up later and sleeping less – further driving a sense of burnout at home.

The current state of UK downtime gives us plenty of indications as to how downtime should change in the future – and how it needs to change for us to recapture true rest and relaxation at home.

F U T U R E T R E N D S D R I V I N G D O W N T I M E

SOCIAL CHECKOUTWith digital chatter one key driver of @home burnout, users will take advantage of new ways of managing their social media usage – including checking out of conversations or updates when they need to indulge in genuine downtime. Instead, technology will increasingly become about facilitating genuine downtime, whether that’s arranging a night in or simply using an e-reader.

GENDER EQUALITYThe trend for greater equality in the division of labour between the sexes will continue, but with a more even share of what is done by whom. This could spell the death of so-called glory parenting, as dads no longer concentrate their efforts on the most enjoyable or least stressful domestic duties.

SMART HOME TECHNOLOGYAs time saving devices like microwaves and dishwashers have reduced the amount of time spent on domestic chores in recent years, the future will see smart home technology further reduce the burden and allow us to devote more of our downtime to genuine relaxation. The Internet of Things will see the proliferation of smart heating, lighting, appliances that mend themselves and fridges that update our shopping lists.

CONCLUSION: THE FUTURE OF DOWNTIME 5

DOMINOS.CO.UK 19

DEMAND FOR SIMPLICITYThe explosion of choice will continue, with more digital entertainment options competing with each other for our attention, and greater access to other leisure and social interaction creating complexity. This is a further threat to genuine downtime, and will result in consumers embracing technology and services that provide simplicity and convenience.

DEREGULATIONIncreasing fluidity and flexibility in our lives will continue to change the rhythm of the week. In the future, it is crucial that consumers maximise their genuine downtime by avoiding leisure loading, and maintaining a home-life balance. Technology, which is currently a driver of always-on busyness, will become crucial to maintaining this balance as it will increasingly allow consumers to manage their social, work, home and leisure time to achieve true relaxation when they want it.

“This research was conducted by Trajectory Partnership on behalf of Domino’s, using an online survey of a representative sample of the UK and Ireland population in September 2015. In total, 2,154 people were surveyed.”

DOMINOS.CO.UK 20