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Data · Parents
How much of your time with your parents is behind you?
Most of your time with your parents comes early. By 25, more than half of it from age 15 on has gone by.
Numbers last updated October 2026. We refresh them each summer, when the Bureau of Labor Statistics releases a new year.
By the time you’re 35, about 71% of the time you’ll spend with your parents from age 15 on will be behind you.
The other 29% is spread over the rest of your life. Give or take 3 points.
All the time together, in 100 squares
- Behind you
- These years
- Still ahead
Average time with parents a day, by age
Porcupine’s analysis of the American Time Use Survey, US Bureau of Labor Statistics, which hasn’t reviewed these pages. 22,363 one-day diaries, 2023–2025. Each share is give or take one to three points.
See the numbers
| Age | A day with parents | Give or take | Behind you by the end |
|---|---|---|---|
| 15–19 | 2 hr 10 min | 10 min | 34% |
| 20–24 | 1 hr 20 min | 15 min | 55% |
| 25–29 | 35 min | 5 min | 64% |
| 30–34 | 25 min | 5 min | 71% |
| 35–39 | 20 min | 5 min | 76% |
| 40–44 | 15 min | a few min | 80% |
| 45–49 | 20 min | 5 min | 85% |
| 50–54 | 15 min | 5 min | 89% |
| 55–59 | 15 min | a few min | 93% |
| 60–64 | 10 min | a few min | 96% |
| 65–69 | 5 min | a few min | 98% |
| 70–74 | 5 min | a few min | 99% |
| 75–79 | under 5 min | a few min | 100% |
| 80+ | under 5 min | a few min | 100% |
From age 15 on. 80 and older counts as five years, 80 to 84.
What this counts
- Time in person with either parent or both. Calls, texts and video chats don’t count, and parents-in-law aren’t included.
- It starts at 15, because the survey only asks people 15 and older.
- It compares people of different ages today, not one life followed over the years, and the averages include everyone, so the later ages include people whose parents are no longer living.
And with your own kids
The same is true from the other side. By their 12th birthday, about 78% of a parent’s time with their child before 18 has gone by (give or take 2 points).
A parent’s average time a day with their child, by the child’s age. From 1,667 parents with one child under 18 at home; families with more children may divide their time differently. It’s one parent’s time, not both, and it stops at 18, since the survey counts grown children who move out with other relatives.
What this means for you
- Don’t save it for the holidays. Hard talks go better at a calm time you choose than around a full table. Cool down, then talk ›
- You can disagree and still be kind. Respect for them can sit next to a firm no. Respect, even when angry ›
- Their choices are theirs, and yours are yours. Ask for what you need without guilt or “you should.” Ask, don’t pressure ›
- Ask what they think before assuming. A question opens more than a guess about why they did something. Check before assuming ›
General ideas from the principles Porcupine is built on, not advice for your situation.
Got something to say to your parents?
Write it the way it comes out. I’ll show you if the quills are up, and a version with them down.
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Common questions
How much time do adults spend with their parents?
In person, Americans average about 2 hr 10 min a day with their parents at 15 to 19, 35 min at 25 to 29, and 20 min at 45 to 49.
How much of that time is over by adulthood?
By 25, more than half (about 55%) of the in-person time Americans spend with their parents from 15 on has gone by. By 40, it’s about 76%.
Is this a prediction for me?
No. It compares people of different ages today, not one life followed over time, so your own years may go differently. It’s a picture of how the hours tend to be spread.
Why does it start at 15?
The survey only asks people 15 and older, so the years before aren’t in it, even though they hold a lot of the time together.
Guides for parents and adult children
- How to set a boundary with your parents as an adultParents and adult children
- How to tell your parents about a decision they might not likeParents and adult children
- How to talk to an aging parent about drivingParents and adult children
- How to talk to your sibling about caring for an aging parentSiblings
Find the words with Porcupine
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More from the data
- Who fills your day?Partners, kids, friends and family, at every age
- How much time do couples spend together?5 hr 10 min a day, and how much of it is talking
- How much time do people spend with friends?Down 55% since 2003, for men and women alike
How we counted
- Each person in the survey writes down one day, hour by hour, and who was with them: in the same room at home, or with them when out. Calls, texts and video chats don’t count, and nobody is asked who was there while they slept, washed or dressed.
- Every number is an average from a sample, weighted to stand for people 15 and older living in their own homes, so each comes with a margin of error. Hover or tap a chart to see it. Numbers too uncertain to trust are left out.
More on how we counted
- Time can count twice: a dinner with a partner and the kids counts for both.
- The lifetime chart compares people of different ages today, not one life followed over the years.
- For each five-year age band, the average minutes a day with parents, counted for its five years (80 and older counts as 80 to 84); the share behind you is the running total. The margins are worked out again under each of the survey’s replicate weights. Source: Porcupine’s analysis of the American Time Use Survey, US Bureau of Labor Statistics, which hasn’t reviewed these pages, 2023–2025.
These pages are general information, not professional advice.