The results by age group show that the amount of housework naturally increases with age, but the pandemic has forced people in all generations to commit more of it than before. It must be the consequence of people staying at home longer. The leisure activities decreased for all age groups, but the magnitude was noticeably large among people below 25. This may be because more mature people could substitute restricted leisure activities (e.g., partying, going to concerts, and joining public events) with unrestricted private activities (e.g., gardening and going for a drive). They can also substitute behaviors in crowded places with ones in non-crowded places (e.g., fishing and camping). Those substituted leisure activities often require some equipment or sufficient private space in the house, and those may be harder to obtain for young people who tend to live in small apartments and have less money. Shopping occasions significantly decreased for all age groups, but this seems to be performed generally less frequently by very young people. This may be because they are more likely to live with their parents, reducing the necessity for grocery shopping.
Regarding spending time with family and friends, the oldest group appears to have done so less often than the younger groups before the outbreak, consistent with the notion that social connections shrink among elderlies [17]. The magnitude of decrease for this activity was, however, equivalent for all age groups. The occasions of traveling are also less frequent for the oldest group at the before-condition, maybe due to physical mobility limitations. However, a noticeably more significant decrease was observed for the youngest group. The use of public transports decreased greatly for all generations, but the extent was more prominent for the younger groups because the use of a private car would increase by age.
The amount of housework, leisure activities, and spending time with family and friends look different between males and females. The women reported much more housework than men for the before-condition, but the overall amount increased considerably for both genders. Interestingly, only female participants realized the decrease in leisure activities, which may relate to their extra housework, limiting their free time for leisure. The occasions of spending time with family and friends decreased greatly for both genders, but the responses from women indicated they performed these acts more often than men in general. Housewives with children, which are 25% of the current female sample, are likely to spend a significant amount of time with parents of their children’s friends (whom they may call their friends) during the day, and this might be reflected in the larger proportion of this activity reported by women.
Looking at the data by participants’ marital status, single people reported a greater number of behaviors relating to eating out, going shopping, and using public transports than married people. The extent of decrease in those activities was also greater for the singles. The amount of housework is generally greater for married people, while the increase during the pandemic was equivalent for both groups. These results reflect that single people have more free time and still commit to actions such as eating out and going shopping more often than married people under the pandemic. However, spending time with family and friends seems to less frequently happen for single people in general. This may reflect the activities of the housewives with other parents (see above) and an increased number of family members they need to spend time with due to marriage.
Having children impacted the behaviors of housework, shopping, and using public transports. Housework and shopping are committed more often by people with children than those without in general, as expected. The decrease in shopping did not differ across the two groups, but the increase in housework was more salient for the people without children. These results imply that people with children generally spend more time at home, having more housework and shopping needs than people without them, regardless of the pandemic. Therefore, the increase in those activities during the pandemic was less salient to them than to people without children. The pandemic forced children to stay home longer (e.g., an increased amount of homeschooling), which might be related to the increased housework for the parents. The use of public transports decreased for both groups, but the extent was much more significant for the people without kids, indicating that people with kids have a stronger tendency to use private transports when they go out.
Finally, household income is below or above the average influenced housework and spending time with family and friends. People with lower incomes spent more time on housework than people with higher incomes but spent less time with family and friends. The poorer people may spend more time at home, likely due to financial reasons. Limited finances may also make them refrain from outsourcing housework or childcare, resulting in less free time than affluent people.
In addition to the activities discussed above, the pandemic outbreak massively increased prevention measures in our daily lives. The present results show that wearing face masks and washing hands are most practiced. Interestingly, older participants did not mention prevention measures as often as younger participants, consistent with a past study showing that older people have implemented fewer prevention behaviors than younger people [11]. Household income also impacted the appearance rate of prevention measures, showing that people with higher income reported activities in this category 20% more than those with lower income.