MOSCOW, 05 May 2025. Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) presents the findings of a survey among Russians about free time.
Happiness takes no note of time
Certain sci-fi writers thought future technologies and automatization would release people of the burden of work and daily routine, letting them devote themselves to self-development. Apparently, progress really does free up time: four in ten respondents report to have enough free time, and this is an all-time high. However, most respondents report little time or no free time at all (six in ten respondents).
Having enough free time strongly depends on age: young respondents in their prime working years experience a lack of free time, whereas older generations, the retired ones, have an excessive amount of free time.
However, having a lot or little free time does not mean being satisfied with leisure activities. All the Russians, regardless of their gender or age, are largely satisfied with how they spend their free time. And this year the number of those who are satisfied is big (seven out of ten), as never before.
The following groups were singled out based on the questions about free time and satisfaction with the leisure time quality:
- Those who have free time and are satisfied with it (53%) represent the happiest group who has time, energy and resources to fill free time with activities; they are often older generations, retired persons or Digital generation.
- Those who have free time, but they aren’t satisfied with it (16%) are respondents who don’t know what to fill their free time with; they are often Younger millennials and older generations.
- Those who have no free time and are satisfied (15%) do not complain about a lack of time but are very active and have plenty of leisure activities; they are basically young respondents.
- Those who have no free time and aren’t satisfied (12%) are the most vulnerable group, between young respondents and senior people, those who actively work, and may be deeply involved in family duties; they have no free time, and they often feel more dissatisfied with the quality of free time, which is a direct path to burnout.
Why don’t we visit our friends?
Today Russians live a more active life: seven in ten respondents have been out somewhere over the recent month: in 2006, 2010 every second respondent reported so. Most leisure activities are visits to relatives, friends, and having someone over. The cultural aspect has become stronger: the percentage of those who choose museums, theatres, exhibitions and classical music concerts has increased multiple times, whereas night clubs and dance parties have become less popular compared with 2006, 2010. Respondents also mentioned walks, cafes, restaurants, tourism and tours, mass gatherings, religious events, sport competitions.
Neither time, nor money, and no one to visit…
The reasons why certain Russians stay at home and do not spend their free time actively have changed over the recent 15-20 years. The main reason today is a lack of time and feeling tired, with lack of money being secondary. In 2006 and 2010, money played an important role in leisure activity choices. Other reasons cited by respondents are a lack of desire, few or no leisure activities available in their place of residence, as well as “having no one to leave kids with”.
At the same time, Russians who have free time and are dissatisfied with their leisure often point out financial restrictions; in that group, money is the key obstacle.
All-Russian VCIOM-Sputnik telephone survey was conducted April 11, 2025. A total of 1,600 respondents aged 18 and older took part in the survey. Survey method: telephone interview, stratified random sample based on a complete list of mobile phone numbers in use in Russia. The data were weighted for socio-demographic characteristics. The margin of error at a 95% confidence level does not exceed 2.5%. In addition to sampling error, minor changes to the wording of questions and different circumstances arising during the fieldwork can introduce bias into the survey.
Key effectiveness indicators, survey of April 11, 2025: cooperation rate (CR)* = 0.7850; minimum response rate (MRR)** = 0.0216; response rate (RR)*** = 0.1065. Calculations are based on corporate standard https://profi.wciom.ru/principy_standarty/korporativnyj-standart-po-izmereniyu-rezultativnosti-oprosov-sputnik-vciom/
* CR: the number of complete interviews divided by the sum of: а) complete interviews and b) non-interviews with eligible respondents.
** MRR: the number of complete interviews divided by the sum of: а) complete interviews, b) interrupted interviews after successful screening and c) all the respondents where it is unknown whether they meet the selected criteria or not.
** RR is calculated in the same way as MRR, with the only difference that the number of respondents with unknown eligibility decreases proportional to the percentage of eligible cases in the total number of respondents with identified eligibility or non-eligibility.
Do you have free time? (close-ended question, one answer, % of total respondents) | |||
| 2007* | 2010* | 2025 |
Yes, I have enough free time | 31 | 36 | 41 |
I have free time but not at as much as needed | 40 | 39 | 29 |
I have barely any free time | 27 | 23 | 29 |
Don’t know | 2 | 2 | 1 |
Do you have free time? (close-ended question, one answer, % of total respondents) | |||||||||
| Total | Men | Women | Digital generation (2001 and later) | Younger Millennials (1992—2000) | Older Millennials (1982—1991) | Reform generation (1968—1981) | Stagnation generation (1948—1967) | Thaw generation (before 1947) |
Yes, I have enough free time | 41 | 41 | 41 | 38 | 24 | 27 | 33 | 57 | 78 |
I have free time but not at as much as needed | 29 | 28 | 30 | 27 | 42 | 36 | 33 | 20 | 12 |
I have barely any free time | 29 | 30 | 28 | 35 | 34 | 37 | 33 | 21 | 8 |
Don’t know | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
How satisfied are you with the way you spend your free time currently? (close-ended question, one answer, % of total respondents) | |||||
| 1991* | 2000* | 2008* | 2010* | 2025 |
Quite satisfied | 28 | 19 | 15 | 18 | 33 |
Rather satisfied | 32 | 39 | 41 | 42 | 36 |
Rather dissatisfied | 24 | 29 | 23 | 27 | 17 |
Completely dissatisfied | 10 | 10 | 7 | 8 | 11 |
Don’t know | 6 | 3 | 14 | 5 | 3 |
How satisfied are you with the way you spend your free time currently? (close-ended question, one answer, % of total respondents) | |||||||||
| Total | Men | Women | Digital generation (2001 and later) | Younger Millennials (1992—2000) | Older Millennials (1982—1991) | Reform generation (1968—1981) | Stagnation generation (1948—1967) | Thaw generation (before 1947) |
Quite satisfied | 33 | 34 | 32 | 37 | 35 | 29 | 28 | 38 | 38 |
Rather satisfied | 36 | 36 | 36 | 40 | 30 | 39 | 38 | 35 | 31 |
Rather dissatisfied | 17 | 15 | 19 | 11 | 20 | 22 | 18 | 13 | 17 |
Completely dissatisfied | 11 | 11 | 10 | 10 | 13 | 10 | 13 | 10 | 8 |
Don’t know | 3 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 6 |
Combination of answers “Do you have free time?” and “How satisfied are you with the way you spend your free time currently” (close-ended question, one answer in each question, % of total respondents) | |||||||||
| Total | Men | Women | Digital generation (2001 and later) | Younger Millennials (1992—2000) | Older Millennials (1982—1991) | Reform generation (1968—1981) | Stagnation generation (1948—1967) | Thaw generation (before 1947) |
I have free time, I’m satisfied | 53 | 54 | 53 | 54 | 47 | 47 | 52 | 59 | 64 |
I have free time, but I’m not satisfied | 16 | 15 | 17 | 10 | 18 | 15 | 14 | 17 | 22 |
I have no free time, but I’m satisfied | 15 | 16 | 15 | 23 | 17 | 20 | 14 | 12 | 4 |
I have no free time, and I’m not satisfied | 12 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 6 | 3 |
Don’t know | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 7 |
Have you managed to go out to attend a cultural event or any leisure activity or parties in the evening or at the weekend over the recent month? If yes, what kind of events? Any number of answers (close-ended question, any number of answers, % of total respondents) | |||
| 2006* | 2010* | 2025 |
Visiting friends, relatives | 37 | 36 | 42 |
Having friends, friends over | 31 | 26 | 30 |
Going to the cinema | 10 | 11 | 11 |
Visiting a theatre | 5 | 4 | 11 |
Exhibition, museum | 2 | 2 | 8 |
Modern popular music concert | 2 | 2 | 7 |
Night club, dance party | 7 | 7 | 4 |
Library | 4 | 3 | 4 |
Classical music concert | 1 | 1 | 4 |
Sport competitions (from “other”) | - | — | 3 |
Walk (from “other”) | - | — | 2 |
Café/restaurant (from “other”) | - | — | 2 |
Tourism, tours (from “other”) | - | — | 1 |
Public gatherings, mass events in the city (from “other”) | - | — | 1 |
Religious events (from “other”) | - | — | 1 |
Dacha (from “other”) | - | — | 1 |
No, I didn’t go anywhere | 44 | 43 | 28 |
Other | 1 | 2 | 6 |
Don’t know | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Have you managed to go out to attend a cultural event or any leisure activity or parties in the evening or at the weekend over the recent month? If yes, what kind of events? Any number of answers (close-ended question, any number of answers, % of total respondents) | |||||||||
| Total | Men | Women | Digital generation (2001 and later) | Younger Millennials (1992—2000) | Older Millennials (1982—1991) | Reform generation (1968—1981) | Stagnation generation (1948—1967) | Thaw generation (before 1947) |
Visiting friends, relatives | 42 | 39 | 45 | 46 | 49 | 45 | 42 | 41 | 29 |
Having friends, friends over | 30 | 25 | 35 | 34 | 29 | 29 | 27 | 34 | 31 |
Going to the cinema | 11 | 10 | 12 | 17 | 14 | 16 | 11 | 6 | 7 |
Visiting a theatre | 11 | 8 | 12 | 22 | 8 | 10 | 11 | 10 | 6 |
Exhibition, museum | 8 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 11 | 9 | 7 | 8 | 6 |
Modern popular music concert | 7 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 11 | 5 | 6 | 3 |
Night club, dance party | 4 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
Library | 4 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 7 |
Classical music concert | 4 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 3 |
Sport competitions (from “other”) | 3 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 1 |
Walk (from “other”) | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
Café/restaurant (from “other”) | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
Tourism, tours (from “other”) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
Public gatherings, mass events in the city (from “other”) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
Religious events (from “other”) | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
Dacha (from “other”) | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
No, I didn’t go anywhere | 28 | 32 | 26 | 23 | 22 | 27 | 30 | 31 | 35 |
Other | 6 | 5 | 6 | 1 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 6 |
Don’t know | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
Have you managed to go out to attend a cultural event or any leisure activity or parties in the evening or at the weekend over the recent month? If yes, what kind of events? Any number of answers (close-ended question, any number of answers, % of total respondents) | |||||
| Total | I have free time, I’m satisfied | I have free time, but I’m not satisfied | I have no free time, but I’m satisfied | I have no free time, and I’m not satisfied |
Visiting friends, relatives | 42 | 50 | 36 | 43 | 22 |
Having friends, friends over | 30 | 36 | 26 | 33 | 18 |
Going to the cinema | 11 | 15 | 6 | 12 | 4 |
Visiting a theatre | 11 | 14 | 7 | 11 | 5 |
Exhibition, museum | 8 | 12 | 4 | 6 | 1 |
Modern popular music concert | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 5 |
Night club, dance party | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 3 |
Library | 4 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
Classical music concert | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 2 |
Sport competitions (from “other”) | 3 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 1 |
Walk (from “other”) | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
Café/restaurant (from “other”) | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
Tourism, tours (from “other”) | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Public gatherings, mass events in the city (from “other”) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Religious events (from “other”) | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
Dacha (from “other”) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
No, I didn’t go anywhere | 28 | 18 | 35 | 34 | 50 |
Other | 6 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 5 |
Don’t know | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
If you haven’t attended any cultural or leisure activities over the recent month, can you tell us why? No more than 2 answers (close-ended question, up to two answers, % of those who didn’t attend any cultural or leisure activities over the recent month) | |||
| 2006* | 2010* | 2025 |
Free time is lacking; I get tired too much | 26 | 25 | 43 |
Money is lacking | 29 | 32 | 30 |
I don’t have anything like that where I live | 22 | 18 | 18 |
I just didn’t want it | 19 | 27 | 12 |
No one to leave my kids with (or another family member who needs to be taken care of) | 3 | 4 | 10 |
It’s not interesting to me | 10 | 6 | 6 |
Don’t know | 12 | 7 | 10 |
If you haven’t attended any cultural or leisure activities over the recent month, can you tell us why? No more than 2 answers (close-ended question, up to two answers, % of those who didn’t attend any cultural or leisure activities over the recent month) | |||||
| Total | I have free time, I’m satisfied | I have free time, but I’m not satisfied | I have no free time, but I’m satisfied | I have no free time, and I’m not satisfied |
Free time is lacking; I get tired too much | 43 | 21 | 33 | 66 | 65 |
Money is lacking | 30 | 24 | 40 | 21 | 35 |
I don’t have anything like that where I live | 18 | 25 | 17 | 13 | 12 |
I just didn’t want it | 12 | 24 | 10 | 7 | 0 |
No one to leave my kids with (or another family member who needs to be taken care of) | 10 | 10 | 4 | 8 | 18 |
It’s not interesting to me | 6 | 10 | 6 | 6 | 4 |
Don’t know | 10 | 12 | 17 | 3 | 4 |
Author: Tatyana Smak