Children’s screen time varies substantially by age and activity. In the Common Sense Media 2021 Census, U.S. tweens ages 8 to 12 used an average of 5 hours 33 minutes of entertainment screen media per day in fall 2021, while teens ages 13 to 18 averaged 8 hours 39 minutes. Other U.S. surveys show differences in device access, social media use, gaming, and physical activity.
Contents
- Daily entertainment screen time
- How children use screens
- Online videos, television, and social media
- Devices and household access
- Differences by age, gender, race, and income
- Screen time and physical activity
- Young children’s technology use
Daily entertainment screen time
The Common Sense Media 2021 Census measured entertainment media use in fall 2021 and compared several measures with 2019. The figures below describe U.S. children and teens, not all-purpose screen exposure. They concern entertainment screen media and are reported separately for tweens and teens.
- Tweens used 5 hours 33 minutes per day in fall 2021, up from 4 hours 44 minutes in 2019.
- Teens used 8 hours 39 minutes per day in fall 2021, up from 7 hours 22 minutes in 2019.
- Only 5% of tweens reported zero screen media use on a given day in 2021.
- Only 3% of teens reported zero screen media use on a given day.
- 47% of tweens used more than 4 hours per day, including 20% who used more than 8 hours.
- 75% of teens used more than 4 hours per day, including 41% who used more than 8 hours.
| Group and measure | 2021 result | Earlier comparison when reported |
|---|---|---|
| Tweens: average entertainment media | 5 hr 33 min/day | 4 hr 44 min in 2019 |
| Teens: average entertainment media | 8 hr 39 min/day | 7 hr 22 min in 2019 |
| Tweens using more than 4 hours | 47% | — |
| Teens using more than 4 hours | 75% | — |
| Tweens using more than 8 hours | 20% | — |
| Teens using more than 8 hours | 41% | — |
These results show a clear age gradient in the 2021 Census: teens had higher average use and a larger share above both the four-hour and eight-hour thresholds. The zero-use figures also indicate that screen-free days were uncommon in both groups during the measurement period.
How children use screens
Television and video viewing accounted for the largest listed activity totals in the Common Sense Media 2021 Census. Tweens watched television or videos for 2 hours 40 minutes per day, while teens spent 3 hours 16 minutes on that combined activity. Gaming averaged 1 hour 27 minutes for tweens and 1 hour 46 minutes for teens.
Browsing and social media also differed by age. Tweens browsed websites for 24 minutes per day in 2021, up from 14 minutes in 2019. Teens browsed for 51 minutes, up from 37 minutes. Tweens spent 18 minutes per day on social media, up from 10 minutes in 2019. Teens spent 1 hour 27 minutes, up from 1 hour 10 minutes.
Video-chatting was another measured activity: tweens spent 20 minutes per day video-chatting in 2021. The Census did not provide a corresponding teen duration in the listed findings.
The activity results should not be added together as a separate overall total. They are reported measures for different media activities, and the source’s overall entertainment-media averages are the appropriate summary measures.
Online videos, television, and social media
Online video was widely used by both age groups. In 2021, 64% of tweens watched online videos every day, up from 56% in 2019. Among teens, 77% watched online videos every day, up from 69%. Average daily online-video viewing was 57 minutes for tweens and 1 hour 22 minutes for teens.
Enjoyment was also common: 61% of tweens and 62% of teens said they enjoyed watching online videos a lot. Television remained a daily activity for many children, although the teen daily figure was lower than in 2019. In 2021, 65% of tweens and 49% of teens watched television every day; the teen figure was down from 57% in 2019. Tweens averaged 1 hour 36 minutes of television per day, up from 1 hour 22 minutes in 2019, while teens averaged 1 hour 50 minutes.
The share saying they enjoyed television a lot was 48% among tweens and 27% among teens. Thus, daily television viewing and reported enjoyment were different measures: the share watching every day was higher than the share reporting a high level of enjoyment in each age group.
Social media measures also varied sharply by age. In 2021, 38% of tweens had ever used social media, up from 31% in 2019, while 84% of teens had ever used it, up from 82%. Daily use was reported by 18% of tweens, up from 13% in 2019, and by 62% of teens. Twelve percent of tweens said they enjoyed social media a lot, up from 8% in 2019. Among teens, 34% said they enjoyed it a lot, down from 41% in 2019.
Devices and household access
Personal device ownership and access to devices in the home are separate indicators. In the Common Sense Media 2021 Census, 43% of tweens owned a smartphone, compared with 88% of teens; the teen figure was up from 84% in 2019. Fifty-seven percent of tweens owned a tablet, and 64% of teens owned a computer.
Across all 8- to 18-year-olds, 94% had a smartphone in the home in 2021, up from 91% in 2019. The same share, 94%, had a tablet in the home, while 91% had a computer in the home. These household-access figures do not mean every child personally owned or used each device.
Mobile gaming was common, but enthusiasm differed by age. Thirty-five percent of all 8- to 18-year-olds said they enjoyed playing mobile games a lot. Among tweens, 47% said this, compared with 28% of teens.
Pew Research Center’s 2020 survey provides additional information about younger children’s device interactions. Among parents of children age 2 or younger, 74% said their child used or interacted with a television. Among parents of children age 9 to 11, 67% said their child used or interacted with a smartphone. Across parents of children age 11 or younger, 17% said their child had their own smartphone, and 36% said their child ever used or interacted with a voice-activated assistant.
Differences by age, gender, race, and income
The Common Sense Media 2021 Census reported differences in gaming by gender. Boys spent 2 hours 20 minutes per day gaming, compared with 54 minutes for girls. The figures describe average daily gaming time in 2021 and do not represent total daily entertainment screen media.
The Census also reported differences in selected daily viewing measures by race and ethnicity. Hispanic/Latino tweens and teens watched online videos every day at a reported rate of 79%, compared with 67% of White tweens and teens. Black tweens and teens watched television every day at a reported rate of 73%, compared with 52% of White tweens and teens.
Household income was associated with differences in device access. Sixty-seven percent of children from lower-income homes had a computer in the home, compared with 94% of children from higher-income homes. For tablets, the corresponding figures were 60% and 81%. Fourteen percent of children from lower-income homes said no one in the home had a smartphone.
These comparisons describe reported group differences in particular surveys. They do not establish why the differences occurred, and they should not be treated as measures of a child’s development or well-being by themselves.
Screen time and physical activity
CDC NHIS Teen QuickStats reported on U.S. children and adolescents ages 12 to 17 during July 2021 through December 2023. During that period, 61.1% reported 60 minutes of physical activity on most days or every day.
The same source reported different physical-activity rates by screen-time category. Physical activity was reported by 70.4% of those with 2 hours or less of screen time, compared with 54.4% of those with 4 hours or more. These are survey-group percentages for the stated period; the figures describe an association between the measured categories and do not by themselves show that screen time caused the difference.
The screen-time categories in this CDC comparison are not interchangeable with the Common Sense Media entertainment-media averages. The Common Sense figures focus on entertainment media in fall 2021 and use age groups of 8 to 12 and 13 to 18, while the CDC comparison covers ages 12 to 17 and a later measurement window.
Young children’s technology use
Pew Research Center’s 2020 survey measured technology use as reported by parents of children age 11 or younger. Among parents of children in that age range, 13% said their child used TikTok, 10% said Snapchat, 5% said Instagram, and 3% said Facebook.
Parents also described reasons for providing a smartphone. Among parents whose child had their own smartphone, 78% said making it easy for the child to contact them was a major reason. Separately, 73% said being able to easily get in touch with their child was a major reason. These findings concern parents’ stated reasons and should not be interpreted as estimates of how much time children spent on the phone.
Pew Research Center’s 2024 teen survey adds a parent-conflict measure. Among teens who reported being online almost constantly, 47% said they at least sometimes argued with a parent about phone time. The corresponding figure was 30% among teens who were online less often. The comparison concerns reported arguments about phone time, not a direct measure of daily screen duration.
Together, these statistics distinguish several questions that are often combined under “screen time”: how long children use entertainment media, which activities occupy that time, whether devices are personally owned or simply available at home, how access differs across households, and how screen-time categories compare with physical-activity reports.