SUNDAY IA FUNDAY FOR MODERN BRITS
In a new study, Essex University sociologists have dissected the typical British Sunday, and found we get up later and do fewer chores than we did 40 years ago—and we are far more likely to be out shopping or enjoying ourselves than cooking Sunday lunch. Academics at the university's Institute of Social and Economic Research asked 10000 people to keep a detailed diary of how they spent two Sundays in 2001. Then they compared the results with 3500 diaries written in 1961, a treasure trove of information that had been uncovered 'in two egg boxes and a tea chest' in the basement of the BBC by ISER's director, Professor Jonathan Gershuny.
The contrast between the two periods could not be more striking. Forty years ago, Sunday mornings were a flurry of activity as men and women—especially women—caught up on their weekly chores and cooked up a storm in the kitchen. Women rarely allowed themselves any 'leisure' until the afternoon, after the dishes were cleaned. In 1961 more than a fifth of all men and women in Britain were sifting at a table by 2pm, most likely tucking in to a roast with all the trimmings. Then there would be another rush to the table between 5pm and 6pm for high tea.
Since the arrival of brunch, the gastropub and the all-you-can-eat Sunday buffet at the local curry house, such institutions have become extinct. Today we graze the entire day. You only have two free days a week. You don't want to have to waste one because there is nothing to do but watch TV. Sunday has leapfrogged Saturday in the fun stakes. On Saturday you are recovering from the week. Sundays are the last bastion of the weekend—you want to get as much as you can out of the day before you have to go back to work.
According to researchers, the ability to trail around B&Q has made the most dramatic difference to our Sundays. In 1961 adults spent an average of 20 minutes a day shopping; by 2001 it was 50 minutes. 'Shopping used to be a gender segregated activity that would take place during the week, while the husband was at work. Now it's as much men as women,' said Gershuny. We're all more likely to be relaxing or shopping on a Sunday morning these days than scrubbing the floor or puffing up shelves. 'Men now stay in bed longer, and get up not, as previously, to work around the house, but rather to shop or to pursue other outside leisure activities.'
Men do about the same amount of unpaid work around the house as they used to on a Sunday, but it's spread throughout the whole day, instead of crammed into the morning. Women do considerably less than 40 years ago. Indeed, men and women were 'pretty much different species' in 1961, as far as the way they spent Sundays was concerned, with men far more likely to be out of the house—at the pub or playing football—before lunch. 'For women, leisure happened only in the afternoon. But by 2001 the shapes of men's and women's Sundays were much more similar,' says the report.
Jonathan Bentley Atchison (25, Clapham, London, works in communications) 'Sunday for me is all about holding on to the weekend and trying to stave off Monday. An ideal Sunday would involve getting up and having a nice lunch. Sometimes we cook but more often I go out to get a roast, or bangers and mash at a gastropub. If it is a nice day there is nothing better than sitting outside in the beer garden, reading the Sunday papers— one tabloid and one broadsheet—-with a Guinness, extra cold. 'Sunday is often a chance to visit other parts of London, as long as it is not too far. I use Sundays to go clothes shopping, or to the cinema. I often go to Camden market, as I love the international foods on offer and hunting for bargains and vintage clothes.'
Hazel Hallows (42, Manchester, housewife, married with three children)
'I am usually at home making the Sunday lunch. Some friends go out to eat but my husband Mark loves a roast so we don't. A

A. mornings.
B. afternoons.
C. evenings.