Brazilians spend 7% of their lives commuting, 5% on TV and radio, and less than 2% on outdoor activities

São Paulo, September 4, 2024 – Brazilians dedicate 7% of their adult lives to commuting, 5% to TV and radio, and only 2% to outdoor activities. These are some of the findings from a survey commissioned by Nubank Ultravioleta, a premium experience for high-income Nu customers.

The survey reveals that, on average, Brazilians have about a quarter of their time free (26%), or 15 years. Women have even less free time and continue to be burdened with a double shift: they spend more time than men on house cleaning (49%), domestic chores (29%), and child care (26%). Screens (cell phones, television, and video games) occupy 12%, equivalent to 7 years. Activities related to sports or well-being account for only 4% of the population’s free time.

In summary, the data shows that people struggle to prioritize self-care during the little free time they have. Participants stated that if they had more free time, they would like to use it for traveling (42%), sleeping (36%), watching TV (27%), engaging in sports and exercise (26%), and resting (23%).

“One of our missions at Nubank is to make people’s lives easier and free up time from bureaucratic tasks, allowing them to focus on what really matters. That’s why we commissioned this study. We know that time is becoming increasingly rare and valuable, and we want to help our customers have more free time for what truly matters,” emphasizes Livia Chanes, CEO of Nubank in Brazil.

Today, financial management consumes about 2% of an adult’s free time, and it’s one of the activities Brazilians like the least. “It’s impressive to think that people spend as much time managing their finances as they do enjoying outdoor activities, even with technology making these processes much simpler than they were 10 years ago. Over the past seven years, we’ve helped our customers avoid more than 440 million hours that would have been wasted in queues, not to mention the time spent commuting to a bank branch. Our commitment is to continue improving the experience, focusing on usability, agility, and personalized and unbiased solutions that reduce the time spent on financial management,” Livia adds.

About the new campaign 

Inspired by the research, Nubank, in partnership with Wieden+Kennedy agency, inviting people to reflect on the importance of managing their time well and breaking free from autopilot mode to gain more free time in their daily lives. The campaign kicks off with a video narrated by Fernanda Lima, reflecting on whether we’re using our time as we would like. In addition to the video, the data will be discussed in some of Brazil’s most-watched lifestyle programs.

Another 30-second video reinforces the message that free time is valuable and highlights that the less time customers spend with their financial institution, the more time they’ll have to live fully.

Among the solutions offered by Nubank Ultravioleta to optimize customers’ financial management are: Black Card with cashback that grows at 200% of the CDI, so your free time can yield more; exclusive investment opportunities with superior returns, so customers don’t waste time deciding where to invest and have more free time for other choices; Global Account with real-time conversion to different currencies and a 0.8% exchange rate on any amount; best price guarantee on airfare and hotel reservations, all in the same app, without needing to search multiple sites; and exclusive customer service with reduced wait times.

Methodology 

At Nubank’s request, Ipsos conducted an online hybrid data collection study, across Brazil, between Jul 17, 2024 and Jul 23, 2024. A total of 1,500 interviews were conducted with men and women over 18 years old from all social classes (ABCDE) in Brazil’s five regions (North, Northeast, Southeast, South, and Central-West). The margin of error is 2.5 p.p.

The study listed 30 daily activities, classified between “free time” and “occupied time” according to predefined criteria, and asked participants how much time they spend (hours/minutes) on all daily, weekly, or monthly activities. Responses were individual and allowed for overlap of activities, which could occur simultaneously.

From this, the average daily time spent (in minutes) by Brazilians on each activity was calculated, and then the data was extrapolated to represent a year of average life for Brazilians. To calculate the average years of adult life for Brazilians, life expectancy data from IBGE was considered, spanning from 18 to 76 years, totaling 58 adult years, which were multiplied by the average year calculated with the survey data.