New Better Sleep Council research indicates 22% of working Americans nap during the workday
In its continued effort to monitor how well America is sleeping, the Better Sleep Council, the consumer education arm of the International Sleep Products Association, recently conducted a survey to understand to what degree working Americans are taking restorative naps during the workday — especially given the dynamic shift in work environments due to the pandemic.
Consider these BSC findings:
- The BSC found that one in five (22%) working adults take naps during the workday, including naps taken during and outside of work breaks.
- Napping during the workday is driven by people working from home or in hybrid situations, such as people who work in a flexible environment that includes both an office setting and a remote location. They are two times more likely to take naps during the workday than their in-office counterparts.
- Napping is more common among younger adults. Gen Zers are 3.4 times and millennials are 2.5 times more likely to take naps during the workday than baby boomers.
- On average, working Americans take half-hour naps, but there are exceptions. Nearly one in 10 nappers takes at least a one-hour nap during the workday.
- Most workday naps are taken in bed (53%) or on a sofa (41%). Yet nearly one-quarter of Americans napping during the workday sleep in a chair or in their vehicle. Sleeping at a desk, on the floor or “anywhere they are” is less common, but about one in 10 working Americans do.
- Lower income workers are more likely to nap during the workday. Workers with a yearly household income of less than $50,000 are 1.6 times more likely to nap during this time than those earning $100,000 or more.
- Regardless of how long they take or where they are taken, naps are restorative. Eighty-seven percent of those who nap during the workday say naps are “refreshing.” They especially are restorative for parents with children at home. Those parents are 1.6 times more likely to say naps are “very” refreshing, compared with working adults with no children at home.
The research consisted of an online survey, representative of working adults 18 and older within the United States. It was conducted July 23-26 among a sample of 800 respondents. The sample size provides 95% confidence +3.5%.
