During the past recession, many people worked less hours due to either unemployment or underemployment. So what did they do with that extra free time? Well, it appears that they used it mostly for leisure activities. It was allocated to sleeping more than anything (20%). Other leisure activities was a close second (15%) and watching TV was also near the top of the list (12%). There were also some interesting differences between men and women. Men spent 19% of their extra free time watching TV while women only spent 13% of their time doing so. Women also spent more time catching up on sleep than men (24% to 12%).

Source: Freakonomics Blog