The Friday File: What do the involuntary unemployed do with their free time? Researchers find that about 40% of their “free” time is spent working in the home which includes cooking, doing laundry, shopping, home improvement projects, caring for elder parents etc… 30% of the time goes to sleeping longer and TV. Another 30% is spent on other leisure activities like reading and going to movies. As for searching for a new job, that takes up about 1% of the extra hours!