7am is the median get-up time for the public
You can’t go long before hearing about some famous person’s extraordinary early start and daily routine. American actor Mark Wahlberg announced in 2023 that he was amending his punishing 2.30am get-up time to a mere 3.30am. Last year saw Gregg Wallace make headlines for his 5am start on a Saturday (among other things about the daily activities), while most recently influencer Ashton Hall has faced ridicule for his own routine, kicking off at 4am.
Similarly, writer Robin Sharmer published his self-help book “The 5am Club” in 2018, which espoused the benefits of rising at 5 and dividing the first hour or the day into three 20-minute segments: exercise, reflection, and learning.
Sharmer and other early-morning advocates have won few followers, however. Only 12% of Britons say they get up prior to 6am on a workday, and just 5% do so at 5am or earlier.
Instead, the most common time to rise and shine is 7am, which 16% of Britons have the alarm set for. This is also the median get-up time among the public as a whole.
The second most common get-up answer is 6am, on 10%, as well as 6.30am, 7.30am, and 8am on 9% apiece.
Overall, when we asked Britons to write down their getting-up time, 65% of Britons told us they typically rise at a time between 6am to 8am.
Britons who live in a household without children are able to stay in bed for a little longer on average. While the median get-up time for this group is 7.15am, among those with children living at home it is 6.45am. For those with children aged four or younger, this time creeps back another quarter of an hour to 6.30am.
While students may be commonly depicted as layabouts who sleep in half the day after a boozy night, the median get-up time for those currently studying is 7am, the same as the wider public, and only 15 minutes ahead of the working population.
It is those who have hung up their work tools for good who tend to get up later, with the median get-up time for retired Britons being 8am.
What time do you get up in the morning? What do you think about the amount of sleep you get, your health more generally, and everything else? Have your say, join the YouGov panel, and get paid to share your thoughts. Sign up here.
Photo: Getty
