Work, Inequality, and the Dual Career Household

Dan Wheatley and Zhongmin Wu
Authors registered in the RePEc Author Service: Zhongmin Wu (zhongmin.wu@ntu.ac.uk)

NBS Discussion Papers in Economics from Economics, Nottingham Business School, Nottingham Trent University

Abstract: Dual career households have the potential to be the most egalitarian of all households. However, while paid work is increasingly distributed evenly between career men and women, household time remains a social constraint for many women. This paper considers the distribution of work among dual career households, using weekly time-use trends, reflecting on the fit of household models and the effectiveness of current work-focused policy. Descriptive analysis, random-effects probit regression, and case households provide an empirical focus on a post-industrial economy - the UK - using the 1993-2009 British Household Panel Survey. Long hours, especially overtime, persist in managerial and professional occupations. Meanwhile, housework burdens women with up to fourteen hours of additional work per week. Preferences for shorter hours remain greater among women, reflecting the impact of household time on paid work. The evidence presented in this paper suggests that the distribution of household labor renders dual career households less than egalitarian.

Keywords: Dual career households; time-use; equality; work-time; household time (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J16 J22 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2011-07
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-hme, nep-lab and nep-lma
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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