Where does the time go?: Decomposing men and women’s time use following a first-birth

Annabel Siegal () and Joanna Venator
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Annabel Siegal: Boston College

No 1113, Boston College Working Papers in Economics from Boston College Department of Economics

Abstract: Is there a motherhood penalty in time use? Using a pseudo-event study design, we document that women’s time spent on childcare and housework increases more post-birth than men’s. Women are also more likely to spend more time on multi-tasking with women reporting a larger increase in time spent on childcare done simultaneously with leisure and housework. Using state-by-year variation in paid family leave legislation, we show that these policies change the motherhood penalty in time-use, increasing the gap in time use in the year of birth but reducing the gap in the years post-birth.

Keywords: childcare; female labor supply; time use (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J13 J22 J38 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026-06-29
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