Trends in Time Allocation: A Cross-Country Analysis

José Ignacio Gimenez-Nadal () and Almudena Sevilla ()
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José Ignacio Gimenez-Nadal: University of Zaragoza
Authors registered in the RePEc Author Service: Jose Ignacio Gimenez-Nadal ()

No 6709, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: Using detailed time-use data for seven industrialized countries from the 1970s until today we document general decreases in men's market work coupled with increases in men's unpaid work and child care, and increases in women's paid work and child care coupled with decreases in unpaid work. We also find almost universal increases in the time devoted to watching television over this period, and uncover a widespread increase in leisure inequality in favor of lower educated adults. Trends in leisure inequality mirror the general increase in income and earnings inequality experienced in most countries over this period, especially after the mid-1980s. All these findings are consistent with previous results for the US. However, in contrast to the increases in leisure found for the US, we fail to find common trends in leisure time across countries over the period analyzed.

Keywords: leisure inequality; time use survey (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D12 D13 J2 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 56 pages
Date: 2012-07
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-eur and nep-lma
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (173)

Published - published in: European Economic Review, 2012, 56(6), 1338-1359

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Related works:
Journal Article: Trends in time allocation: A cross-country analysis (2012)
Working Paper: Trends in Time Allocation: A Cross-Country Analysis (2011)
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