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Time Use of Mothers and Fathers in Hard Times: The US Recession of 2007-09

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  • Gunseli Berik
  • Ebru Kongar

Abstract

The recession precipitated by the US financial crisis of 2007 accelerated the convergence of women's and men's employment rates, as men experienced disproportionate job losses and women's entry into the labor force gathered pace. Using the American Time Use Survey (ATUS) data for 2003-10, this study examines whether the recession also occasioned a decline in disparity in unpaid work burdens and provided impetus for overall progress toward equity in the workloads, leisure time, and personal care hours of mothers and fathers. Controlling for the prerecession trends, we find that the recession contributed to the convergence of both paid and unpaid work only during the December 2007-June 2009 period. The combined effect of the recession and the jobless recovery was a move toward equity in the paid work hours of mothers and fathers, a relative increase in the total workload of mothers, and a relative decline in their personal care and leisure time.

Suggested Citation

  • Gunseli Berik & Ebru Kongar, 2012. "Time Use of Mothers and Fathers in Hard Times: The US Recession of 2007-09," Economics Working Paper Archive wp_726, Levy Economics Institute.
    • Handle: RePEc:lev:wrkpap:wp_726
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Jean Kimmel & Rachel Connelly, 2007. "Mothers’ Time Choices: Caregiving, Leisure, Home Production, and Paid Work," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 42(3).
    2. Günseli Berik & Ebru Kongar, 2011. "Time Use of Mothers and Fathers in Hard Times and Better Times: the U.S. Business Cycle of 2003-2010," Working Paper Series, Department of Economics, University of Utah 2011_16, University of Utah, Department of Economics.
    3. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/eu4vqp9ompqllr09j0h08322p is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Morrill, Melinda Sandler & Pabilonia, Sabrina Wulff, 2012. "What Effects Do Macroeconomic Conditions Have on Families' Time Together?," IZA Discussion Papers 6529, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
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    6. Gunseli Berik & Ebru Kongar, 2011. "Time Use of Mothers and Fathers in Hard Times and Better Times: The US Business Cycle of 2003-10," Economics Working Paper Archive wp_696, Levy Economics Institute.
    7. Michael Burda & Daniel Hamermesh & Philippe Weil, 2013. "Total work and gender: facts and possible explanations," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 26(1), pages 239-261, January.
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    Cited by:

    1. Vance, Colin & Procher, Vivien, 2013. "Who Does the Shopping? German time-use evidence, 1996-2009," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 2357, pages 125-133.
    2. Vivien Procher & Colin Vance, 2013. "Who Does the Shopping? – German Time-use Evidence, 1996–2009," Ruhr Economic Papers 0393, Rheinisch-Westfälisches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Universität Dortmund, Universität Duisburg-Essen.
    3. repec:zbw:rwirep:0393 is not listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Economics of Gender; Unemployment; Time Use; Economic Crises;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D13 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Household Production and Intrahouse Allocation
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply
    • J64 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Unemployment: Models, Duration, Incidence, and Job Search

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