IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/dem/demres/v52y2025i31.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

How do fathers and mothers allocate their leisure time? Patterns and inequalities across 13 European countries

Author

Listed:
  • Anna Martinez Mendiola

    (Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea (University of the Basque Country))

Abstract

Background: Spending time on leisure is widely recognised as a significant source of enjoyable psychological experiences in daily life. However, cross-national studies on time use and gender inequalities frequently overlook the study of leisure. Objective: This study has two principal objectives. First, it presents estimates of leisure time among parents, providing detailed insights into how fathers and mothers allocate their leisure time. Second, it explores patterns and variations in leisure time allocation and gender inequalities across European countries. Methods: This study uses data from the second round of the Harmonised European Time Use Survey (HETUS) to analyse leisure time among parents (n = 76,867) across 13 European countries. This research focuses on parents because of their limited opportunities for leisure. The study examines seven dimensions that consider the type of activity and the presence of other family members. Results: Analogous patterns of leisure time allocation and gender inequalities exist across Europe. Fathers and mothers spend the majority of their leisure time on sedentary activities, either alone or with other adults. However, mothers spend less leisure time overall, particularly in sedentary activities, and more leisure time with their children. Contribution: This note provides new insights into how European parents spend their leisure time, highlighting cross-country patterns in time allocation and gender inequalities via time-use data from 13 European countries. It also emphasises the importance of considering different dimensions of leisure time for a more comprehensive understanding.

Suggested Citation

  • Anna Martinez Mendiola, 2025. "How do fathers and mothers allocate their leisure time? Patterns and inequalities across 13 European countries," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 52(31), pages 1023-1036.
    • Handle: RePEc:dem:demres:v:52:y:2025:i:31
    DOI: 10.4054/DemRes.2025.52.31
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.demographic-research.org/volumes/vol52/31/52-31.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.4054/DemRes.2025.52.31?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Evrim Altintas & Oriel Sullivan, 2016. "Fifty years of change updated: Cross-national gender convergence in housework," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 35(16), pages 455-470.
    2. Kathleen Lloyd & Christopher Auld, 2002. "The Role of Leisure in Determining Quality of Life: Issues of Content and Measurement," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 57(1), pages 43-71, January.
    3. Marilyn Cantwell & Margaret Sanik, 1993. "Leisure before and after parenthood," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 30(2), pages 139-147, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Liat Raz-Yurovich, 2022. "Leisure: Definitions, Trends, and Policy Implications," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 41(3), pages 981-1019, June.
    2. Mahan, Joseph E. & Seo, Won Jae & Jordan, Jeremy S. & Funk, Daniel, 2015. "Exploring the impact of social networking sites on running involvement, running behavior, and social life satisfaction," Sport Management Review, Elsevier, vol. 18(2), pages 182-192.
    3. Prinz, Aloys & Bünger, Björn, 2009. "From full life to balanced life: Extending Martin Seligman's route to happiness," CAWM Discussion Papers 17, University of Münster, Münster Center for Economic Policy (MEP).
    4. Fatih Terzi & Handan Türkoğlu & Fulin Bölen & Perver Baran & Tayfun Salihoğlu, 2015. "Residents’ Perception of Cultural Activities as Quality of Life in Istanbul," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 122(1), pages 211-234, May.
    5. M. Sirgy, 2011. "Theoretical Perspectives Guiding QOL Indicator Projects," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 103(1), pages 1-22, August.
    6. Dong, Han & Zhang, Jun & Cirillo, Cinzia, 2019. "Exploring, understanding, and modeling the reciprocal relation between leisure and subjective well-being," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 813-824.
    7. Joan Garcia-Roman, 2025. "Gender differences in routine housework among one-person households: A cross-national analysis," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 52(12), pages 369-382.
    8. Iris Po-Yee Lo & Emma H. Liu & Sam Wai-Kam Yu, 2022. "Family and Work Lives of Lesbians in China: Implications for the Adult Worker Model," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(11), pages 1-15, May.
    9. Heiko Rüger & Stefanie Hoherz & Norbert F. Schneider & Herbert Fliege & Maria M. Bellinger & Brenton M. Wiernik, 2023. "The Effects of Urban Living Conditions on Subjective Well-Being: The Case of German Foreign Service Employees," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 18(4), pages 1939-1963, August.
    10. Muñoz, Katherine, 2023. "El nivel de disfrute durante las actividades de cuidado de hijos: Un análisis utilizando datos de la UKTUS 2014-15 [The level of enjoyment during childcare activities: An analysis using data from U," MPRA Paper 117799, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    11. Silvia Meggiolaro & Fausta Ongaro & Elena Pirani, 2024. "First Union Formation in Italy: The Role of Micro- and Macro-Level Economic Conditions," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 40(1), pages 1-34, December.
    12. Menta, Giorgia & Lepinteur, Anthony, 2021. "Boys don’t cry (or do the dishes): Family size and the housework gender gap," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 186(C), pages 164-188.
    13. Mouratidis, Kostas, 2019. "Built environment and leisure satisfaction: The role of commute time, social interaction, and active travel," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    14. Magaña, Diego, 2023. "Diferencias de género en el bienestar de los adultos en el Reino Unido (2014-15) [Gender Differences in Adult Wellbeing in the United Kingdom (2014-15)]," MPRA Paper 118560, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    15. Sunwoo Park & Hyejin Yoon & Chulmo Koo & Won Seok Lee, 2021. "Role of the Leisure Attributes of Shared Bicycles in Promoting Leisure Benefits and Quality of Life," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-11, January.
    16. Chau-kiu Cheung & Kwan-kwok Leung, 2012. "Social Mitigation of the Impact of Urban Renewal on Residents’ Morale," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 106(3), pages 523-543, May.
    17. Athary Janiso & Prakash Kumar Shukla & Bheemeshwar Reddy A, 2021. "What Explains Gender Gap in Unpaid Household and Care Work in India?," Papers 2106.15376, arXiv.org, revised Jul 2021.
    18. David Newman & Louis Tay & Ed Diener, 2014. "Leisure and Subjective Well-Being: A Model of Psychological Mechanisms as Mediating Factors," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 15(3), pages 555-578, June.
    19. Oliviero Carboni & Paolo Russu, 2015. "Assessing Regional Wellbeing in Italy: An Application of Malmquist–DEA and Self-organizing Map Neural Clustering," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 122(3), pages 677-700, July.
    20. Dury, Sarah & Stas, Lara & Switsers, Lise & Duppen, Daan & Domènech-Abella, Joan & Dierckx, Eva & Donder, Liesbeth De, 2021. "Gender-related differences in the relationship between social and activity participation and health and subjective well-being in later life," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 270(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • J1 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics
    • Z0 - Other Special Topics - - General

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:dem:demres:v:52:y:2025:i:31. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Editorial Office (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.demogr.mpg.de/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.