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The determinants of housework time

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  • Leslie S. Stratton

    (Virginia Commonwealth University, USA, and IZA, Germany)

Abstract

The time household members in industrialized countries spend on housework and shopping is substantial, amounting on average to about half as much time as is spent on paid employment. Women bear the brunt of this burden, a difference that is driven in part by the gender differential in wages. Efforts to reduce the gender wage gap and alter gendered norms of behavior should reduce the gender bias in household production time and reduce inefficiency in home production. Policymakers should also note the impact of tax policy on housework time and consider ways to reduce the distortions caused by sales and income taxes.

Suggested Citation

  • Leslie S. Stratton, 2015. "The determinants of housework time," IZA World of Labor, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), pages 133-133, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izawol:journl:y:2015:n:133
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hirsch, Boris & Konietzko, Thorsten, 2013. "The effect of housework on wages in Germany : no impact at all," Journal for Labour Market Research, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany], vol. 46(2), pages 103-118.
    2. Hirsch, Boris & Konietzko, Thorsten, 2013. "The effect of housework on wages in Germany : no impact at all," Journal for Labour Market Research, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany], vol. 46(2), pages 103-118.
    3. Jens Bonke & Mette Deding & Mette Lausten & Leslie S. Stratton, 2008. "Intra‐Household Specialization in Housework in the United States and Denmark," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 89(4), pages 1023-1043, December.
    4. Elena G. F. Stancanelli & Leslie S. Stratton, 2014. "Maids, Appliances and Couples' Housework: The Demand for Inputs to Domestic Production," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 81(323), pages 445-467, July.
    5. 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.
    6. repec:hal:pseose:hal-00966801 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Kabátek, Jan & van Soest, Arthur & Stancanelli, Elena, 2014. "Income taxation, labour supply and housework: A discrete choice model for French couples," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(C), pages 30-43.
    8. Mark Aguiar & Erik Hurst, 2007. "Measuring Trends in Leisure: The Allocation of Time Over Five Decades," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 122(3), pages 969-1006.
    9. Flipo, Anne & Fougere, Denis & Olier, Lucile, 2007. "Is the household demand for in-home services sensitive to tax reductions? The French case," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(1-2), pages 365-385, February.
    10. Leslie S. Stratton, 2012. "The Role of Preferences and Opportunity Costs in Determining the Time Allocated to Housework," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 102(3), pages 606-611, May.
    11. Nabanita Datta Gupta & Leslie Stratton, 2010. "Examining the impact of alternative power measures on individual time use in American and Danish couple households," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 8(3), pages 325-343, September.
    12. Alan B. Krueger, 2007. "Are We Having More Fun Yet? Categorizing and Evaluating Changes in Time Alloction," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 38(2), pages 193-218.
    13. Mark Aguiar & Erik Hurst & Loukas Karabarbounis, 2013. "Time Use during the Great Recession," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 103(5), pages 1664-1696, August.
    14. Alexander M. Gelber & Joshua W. Mitchell, 2012. "Taxes and Time Allocation: Evidence from Single Women and Men," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 79(3), pages 863-897.
    15. Boris Hirsch & Thorsten Konietzko, 2013. "The effect of housework on wages in Germany: no impact at all [Der Einfluss von Hausarbeit auf die Löhne in Deutschland]," Journal for Labour Market Research, Springer;Institute for Employment Research/ Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), vol. 46(2), pages 103-118, August.
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    Cited by:

    1. Cristina Borra & Martin Browning & Almudena Sevilla, 2021. "Marriage and housework," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 73(2), pages 479-508.
    2. 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.
    3. Jingyue Zhang & Yipeng Tian, 2019. "Housework Division and Second-Child Fertility Anxiety among Couples in China: The Urban and Rural Differences," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(20), pages 1-14, October.
    4. J. Ignacio Gimenez-Nadal & José Alberto Molina & Yu Zhu, 2018. "Intergenerational mobility of housework time in the United Kingdom," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 16(4), pages 911-937, December.
    5. Espino, Ilya & Hermeto, Ana & Luz, Luciana, 2020. "Gender differences in time allocation to paid and unpaid work: Evidence from Urban Guatemala, 2000-2014," MPRA Paper 106477, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Jesper R.-V. Soerensen, 2020. "Testing a Class of Semi- or Nonparametric Conditional Moment Restriction Models using Series Methods," Discussion Papers 20-04, University of Copenhagen. Department of Economics.
    7. Agénor, Pierre-Richard & Agénor, Madina, 2023. "Access to infrastructure and women’s time allocation: Implications for growth and gender equality," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    housework; gender; home production; tax policy;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D13 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Household Production and Intrahouse Allocation
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • H31 - Public Economics - - Fiscal Policies and Behavior of Economic Agents - - - Household
    • J10 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - General

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