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Market Work, Housework and Childcare: A Time Use Approach

Author

Listed:
  • Emanuela Cardia

    (Universite de Montreal)

  • Paul Gomme

    (Concordia University)

Abstract

Raising children takes considerable time, particularly for women. Yet, the role of childcare time has received scant attention in the macroeconomics literature. We develop a life-cycle model in which the time dimension of childcare plays a central role. An important contribution of the paper is estimation of the parameters of a childcare production function using data on primary and secondary childcare time as reported in the American Time Use Survey (2003--2015). The model does a better job matching the observed life-cycle patterns of womens' time use than a model without childcare. Our counterfactual experiments show that the increase in the relative wage of women since the 1960s is an important factor in the increase in womens' work time; changes in fertility associated with the baby boom play a smaller role, and changes in the price of durables are found to have a negligible effect. We consider the effects of cheaper daycare. Not surprisingly, this experiment leads to greater use of daycare and more time allocated to market work. A knock-on effect of cheaper daycare is a substantial decline in primary childcare time. (Copyright: Elsevier)

Suggested Citation

  • Emanuela Cardia & Paul Gomme, 2018. "Market Work, Housework and Childcare: A Time Use Approach," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 29, pages 1-14, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:red:issued:15-177
    DOI: 10.1016/j.red.2017.12.002
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    Cited by:

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    2. Job Boerma & Loukas Karabarbounis, 2021. "Inferring Inequality With Home Production," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 89(5), pages 2517-2556, September.
    3. Delalibera, Bruno Ricardo & Ferreira, Pedro Cavalcanti, 2019. "Early childhood education and economic growth," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 82-104.
    4. Guillaume Perilleux, 2022. "Time and Money spent on Children: Effect of the (Grand)Parents’ Education and Substitution within Time Allocations," Working Papers ECARES 2022-04, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    5. Grant, Darren, 2022. "The “Quiet Revolution” and the cesarean section in the United States," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 47(C).
    6. Matthias Doepke & Anne Hannusch & Fabian Kindermann & Michèle Tertilt, 2022. "The Economics of Fertility: A New Era," NBER Working Papers 29948, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. Henriques, C.O. & Marcenaro-Gutierrez, O.D. & Lopez-Agudo, Luis Alejandro, 2020. "Getting a balance in the life satisfaction determinants of full-time and part-time European workers," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 87-113.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • D13 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Household Production and Intrahouse Allocation
    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity
    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth

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