Gender Gaps in Time Use and Labor Market Outcomes: What’s Norms Got to Do with it?

Although economists typically use efficiency gains to explain gender differences in time use and earnings, norms might also explain those differences. No study has attempted to quantify their relative influence, however. We use the American Community Survey and the American Time Use Survey to estimate an upper bound of the influence of efficiency gains relative to norms—broadly defined—using four groups of demographically matched individuals with relatively homogeneous within-group need for production. Results suggest that norms about work and home may explain 40% of the gap in time allocation for work and household production and about 60% of the wage gap. Norms about parenting may explain an additional 16 to 20% of the time use gaps and 25% of the wage gap. These findings suggest that research and policy might benefit from a grounding in a broad framework that includes both norms and efficiency gains.