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Gender Convergence in Couples' Time Use Following the COVID-19 Pandemic

Author

Listed:
  • Binder, Ariel

    (Resarch Fellow, American Institute for Boys and Men)

Abstract

This paper uses American Time Use Survey data to show that prime-age men's and women's average weekly work hours followed parallel trends from 2011-19, but then abruptly converged in the years following the COVID-19 pandemic. This convergence was driven by the changing behavior of couples, for whom the gender gap in weekly hours of paid work closed by 4.3 on a base of 14.7 (29.3%). While historical gender convergence has been driven by wives, husbands accounted for three-quarters (all) of the recent convergence in paid work (unpaid housework). I find that two labor market factors associated with the pandemic - sectoral reallocation and remote work-exposure - explain little of observed time-use changes in samples of husbands and fathers, although they explain 44% of the shrinking college-noncollege gap in paid work observed among fathers. These results suggest an ongoing shift in labor supply factors associated with fatherhood that may be stronger among the college-educated.

Suggested Citation

  • Binder, Ariel, 2026. "Gender Convergence in Couples' Time Use Following the COVID-19 Pandemic," IZA Discussion Papers 18657, IZA Network @ LISER.
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18657
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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J21 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply

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