Earnings and the Stratification of Unpaid Time Among U.S. Women

Relatively few quantitative studies have examined socioeconomic differences in time allocation among women, with the exception of Kahneman et al. (2006). This article presents a preliminary analysis of variation by earnings in women’s time spent outside of paid work. We analyze women’s time on leisure, housework, and with children. Recent studies of leisure have found that professionals and highly educated people have less free time than individuals of lower socioeconomic status (Aguiar and Hurst 2007; Gershuny 2000; Jacobs and Gerson 2004). However, diverse forms of leisure may have quite different implications for individuals’ health and well being. Less time in active leisure is associated with negative health outcomes, such as greater risks of obesity, heart disease, and reduced physical functioning. Most conceptualizations of leisure (Bittman and Wajcman 2000; Juster 1999) aggregate varied activities such as watching TV and physical exercise (e.g., Aguiar and Hurst 2007). By contrast, we analyze differences in women’s time spent specifically on active, or health oriented leisure activities. With regard to housework, recent studies (e.g., Gupta 2007) have found a negative relationship between women’s earnings and their time spent on housework, but based on retrospective estimate data rather than the diary data employed here. Unlike studies confined to ‘‘core’’ household chores such as cooking and cleaning, we include time spent on stereotypically ‘‘male’’ or shared housework, such as outdoor chores and financial tasks. Finally, previous research has already established that women’s time spent with children is positively associated with their education (e.g., Sayer et al. 2004). Here we consider the relationship between women’s earnings and (1) routine care, and (2) recreational or