Time Allocation between Work and Family Over the Life-Cycle: A Comparative Gender Analysis of Italy, France, Sweden and the United States

38 Pages Posted: 3 Dec 2007

See all articles by Dominique Anxo

Dominique Anxo

Department of Economics and Statistics, Linnaeus University

Lennart Flood

Goeteborg University - School of Business, Economics and Law; IZA Institute of Labor Economics

Letizia Mencarini

Bocconi University - DONDENA - Carlo F. Dondena Centre for Research on Social Dynamics

Ariane Pailhé

National Institute of Demographic Studies (INED)

Anne Solaz

National Institute of Demographic Studies (INED)

Maria Letizia Tanturri

University of Pavia

Date Written: November 2007

Abstract

This article analyzes the extent to which changes in household composition over the life course affect the gender division of labor. It identifies and analyzes cross-country disparities between France, Italy, Sweden and United States, using most recent data available from the Time Use National Surveys. We focus on gender differences in the allocation of time between market work, domestic work and leisure over the life-cycle. In order to map the life-cycle, we distinguish between nine key cross-country comparable life stages according to age and family structure such as exiting parental home, union formation, parenthood, and retiring from work. By using appropriate regression techniques (Tobit with selection, Tobit and OLS), we show large discrepancies in the gender division of labor at the different life stages. This gender gap exists in all countries at any stage of the life course, but is usually smaller at the two ends of the age distribution, and larger with parenthood. Beyond social norms, the impact of parenthood on time allocation varies across countries, being smaller in those where work-family balance policies are more effective and traditionally well-established.

Keywords: time use, gender, life-cycle, paid and unpaid work

JEL Classification: D13, J22, O17

Suggested Citation

Anxo, Dominique and Flood, Lennart and Mencarini, Letizia and Pailhé, Ariane and Solaz, Anne and Tanturri, Maria Letizia, Time Allocation between Work and Family Over the Life-Cycle: A Comparative Gender Analysis of Italy, France, Sweden and the United States (November 2007). IZA Discussion Paper No. 3193, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1049381 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1049381

Dominique Anxo

Department of Economics and Statistics, Linnaeus University ( email )

SE-351 95
Sweden
+46 708 83 41 54 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://lnu.se/forskargrupper/cafo/personal

Lennart Flood (Contact Author)

Goeteborg University - School of Business, Economics and Law ( email )

Box 640
SE 405 30 Goeteborg
Sweden
+46 31 773 1331 (Phone)
+46 31 773 1043 (Fax)

IZA Institute of Labor Economics

P.O. Box 7240
Bonn, D-53072
Germany

Letizia Mencarini

Bocconi University - DONDENA - Carlo F. Dondena Centre for Research on Social Dynamics ( email )

Via Roentgen 1
Milan, 20136
Italy

Ariane Pailhé

National Institute of Demographic Studies (INED) ( email )

133, Boulevard Davout
Paris cedex 20, France 75980
France
+33 (0) 1 56 0622 74 (Phone)
+33 (0) 1 56 0621 99 (Fax)

Anne Solaz

National Institute of Demographic Studies (INED) ( email )

133 Bd Davout
Paris cedex 20, France 75980
France

Maria Letizia Tanturri

University of Pavia ( email )

Corso Strada Nuova, 65
27100 Pavia, 27100
Italy

HOME PAGE: http://www.unipv.it/dipstea/tanturri.htm

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