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Gender differences in time use
This edition of the newsletter focuses on gender differences in time use. Time use data reveals how, partly due to gender norms and roles, men and women spend their time differently. There is an unequal distribution of paid and unpaid work time, with women generally bearing a disproportionately higher responsibility for unpaid work and spending proportionately less time in paid work than men.

We compile papers to understand the gender gap in time use, datasets you can use to research time use, and an infographic on how time use surveys are conducted.

As always, the edition includes information about jobs and internships shared by members over WhatsApp. Happy Reading!
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This edition has been curated by Fizza Suhel, Prerna Kundu, Ria Dutta, Sharvari Ravishankar and Vasanthi Swetha (who made the infographic)

The following key denotes whether or not a particular paper is open access:
(*) : Open Access 
(#): Not Open Access 

Images used are from Images of Empowerment
Dive into readings
Gender differences in time use
Gender Difference in Time Use*: The study was conducted across 19 countries and used time use survey & household survey data to track the time use pattern of women and men of a household. The paper focuses on four aggregate categories: market or paid work, unpaid domestic work, personal care activities, and leisure, social and study activities and tries to understand how life events like marriage & parenthood impact the time-use of the household.

The Time & Timing Costs of Market Costs*: The paper uses the American Time Use Survey of 2003 and 2004 and examines whether additional market work has neutral impacts on the mix of non-market activities. The estimates indicate that fixed time costs of market work alter patterns of non-market activities, reducing leisure time and mostly increasing time devoted to household production. These impacts have a different impact on women and men considering the time difference on non-market activities.

The Feminization of Labor and the Time-Use Gender Gap in Rural China (#): The paper investigates the impact of economic development on the feminization of labor in rural China between 1991 and 2006. Using data from the China Health and Nutrition Survey, the study estimates time use in three sectors (farm, off-farm, and domestic). It argues that measuring the feminization of labor with time use rather than labor force participation data may be relevant to feminist analyses in other regions and countries, since it enables a more nuanced evaluation of the impacts of economic development on changes in the well-being of women.

Revisiting the Gender Gap in Time-Use Patterns: Multitasking and Well-Being among Mothers and Fathers in Dual-Earner Families (#): The study suggests that multitasking constitutes an important source of gender inequality, which can help explain previous findings that mothers feel more burdened and stressed than do fathers even when they have relatively similar workloads. Using data from the 500 Family Study, including surveys and the Experience Sampling Method, the study examines activities parents simultaneously engage in and how they feel when multitasking.

Hours, Occupations, and Gender Differences in Labor Market Outcomes*: The authors use a unified model of occupational choice and labor supply to shed light on gender differences in labor market outcomes that arise because of gender asymmetries in home production responsibilities. The model generates large gender gaps in hours of work, occupational choices, and wages.

What Do We Learn About Gender by Analyzing Housework Separately From Child Care? Some Considerations From Time‐Use Evidence (#) : This article presents an overview of the gendered distinctions between housework and child care. The author discusses findings that demonstrate differences between the gendered performance of housework and child care at the individual, institutional, and interactional levels of the gender structure. They show that distinguishing between housework and child care at these different levels of analysis aids in developing a more nuanced appreciation of the processes that underpin the gender division of domestic work, and they argue that these distinctions have important implications for gender theory and policy.

Time use and public policy
Gender, Time Use, and Public Policy over the Life Cycle*: The paper compares gender differences in the allocation of time to market work, domestic work, child care, and leisure over the life cycle. Time-use profiles for these activity categories are constructed on survey data for three countries: Australia, the UK, and Germany. The extent to which gender differences and life-cycle variation in time use can be explained by public policy, focusing on the tax treatment of the female partner and on access to high-quality, affordable child care.  The paper also highlights the fact that female labour supply exhibits a very high degree of heterogeneity after the arrival of children, and shows that this has important implications for public policy.

Time Use, Gender, and Public Policy Regimes*: The authors question if it is possible to specify public policy regime effects on patterns of time use. The data used are drawn from a multinational time-use data archive held at the Institute for Social and Economic Research at the University of Essex. A clear relationship is found between public policy regime and paid work time (those in liberal market regimes work longer on average), however, there are no consistent regime effects found either for the amount of time spent in different leisure activities or in respect of the domestic division of labor.

Measuring time use
Explorations:Time-Use Surveys in the South*: The paper focuses on time-use surveys in the global south. Time-use experts in the South face similar challenges to those working in other countries, but they also have to come to terms with the restrictions faced in less developed contexts – notably higher illiteracy rates and limited statistical budgets. Their discussion of methodological and logistical issues holds particular relevance for developing countries moving toward the implementation of time-use surveys.

Three Case Studies of Time Use Survey Application in Lower and Middle-Income Countries*: This report draws on the learnings of TUS from Benin, Mexico and India. It focuses on the Impact Assessment of the time use surveys in these three countries and assesses its legitimacy and added value to gender disaggregated data. It also provides recommendations for using TUS to improve the status of women in these countries.

Why time use data matters for gender equality—and why it’s hard to find*: A World Bank blog on the importance of time use data in measuring gender inequality

Measuring Care: Gender, Empowerment,and the Care Economy*: The paper makes a case for the development of additional indices focused on burdens of financial and temporal responsibility for the care of dependents. Better measures of the inputs into care, rather than merely capturing some of the outputs of care in terms of improved health and education in the Human Development Index is the need of the hour. The author proposes indices like the Gender Equity Index which classifies countries and rank them in accordance with a selection of gender inequity indicators in three dimensions, education, economic participation and empowerment.
Understanding time use surveys
The infographic above is based on the readings compiled in the previous section, along with the following papers:
  1. An Overview of Time Use Surveys by Duncan Ironmonger
  2. Time-Use Measurement and Research: Report of a Workshop, Chapter 5 (Survey Design Issues)
Time Use Datasets
1. Time Use Survey - India: National Statistical Office (NSO) conducted the first Time Use Survey (TUS) in India during January to December 2019. The data can be downloaded from the website (as text files), which also contains information on the estimation procedure. You can read summary results from the survey in a press release (here) and an article (here)

2. Multinational Time Use Study (MTUS) :The Multinational Time Use Study (MTUS) brings together more than a million diary days from over 70 randomly sampled national-scale surveys, into a single standardised format. MTUS allows researchers to analyse time spent by people in various sorts of work and leisure activities, over the last 55 years and across 30 countries.

3. OECD Time Use Database and Gender Data Portal: Data on time use from OECD countries as well as China, India and South Africa.

4. IPUMS USA : IPUMS USA contains harmonized census and American Community Survey (ACS) data from 1790 to the present.
Browse jobs and internships shared by members 
Note: These are jobs shared by members over WhatsApp over the last 3 weeks. Please check if positions are still open before applying. If you are thinking about applying to one of these, you can also drop a message on the WhatsApp group or on the google group to connect with members currently working in these organisations.

1. Job Openings: 2. Internships: 3. Websites that compile job postings:
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