Gender, occupation, and time allocation for market work, commuting, and housework

The objectives of this study were to investigate the determinants of employed women's allocation of time for housework, market work, and commuting; to compare the time allocation by women and men in relation to their hourly wages; and also to compare the time allocation of women in male-dominated and non-male-dominated occupations in relation to their hourly wages. From the 13,017 cases in the NSFH data set, 4,171 employed individuals were selected. They consisted of 1,990 men and 2,181 women who were householders or spouses of householders, between the ages of 25 and 55 years, and living in a household with no live-in relatives.The empirical analyses of time allocation were conducted using the OLS method, with system of equations in reduced form for market work, commuting, and housework. Separate analyses were carried out for men and women, and the corresponding coefficients from the two sample groups were compared. The wage coefficient was not significant in explaining the differences for market work and housework time allocation between genders but was significant for commuting time allocation. The variables differentiating women's market work and housework hours from men's were mainly housework related. Women who were married and/or had young children in the household had significantly reduced their market work and increased housework hours.Differences in time allocation for women in non-male-dominated and male-dominated occupations were investigated. Regression analyses showed that market work time had a positive relationship with hourly wage for women in non-male-dominated occupations and a negative relationship for women in male-dominated occupations. The wage variable was not significantly different for commuting and housework time between women in non-male- and male-dominated occupations.Thus, based on the empirical results of this study, it is concluded that while some differences continue to exist between employed men and women in their time allocation for commuting, analysis of market work and housework time failed to show the statistical differences in relation to predicted hourly wage between genders, and the existing differences are likely to narrow as the gender-based inequities in the larger society and within the household decrease. Wage equity, in particular, will have substantial impacts on bridging the gaps between comparable men and women as far as their commitments of time to their jobs and commuting time are concerned.Results of this study shed further light on the similarities and differences in time allocation between women in male-dominated and non-male-dominated occupations. These differences are particularly significant for the time commitments to market work. A decline in gender biases in occupations and wages may substantially reduce the differences in time allocation between comparable women in different occupations.U of I OnlyETDs are only available to UIUC Users without author permissio