Jose Ignacio Gimenez-Nadal

Gender Roles and the Division of Unpaid Work in Spanish Households

Abstract This paper examines the role of the doing-gender hypothesis versus traditional models of the household in explaining how the womans share of home labor varies with relative earnings. The findings, using the 2002–3 Spanish Time Use Survey (STUS; Spanish Statistical Office 2003), support the doing-gender hypothesis in the case of housework: a womans relative share of housework fails to decrease with her relative earnings beyond the point where her earnings are the same as her husbands. In contrast, a womans share of childcare time displays a flat pattern over the distribution of her spouses relative earnings. This last result is neither consistent with traditional theories of the household, nor with the doing-gender hypothesis. It can, however, still be interpreted in light of social norms, whereby women specialize in this type of caring activity regardless of their relative productivity or bargaining power.

Leisure Inequality in the United States: 1965-2003

This article exploits the complex sequential structure of the diary data in the American Heritage Time Use Study (AHTUS) and constructs three classes of indicators that capture the quality of leisure (pure leisure, co-present leisure, and leisure fragmentation) to show that the relative growth in leisure time enjoyed by low-educated individuals documented in previous studies has been accompanied by a relative decrease in the quality of that leisure time. These results are not driven by any single leisure activity, such as time spent watching television. Our findings may offer a more comprehensive picture of inequality in the United States and provide a basis for weighing the relative decline in earnings and consumption for the less-educated against the simultaneous relative growth of leisure.

Self-employment and time stress: the effect of leisure quality

Levels of time stress have increased markedly over the last 30 years, affecting well-being. Self-employment is viewed as allowing the individual greater autonomy and more flexible hours, which may reduce time stress. This article analyses time stress of the self-employed, compared to the employed, using the Spanish Time Use Survey (2002/03) finding that, when objective indicators of time allocation are included, being self-employed increases the time stress perceived by men, with our interpretation being based on the notion that not only the quantity but also the quality of leisure matters.

Total work time in Spain: evidence from time diary data

Using detailed time-use data from 2002–03 and 2009–10 for Spain, we analyse changes in the time-allocation decisions of the Spanish population, with a focus on the time devoted to total work. Consistent with prior literature, we document that the concept of ‘iso-work’ (e.g. the time devoted to total work by gender is equal) does not hold in societies with stringent gender roles, such as Spain. Women devote more time to total work than men, and this difference has increased throughout the period studied by 2 hours per week. The relative increase in total work for women compared to men can be explained by a relative increase in market work of 8 hours per week, coupled with a relative decrease in nonmarket work of 6 hours per week, which have led Spanish women to devote, relatively, 2 fewer hours to leisure per week in 2009–10, compared to 2002–03. We propose social norms as a potential explanation of these empirical findings. By uncovering how individuals allocate their time inside and outside the market over a period of time, our results may improve our understanding of the dynamics of economic change and welfare.

How do children affect parents’ allocation of time?

There is an extensive literature examining the relationship between elder care, child care and labour market activities, although these studies have largely overlooked their simultaneity. This article explores the relationship between these three activities, accounting for the influence that children have on parental allocation of time, using the 2002–2003 Spanish Time Use Survey (STUS). We find that the presence of children has quantitatively significant positive effects on the extent of dependent care-giving activities, with this increase in care-giving being compensated for by a decrease in the time devoted to the labour market.

Spatial distribution of US employment in an urban efficiency wage setting

We analyze whether efficiency wages operate in urban labor markets, within the framework proposed by Ross and Zenou, in which shirking at work and leisure are assumed to be substitutes. We use unique data from the American Time Use Survey (ATUS) that allow us to analyze the relationships between leisure, shirking, commuting, employment, and earnings. We confirm that shirking and leisure are substitutes, and present an estimate of this relationship, representing the only empirical test of the relationship between a workers time endowment and shirking at work. Our findings point to the existence of efficiency wages in labor markets.

Measuring satisfaction of the unemployed: a composite indicator and policy implications

Given that unemployment is one of the main economic problems, policymakers debate the possible solutions. We contribute to this debate by analysing the general satisfaction of the unemployed in Spain and comparing it with that of the employed. To this end, we create a composite indicator of general satisfaction using responses in the European Community Household Panel (ECHP) (1994–2001) relating to specific satisfaction in different areas, work, financial, home and leisure time. We find that being unemployed has a significant and negative association with the general satisfaction of individuals and, in consequence, we conclude that the Spanish unemployment problem cannot be attributed, at least not entirely, to a lack of incentives for seeking work.

Gender Norms and the Gendered Distribution of Total Work in Latin American Households

ABSTRACT This study uses time-use survey data for Mexico, Peru, and Ecuador (from 2009, 2010, and 2012, respectively) to analyze differences between countries in terms of the gendered distribution of total work, which includes both paid and unpaid work. It explores whether the variations in the total time worked by women and men, and, particularly, the gender gap unfavorable to women, can be explained by substantive national differences in gendered social norms. Using data from the World Values Survey (WVS; 2010–14), this study computes a gender norms index to measure cross-country differences in gender norms. It finds that more egalitarian countries exhibit higher levels of equality in the gendered distribution of total work.