Some studies show that many women still work a second shift. That is, they not only work outside the home, but also shoulder the major responsibility for work done within the home.
But a new study conducted at Grand Valley says that's not exactly true. Women still do the majority of household labor, but men make up for that by working more in the marketplace.
A gender and economics class taught by Sonia Dalmia, professor of economics in the Seidman School of Business looked into gender and time use by conducting a survey of 700 households in the region to research time-use patterns by gender.
The study's aim was to determine whether women are working outside thehome as well as shouldering the major responsibility of household labor, as well as looking at how the shifts in women's labor force participation may be associated with changes in household division of labor.
The information we gathered via the survey not only adds to our knowledge of the relationship between gender, market work, and housework, said Dalmia. It also helps the students to evaluate the correlation between classroom learning and its real life application and spillovers. This is particularly important as almost all of them are going to form households sometime in the near future.
This project also helped students encounter the phenomena of gender from the viewpoint of economics. They are learning how to apply the theoretical and empirical tools of economics in understanding the circumstances of men and women in their community, Dalmia added.
Some other interesting results include:
- Adding the total time spent working per week (excluding childcare), it turns out that men work more than women overall. Men work a little more than 58 hours a week, while women work a little more than 57 hours.
- Women who are married spend more time in household labor than women who are simply living with a significant other. On the other hand, cohabitating men work less than married men, but they do more around the house.
- Men with children are more likely to spend extra time in the workplace than at home doing the laundry or other household tasks.
- Men spend a little more than 17 hours a week in pursuing leisure activities, while women spend a little less than 17 hours a week on leisure. Though both household labor time and paid labor time effect leisure, there are no gender differences on their impact on leisure time.
