Time Use of Parents in the United States: What Difference Did the Great Recession Make?

Levy Economics Institute, Working Papers Series No. 812

39 Pages Posted: 6 Aug 2014

See all articles by Ebru Kongar

Ebru Kongar

Dickinson College - Department of Economics

Gunseli Berik

University of Utah

Date Written: August 4, 2014

Abstract

Feminist and institutionalist literature has challenged the “Mancession” narrative of the 2007-09 recession and produced nuanced and gender-aware analyses of the labor market and well-being outcomes of the recession. Using American Time Use Survey (ATUS) data for 2003-12, his paper examines the recession’s impact on gendered patterns of time use over the course of the 2003-12 business cycle. We find that the gender disparity in paid and unpaid work hours followed a U-shaped pattern, narrowing during the recession and widening slightly during the jobless recovery. The change in unpaid work disparity was smaller than that in paid work, and was short-lived. Consequently, mothers’ total workload increased under the hardships of the Great Recession and declined only slightly during the recovery.

Keywords: Economics of Gender, Economic Crises, Time Use, Unemployment, Unpaid Labor

JEL Classification: D13, J16, J64

Suggested Citation

Kongar, Ebru and Berik, Gunseli, Time Use of Parents in the United States: What Difference Did the Great Recession Make? (August 4, 2014). Levy Economics Institute, Working Papers Series No. 812, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2475903 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2475903

Ebru Kongar (Contact Author)

Dickinson College - Department of Economics ( email )

Carlisle, PA 17013
United States

Gunseli Berik

University of Utah ( email )

260 S. Central Campus Dr.
OSH 243
Salt Lake City, UT 84112
United States
801-581-7481 (Phone)

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