Stressed Out on Four Continents: Time Crunch or Yuppie Kvetch?

43 Pages Posted: 23 Dec 2003 Last revised: 2 Nov 2022

See all articles by Daniel S. Hamermesh

Daniel S. Hamermesh

University of Texas at Austin - Department of Economics; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER); IZA Institute of Labor Economics

Jungmin Lee

IZA Institute of Labor Economics; FIU

Multiple version iconThere are 2 versions of this paper

Date Written: December 2003

Abstract

Social commentators have pointed to problems of women workers who face time stress' an absence of sufficient time to accomplish all their tasks. An economic theory views time stress as reflecting how tightly the time constraint binds households. Time stress will be more prevalent in households with higher incomes and whose members work longer in the market or on required' homework. Evidence from Australia, Canada, Germany, Korea and the United States corroborates this view. Adults in higher-income households perceive more time stress for the same amount of time spent in market work and household work. The importance of higher full incomes in generating time stress is not small, particularly in North America much is yuppie kvetch.' While time stress is most prevalent among working wives, a decomposition suggests that women would perceive more time stress than men even if both worked the same number of hours in the market and at home.

Suggested Citation

Hamermesh, Daniel S. and Lee, Jungmin and Lee, Jungmin, Stressed Out on Four Continents: Time Crunch or Yuppie Kvetch? (December 2003). NBER Working Paper No. w10186, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=481457

Daniel S. Hamermesh (Contact Author)

University of Texas at Austin - Department of Economics ( email )

Austin, TX 78712
United States
512-475-8526 (Phone)
512-471-3510 (Fax)

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

1050 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

IZA Institute of Labor Economics

P.O. Box 7240
Bonn, D-53072
Germany

Jungmin Lee

IZA Institute of Labor Economics

P.O. Box 7240
Bonn, D-53072
Germany

FIU ( email )

University Park
11200 SW 8th Street
Miami, FL 33199
United States

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
78
Abstract Views
1,997
Rank
249,422
PlumX Metrics