The Economics of Time Use: Understanding Labor, Leisure, and Inequality
Paper Session
Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026 8:00 AM - 10:00 AM (EST)
- Chair: Laura M. Crispin, Saint Joseph's University
Occupational Earnings Inequality, Time Use and Subjective Well-Being: Are Working Mothers in Despair in Winner-Take-All Occupations?
Abstract
Due to continued increases in occupational earnings inequality in the United States since the 1970s, more American workers are working longer hours than before, and they also work longer hours than workers in other developed countries. Using time-use data drawn from the American Time Use Surveys, subjective well-being data drawn from the American Time Use Survey Well-Being Modules, and occupational earnings inequality data drawn from the American Community Surveys, this paper examines how earnings inequality in occupations is associated with individuals' allocation of time and subjective well-being in the United States by workers' sex and parental status. The results show that occupational earnings inequality is associated with increased market work hours, mainly at the expense of nonmarket work and leisure for all groups, and decreased sleep among mothers with young children. Among men and non-mothers, occupational earnings inequality is not significantly negatively associated with any measure of subjective well-being. However, occupational earnings inequality is associated with increased pain among mothers. When analyzed by time-use category, occupational pay inequality among mothers with young children is associated with increased pain and sadness during market work; increased sadness during child care; increased pain, stress, and fatigue during leisure; and lower life evaluation. Perhaps this is why occupational earnings inequality and long work hours push mothers out of the labor force.Weeding Out Labor? Marijuana Laws and the Time Use of Young Adults Authors:
Abstract
Popular press articles about young adults often target young men and their lack of engagement with adult life. If not employed, looking for work, or running households, what are young men doing with their time? One hypothesis, prominent in the media, is that they spend all day playing videogames while stoned. The expansion of legalized recreational marijuana use increases the opportunity for this choice. We examine the time use of young men (and women) using 2003-2023 data from the American Time Use Survey, matched Current Population Survey data, and data on the existence and timing of states’ legalization of marijuana over the period. We compare our results for young adults to those of middle-aged adults to examine how time use changes when recreational marijuana use becomes legal. We use a two-stage, difference-in-difference technique to determine how state marijuana laws are related to young adults’ employment, household production, and leisure time, controlling for demographic characteristics. Our results are consistent with a gender divide in the impact of marijuana legalization on hours spent working. Both young adult and middle-aged men work less when marijuana is legalized. However, contrary to the popular narrative, video games do not appear to be the culprit. Young men are socializing more when marijuana is legalized, while the effects for young women are much smaller and not statistically significant. Both men and women middle-aged adults watch less television. In addition, middle-aged men play video games more, while middle-aged women spend more time on household production. Overall, marijuana legalization reduces the time men spend working both at young adult ages and in middle age. However, it is middle-aged men, not young men, that are turning to video games when marijuana is legalized.Zooming In or Left Out?: How COVID Changed Schooling, Screen, and Social Time for High School and College Students by Household Income
Abstract
Using data from the 2017 through 2022 American Time Use Survey, our paper is the first to analyze the time allocated to educational and other skill-building activities just before and during the Covid-19 pandemic with a focus on differences by household income. We explore time allocated to educational activities (class and homework) as well as sports and work, all of which may have changed significantly due to the pandemic and the move to virtual or hybrid schooling. To estimate effect of the pandemic on time allocation, we plan to exploit a TWFE strategy, where we will use differences in the percentage of in-person learning at the state-level as a proxy for the state's response to the pandemic (lock-downs, school closures, gathering restrictions), with a comparison of students directly before (2017 to mid-March 2020) and during the pandemic (mid-May 2020 to December 2022). Our preliminary results show that indeed students did reduce educational time during the pandemic relative to the pre-pandemic period. This has largely been a reduction in class time with limited change in homework time, with particularly large declines in class time for low income students. Participation and time spent in other productive activities is largely unchanged. Time spent watching tv and socializing increased substantially during the pandemic, especially for low income students. These preliminary findings suggest that, post-pandemic, schools may need to provide additional academic supports for students and may need to find ways to reduce screen time.Discussant(s)
Jason Faberman
,
Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago
Dominic Smith
,
Bureau of Labor Statistics
Sabrina Wulff Pabilonia
,
Bureau of Labor Statistics
Lonnie Golden
,
Pennsylvania State University-Abington
JEL Classifications
- J0 - General
- J1 - Demographic Economics