A New Look at Husbands' and Wives' Time Allocation

Abstract

The impacts of economic and non‐economic factors on husbands’ and wives’ market work time and housework time are estimated using 13 years of data from the Panel Survey of Income Dynamics. Several limitations in earlier studies are addressed, and a unique feature of the study is the direct estimation of effects on time allocation from changes in the prices of market‐produced goods and input goods in household production. Many of the findings of earlier studies are reconfirmed, but new insights are also explored. Husbands and wives respond similarly in their time allocations to changes in input goods prices, but their responses are different to changes in market goods prices.