Time Spent in Household Management: Evidence and Implications

Abstract

This study investigates time spent in household management, an important “missing ingredient” in time use studies, using data from the American Time Use Survey (ATUS). These data indicate that adults spend an average of just over 1.5 h per week in this function. This figure likely underestimates total management time because (1) management is often done in small blocks, and hence, may be missed; and (2) the ATUS generally fails to capture secondary activities. Thus, efforts to value time spent in household management using these data will similarly produce a low valuation of the household manager role. Notably, measured management time is found to be much more equally distributed among spouses than time spent in core housework tasks.