Variety and change of patterns in the gender balance between unpaid care-work, paid work and free time across the world and over time: A measure of wellbeing?

Abstract

A measure of wellbeing cannot be reduced to the use that individuals make of their time, and some authors have warned that such an indicator is only of value in combination with a subjective measure of wellbeing. Drawing on data from some 200 time-use surveys collected in more than 80 countries over the last 5 decades, the paper aims to identify the permanencies and differences in the various time-use regimes across the regions of the world. The underlying objective is to show that these regimes provide the contextual background within which wellbeing can make sense. Time-use regimes are characterized by the average time spent in the major divisions/activities of the day, between necessary time, work time and free time. Work time is itself divided between contracted time (paid work and learning) and committed time (unpaid care work comprised of domestic chores, care of children and adults, and care work for other households or community). These divisions allow specifying the various work/life balances prevailing across the world, and especially the balance between paid and unpaid work, and its changes over time. In conclusion, the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on time-use regimes are questioned as to their lasting effects, their threat to prior gains on gender equality in paid and unpaid work, or at the opposite, the potential improvements they can generate in the sharing of responsibilities in unpaid care work within the household.