Cleveland Fed researchers find notable differences in the time use patterns of employed males and females

Using data from the American Time Use Survey to examine gender differences in the time spent on market work, nonmarket work (childcare and household chores), and total work (the sum of both), Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland researchers Dionissi Aliprantis and Anne Chen find that over the life cycle:

• Males engage in one to one and a half hours more per day in market work than do females. However, the researchers note that this gap comes from the large difference between married males and females with children; unmarried females without children work about the same amount as do married males with children.
• Females engage in up to two hours more per day of nonmarket work. However, married females tend to engage in much more nonmarket work than married males and unmarried females.

The key driver of nonmarket work, say the researchers, is child status. Males with children engage in much more nonmarket work than females without children. And females with children engage in much more nonmarket work than their male counterparts – typically, two and a half more hours per day. “While there is a gap between males and females with children, in terms of their total work, the larger gap is between those who have children and those who do not,” say the researchers.

Read Market, Nonmarket, and Total Work of Males and Females

Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland

The Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland is one of 12 regional Reserve Banks that along with the Board of Governors in Washington DC comprise the Federal Reserve System. Part of the US central bank, the Cleveland Fed participates in the formulation of our nation’s monetary policy, supervises banking organizations, provides payment and other services to financial institutions and to the US Treasury, and performs many activities that support Federal Reserve operations System-wide. In addition, the Bank supports the well-being of communities across the Fourth Federal Reserve District through a wide array of research, outreach, and educational activities.

The Cleveland Fed, with branches in Cincinnati and Pittsburgh, serves an area that comprises Ohio, western Pennsylvania, eastern Kentucky, and the northern panhandle of West Virginia.

Media contact

Doug Campbell, doug.campbell@clev.frb.org, 513.218.1892