IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/femeco/v5y1999i3p27-42.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Parenthood Without Penalty: Time Use And Public Policy In Australia And Finland

Author

Listed:
  • Michael Bittman

Abstract

Housework and child care continue to be assigned on the basis of gender. Women are significantly disadvantaged by their unequal share of unpaid work. Three remedies for this situation have been advanced: (1) renegotiation of domestic division of labor, (2) substitution of market provision for unpaid labor, and (3) public provision of key services. Using time use and expenditure data from Australia this paper shows that most changes in the domestic division of labor have come from women's, rather than men's, adaptations. Furthermore, much of the change is attributable to increased reliance on market substitutes for women's domestic labor. A comparison of social policy and time use in Australia and Finland shows how entitlement to generous parental leave and public provision of child care can significantly reduce the economic and social penalties faced by mothers.

Suggested Citation

  • Michael Bittman, 1999. "Parenthood Without Penalty: Time Use And Public Policy In Australia And Finland," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 5(3), pages 27-42.
  • Handle: RePEc:taf:femeco:v:5:y:1999:i:3:p:27-42
    DOI: 10.1080/135457099337798
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/135457099337798
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/135457099337798?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Michael Bittman & Robert E. Goodin, 1998. "An Equivalence Scale for Time," Discussion Papers 0085, University of New South Wales, Social Policy Research Centre.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Ariane Pailhé & Anne Solaz, 2008. "Time with Children: Do Fathers and Mothers Replace Each Other When One Parent is Unemployed?," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 24(2), pages 211-236, June.
    2. Andres Vikat & Elizabeth Thomson & Alexia Prskawetz, 2004. "Childrearing Responsibility and Stepfamily Fertility in Finland and Austria," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 20(1), pages 1-21, March.
    3. Berenice Monna & Anne Gauthier, 2008. "A Review of the Literature on the Social and Economic Determinants of Parental Time," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 29(4), pages 634-653, December.
    4. Shan Li, 2016. "The determinants of Mexican migrants’ duration in the United States: family composition, psychic costs, and human capital," IZA Journal of Migration and Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 5(1), pages 1-28, December.
    5. Šikić-Mićanović Lynette, 2011. "The Meanings and Experiences of Domestic Labour among Rural Women in Croatia," Eastern European Countryside, Sciendo, vol. 17(2011), pages 87-106, January.
    6. Maria Gutiérrez-Domènech, 2010. "Parental employment and time with children in Spain," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 8(3), pages 371-391, September.
    7. Paul Dalziel, 2019. "Wellbeing economics in public policy: A distinctive Australasian contribution?," The Economic and Labour Relations Review, , vol. 30(4), pages 478-497, December.
    8. Daumerie, Béatrice, 2003. "What Future for Europe? New perspectives in post-industrial fertility issues," Arbetsrapport 2003:7, Institute for Futures Studies.
    9. Elisa‐Rose Birch, 2005. "Studies of the Labour Supply of Australian Women: What Have We Learned?," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 81(252), pages 65-84, March.
    10. Joyce P. Jacobsen, 2009. "Accommodating Families," Chapters, in: Kenneth G. Dau-Schmidt & Seth D. Harris & Orly Lobel (ed.), Labor and Employment Law and Economics, chapter 11, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    11. Nicoletti, Cheti & Tonei, Valentina, 2020. "Do parental time investments react to changes in child’s skills and health?," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).
    12. Robert Drago & Rosanna Scutella & Amy Varner, 2002. "Work and Family Directions in the US and Australia: A Policy Research Agenda," Melbourne Institute Working Paper Series wp2002n12, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne.
    13. Tas,Emcet Oktay & Ahmed,Tanima, 2021. "Women’s Economic Participation, Time Use, and Access to Childcare in Urban Bangladesh," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9735, The World Bank.
    14. Lyn Craig, 2006. "Where Do They Find the Time?: An Analysis of How Parents Shift and Squeeze Their Time around Work and Child Care," Economics Working Paper Archive wp_439, Levy Economics Institute.
    15. Lyn Craig, 2007. "How Employed Mothers in Australia Find Time for Both Market Work and Childcare," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 28(1), pages 69-87, March.
    16. repec:ilo:ilowps:446898 is not listed on IDEAS
    17. Kristin Snopkowski, 2023. "Division of Household Labour and Fertility Outcomes Among Dual‐Income Australian Couples," Australian Economic Review, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, vol. 56(4), pages 524-537, December.
    18. Satu Ojala & Man-Yee Kan & Tomi Oinas, 2021. "Teenage Time Use and Educational Attainment in Adulthood in Finland," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-17, September.
    19. Margaret Nelson, 2004. "How Men Matter: Housework And Self-Provisioning Among Rural Single-Mother And Married-Couple Families In Vermont, Us," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 10(2), pages 9-36.
    20. Ragni Hege Kitterød & Jan Lyngstad, 2013. "Comparing mothers' and fathers' reports on the non-resident father's contact with his children," Discussion Papers 744, Statistics Norway, Research Department.
    21. Shan Li, 2016. "The determinants of Mexican migrants’ duration in the United States: family composition, psychic costs, and human capital," IZA Journal of Migration and Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 5(1), pages 1-28, December.
    22. Shoba Arun & Thankom Arun & Vani Borooah, 2004. "The Effect Of Career Breaks On The Working Lives Of Women," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 10(1), pages 65-84.
    23. Paul Callister, 2005. "The changing gender distribution of paid and unpaid work in New Zealand," Treasury Working Paper Series 05/07, New Zealand Treasury.
    24. Maria S. Floro & Mieke Meurs, 2010. "Gender Equality at the Heart of Decent Work," Working Papers 2010-01, American University, Department of Economics.
    25. Anne H. Gauthier & Timothy M. Smeeding & Frank F. Furstenberg, Jr., 2004. "Do We Invest Less Time in Children? Trends in Parental Time in Selected Industrialized Countries Since the 1960's," Center for Policy Research Working Papers 64, Center for Policy Research, Maxwell School, Syracuse University.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Merz, Joachim & Rathjen, Tim, 2011. "Intensity of Time and Income Interdependent Multidimensional Poverty: Well-Being and Minimum 2DGAP – German Evidence," IZA Discussion Papers 6022, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Joachim Merz & Henning Stolze, 2010. "Kumulation von Querschnitten - Evaluierung alternativer Konzepte für die kumulierten laufenden Wirtschaftsrechnungen 1999 bis 2003 im Vergleich zur Einkommens- und Verbrauchsstichprobe 2003," FFB-Discussionpaper 85, Research Institute on Professions (Forschungsinstitut Freie Berufe (FFB)), LEUPHANA University Lüneburg.
    3. Joachim Merz & Tim Rathjen, 2014. "Time And Income Poverty: An Interdependent Multidimensional Poverty Approach With German Time Use Diary Data," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 60(3), pages 450-479, September.
    4. repec:hal:pseose:hal-01307097 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. François Gardes & Imen Sayadi & Christophe Starzec, 2015. "The full equivalence scales: an estimation integrating the monetary and time dimensions of households’ expenditures [Les échelles d’équivalence complètes : une estimation intégrant les dimensions m," Post-Print hal-01307097, HAL.
    6. François Gardes & Imen Sayadi & Christophe Starzec, 2015. "The full equivalence scales: an estimation integrating the monetary and time dimensions of households’ expenditures [Les échelles d’équivalence complètes : une estimation intégrant les dimensions m," PSE-Ecole d'économie de Paris (Postprint) hal-01307097, HAL.
    7. François Gardes & Imen Sayadi & Christophe Starzec, 2015. "Les échelles d’équivalence complètes : une estimation intégrant les dimensions monétaire et temporelle des dépenses des ménages," Revue d'économie politique, Dalloz, vol. 125(3), pages 393-414.
    8. François Gardes & Imen Sayadi & Christophe Starzec, 2013. "Les échelles d'équivalence complètes : une estimation intégrant les dimensions monétaire et temporelle des dépenses des ménages," Post-Print halshs-00940266, HAL.
    9. François Gardes & Imen Sayadi & Christophe Starzec, 2015. "The full equivalence scales: an estimation integrating the monetary and time dimensions of households’ expenditures [Les échelles d’équivalence complètes : une estimation intégrant les dimensions m," Université Paris1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (Post-Print and Working Papers) hal-01307097, HAL.
    10. Jamie Carson, 2005. "Family spending power," Microeconomics 0508006, University Library of Munich, Germany.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:taf:femeco:v:5:y:1999:i:3:p:27-42. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/RFEC20 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.