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Cross-national changes in time-use: some sociological (hi)stories re-examined

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  • Gershuny, Jonathan
  • Sullivan, Oriel

Abstract

The paper addresses some macro-sociological questions about changes in broad categories of time-use. The focus is on large-scale cross-national time trends from developed countries in paid and unpaid work, and leisure. Reference is made to some well-known sociological and historical accounts of such change, and to the fact that time-use diary data has only relatively recently become available for analysing trends over time. The data used are drawn from a comparative cross-time data archive held by the Institute for Social and Economic Research at Essex University, comprising successive time-use diary surveys from a range of industrialized countries collected from the 1960s to the 1990s. The time use evidence suggests relative stability in the balance between work and leisure time over the period covered by the analyses. Some alternative explanations are advanced for why there seems to be a gap between this evidence and, on the other hand, the burgeoning literature in both academic and popular media addressing the 'time famine' and, on the other, people's professed experience of what is happening to their time.

Suggested Citation

  • Gershuny, Jonathan & Sullivan, Oriel, 2001. "Cross-national changes in time-use: some sociological (hi)stories re-examined," ISER Working Paper Series 2001-01, Institute for Social and Economic Research.
    • Handle: RePEc:ese:iserwp:2001-01
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Jerry Jacobs & Kathleen Green, 1998. "Who Are the Overworked Americans?," Review of Social Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 56(4), pages 442-459.
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    2. Ariane Pailhé & Anne Solaz & Maria Stanfors, 2021. "The Great Convergence: Gender and Unpaid Work in Europe and the United States," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 47(1), pages 181-217, March.
    3. repec:ilo:ilowps:427404 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Lina Eriksson & James Rice & Robert Goodin, 2007. "Temporal Aspects of Life Satisfaction," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 80(3), pages 511-533, February.
    5. Frey, Bruno S. & Benesch, Christine & Stutzer, Alois, 2007. "Does watching TV make us happy?," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 28(3), pages 283-313, June.
    6. Antonopoulos, Rania., 2009. "The unpaid care work : paid work connection," ILO Working Papers 994274043402676, International Labour Organization.
    7. Weiting Ng & Ed Diener & Raksha Aurora & James Harter, 2009. "Affluence, Feelings of Stress, and Well-being," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 94(2), pages 257-271, November.
    8. Monika Engler & Stefan Staubli, 2008. "The Distribution of Leisure Time Across Countries and Over Time," University of St. Gallen Department of Economics working paper series 2008 2008-14, Department of Economics, University of St. Gallen.
    9. Nazier, Hanan & Ezzat, Asmaa, 2022. "Gender differences and time allocation: A comparative analysis of Egypt and Tunisia," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 174-193.
    10. Binswanger, Mathias, 2006. "Why does income growth fail to make us happier?: Searching for the treadmills behind the paradox of happiness," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 35(2), pages 366-381, April.

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