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Health Status and the Allocation of Time

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  • Halliday, Timothy J.

    (University of Hawaii at Manoa)

  • Podor, Melinda

    (University of Hawaii at Manoa)

Abstract

In this paper, we quantify the effects of health on time allocation. We estimate that improvements in health status have large and positive effects on time allocated to home and market production and large negative effects on time spent watching TV, sleeping, and consuming other types of leisure. We find that poor health status results in about 300 additional hours allocated to unproductive activities per year. Plausible estimates of the cost of this lost time exceed $10,000. We also find that, for men, better health induces a substitution of market-produced goods for home-produced goods. Particularly, each additional minute spent in home production saves $0.37.

Suggested Citation

  • Halliday, Timothy J. & Podor, Melinda, 2009. "Health Status and the Allocation of Time," IZA Discussion Papers 4368, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp4368
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    2. Marie Blaise & Sandrine Juin & Hélène Le Forner & Quitterie Roquebert, 2024. "I care, you clean? Gendered effects of informal care on couple housework and leisure time," LISER Working Paper Series 2024-05, Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research (LISER).
    3. Andrea M. Mühlenweg & Franz G. Westermaier & Brant Morefield, 2016. "Parental health and child behavior: evidence from parental health shocks," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 14(3), pages 577-598, September.
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    5. Roy, Soumyadip & Orazem, Peter F., 2021. "Active leisure, passive leisure and health," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 43(C).
    6. Hielke Buddelmeyer & Daniel S. Hamermesh & Mark Wooden, 2015. "The Stress Cost of Children," Melbourne Institute Working Paper Series wp2015n01, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne.
    7. J. Ignacio Gimenez-Nadal & José Alberto Molina & Yu Zhu, 2018. "Intergenerational mobility of housework time in the United Kingdom," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 16(4), pages 911-937, December.
    8. Xiang Wei & Hailin Qu & Emily Ma, 2016. "How Does Leisure Time Affect Production Efficiency? Evidence from China, Japan, and the US," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 127(1), pages 101-122, May.
    9. Gimenez-Nadal, J. Ignacio & Molina, Jose Alberto, 2015. "Health status and the allocation of time: Cross-country evidence from Europe," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 188-203.
    10. Gangopadhyaya, Anuj & Schiman, Jeffrey C., 2023. "Does subsidized public health insurance for parents improve children's human capital and close achievement gaps?," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    11. J. Gimenez-Nadal & Jose Molina, 2016. "Health inequality and the uses of time for workers in Europe: policy implications," IZA Journal of European Labor Studies, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 5(1), pages 1-18, December.
    12. Magaña, Diego, 2023. "Diferencias de género en el bienestar de los adultos en el Reino Unido (2014-15) [Gender Differences in Adult Wellbeing in the United Kingdom (2014-15)]," MPRA Paper 118560, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    13. Juan Du & Takeshi Yagihashi, 2017. "Health capital investment and time spent on health-related activities," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 15(4), pages 1215-1248, December.
    14. White-Means, Shelley I. & Osmani, Ahmad Reshad, 2019. "Job Market Prospects of Breast vs. Prostate Cancer Survivors in the US: A Double Hurdle Model of Ethnic Disparities," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 40, pages 282-304.
    15. Michael Grossman, 2022. "The demand for health turns 50: Reflections," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(9), pages 1807-1822, September.
    16. Nicholas Kofi Adjei & Tilman Brand & Hajo Zeeb, 2017. "Gender inequality in self-reported health among the elderly in contemporary welfare countries: A cross-country analysis of time use activities, socioeconomic positions and family characteristics," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(9), pages 1-24, September.
    17. Torben M. Andersen & Marias H. Gestsson, 2010. "Longevity, Growth and Intergenerational Equity - The Deterministic Case," Economics wp52, Department of Economics, Central bank of Iceland.
    18. Buddelmeyer, Hielke & Hamermesh, Daniel S. & Wooden, Mark, 2018. "THE stress cost of children on moms and dads," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 148-161.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    time allocation; labor supply; health;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I1 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health
    • J2 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor

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