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Time Costs of Children as Parents' Foregone Leisure

Author

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  • Ekert-Jaffe, Olivia

    (INED, France)

  • Grossbard, Shoshana

    (San Diego State University)

Abstract

This article uses data from the 1998-1999 French INSEE time use survey to estimate the time costs of children. The focus is on couples with two spouses working Full-Time in the labor force in order to avoid issues of substitution between home production and labor supply. Time costs are computed in terms of hours of foregone leisure. The model accounts for selection into full-time employment and controls for use of hired childcare workers. We find that the foregone leisure cost of one child under age 3 is 1.9 hour for mothers and 2.2 hours for fathers. We find economies of scale for mothers but not for fathers. The presence of a childcare worker per child reduces the time cost of children to a couple of parents by 5%.

Suggested Citation

  • Ekert-Jaffe, Olivia & Grossbard, Shoshana, 2011. "Time Costs of Children as Parents' Foregone Leisure," IZA Discussion Papers 5760, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp5760
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. O. Ekert & Catherine Sofer, 1996. "Formal Version Informal Marriage : Explaining Factors," Post-Print halshs-00367260, HAL.
    2. Gimenez-Nadal, Jose Ignacio & Sevilla, Almudena, 2012. "Trends in time allocation: A cross-country analysis," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 56(6), pages 1338-1359.
    3. 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.
    4. Alfonso Sousa-Poza & Hans Schmid & Rolf Widmer, 2001. "The allocation and value of time assigned to housework and child-care: An analysis for Switzerland," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 14(4), pages 599-618.
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    Cited by:

    1. Melanie Borah & Andreas Knabe & Kevin Pahlke, 2021. "Parental time restrictions and the cost of children: insights from a survey among mothers," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 19(1), pages 73-95, March.
    2. Ariane Pailhé & Anne Solaz & Maria Letizia Tanturri, 2019. "The Time Cost of Raising Children in Different Fertility Contexts: Evidence from France and Italy," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 35(2), pages 223-261, May.
    3. Shoshana Grossbard & Sankar Mukhopadhyay, 2013. "Children, spousal love, and happiness: an economic analysis," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 11(3), pages 447-467, September.
    4. Melanie Borah, 2020. "Estimating Extended Income Equivalence Scales from Income Satisfaction and Time Use Data," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 149(2), pages 687-718, June.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    children; time costs; leisure;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply

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