Gender Differences in Paid and Unpaid Work: How Much Do Wages Really Matter?

Elizabeth Washbrook, University of Bristol

This paper uses data from the UK 2000 Time Use Survey on a sample of matched spouses to explore the relationship between wage rates and the gender division of labor. Economic theory suggests that gender differences in wage rates play a key role in explaining the observed specialization of men in market work and women in non-market domestic work, while sociological theories tend to stress the importance of social norms regarding gender stereotypes. We model the allocation of husbands’ and wives’ time to paid work and unpaid work simultaneously using a procedure that accounts for the existence of limit observations. Decompositions of the gender gaps in paid and unpaid work suggest that although wages do play a role in explaining the division of labor, a substantial ‘gender effect’ remains that would lead to a traditional division of labor even if men and women were to earn equal wage rates.