Monday, August 13, 2007

How We Spend Our Time

From economists Erik Hurst and Mark Aguiar in the QJE, via yesterday's Boston Globe:
For men, much of the gain in free time comes from a decrease in on-the-job hours. Their core market work has dropped [since 1965] from 42 to 36 hours weekly, the economists say....The average "core" time women spend on the job has climbed a bit, from 19 to 23 hours, but their total nonmarket work has plummeted -- from 33 to 23 hours....A depressing finding is what we do with our alleged extra time: mostly, watch TV. Hobbies are flat while reading and socializing are both down.