Measuring Trends in Leisure: The Allocation of Time Over Five Decades

S-Tier
Journal: Quarterly Journal of Economics
Year: 2007
Volume: 122
Issue: 3
Pages: 969-1006

Authors (2)

Mark Aguiar (not in RePEc) Erik Hurst (University of Chicago)

Score contribution per author:

4.022 = (α=2.01 / 2 authors) × 4.0x S-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

In this paper, we use five decades of time-use surveys to document trends in the allocation of time within the United States. We find that a dramatic increase in leisure time lies behind the relatively stable number of market hours worked between 1965 and 2003. Specifically, using a variety of definitions for leisure, we show that leisure for men increased by roughly six to nine hours per week (driven by a decline in market work hours) and for women by roughly four to eight hours per week (driven by a decline in home production work hours). Lastly, we document a growing inequality in leisure that is the mirror image of the growing inequality of wages and expenditures, making welfare calculation based solely on the latter series incomplete.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:oup:qjecon:v:122:y:2007:i:3:p:969-1006.
Journal Field
General
Author Count
2
Added to Database
2026-02-02