Determinants and impact of role-related time use allocation on self-reported health among married men and women: a cross-national comparative study

Abstract

Background Research on the effects of marriage on health maintains that there is a gender-specific gradient, with men deriving far greater benefits than women. One reason provided for this difference is the disproportionate amount of time spent by women on housework and childcare. However, this hypothesis has yet to be explicitly tested for these role-related time use activities. This study provides empirical evidence on the association between role-related time use activities (i.e. housework, childcare and paid work) and self-reported health among married men and women. Methods Data from the Multinational Time Use Study (MTUS) on 32,881 men and 26,915 women from Germany, Italy, Spain, the UK and the US were analyzed. Seemingly unrelated regression (SUR) models and multivariable logistic regression were used to estimate the association between role-related time use activities and self-reported health among married men and women. Results The findings showed that education, occupation and number of children under 18 years old in the household were the most consistent predictors of time allocation among married men and women. Significant gender differences were also found in time allocation, with women sacrificing paid working time or reducing time devoted to housework for childcare. Men, in contrast, were less likely to reduce paid working hours to increase time spent on childcare, but instead reduced time allocation to housework. Allocating more time to paid work and childcare was associated with good health, whereas time spent on housework was associated with poor health, especially among women. Conclusions Time allocation to role-related activities have differential associations on health, and the effects vary by gender and across countries. To reduce the gender health gap among married men and women, public policies need to take social and gender roles into account.

Under contract and in good health: a multigroup cross-lagged panel model of time use and health-related quality of life in working-age men and women

“…To no surprise then, committed and leisure time showed stronger effects with HRQoL in women than men. This gives credence to the perspective of gender inequality in time allocation and health [19,27,30], which highlights that the burden of balancing paid work, housework, and childcare-along with its detrimental costs to health-still mainly lies on women [21]. This goes beyond previous research on work-family conflict because the analysis differentiates between leisure activities, committed (family) time, and contracted time, and their differential impact on health.…”

“…Women also have less time for personal care and leisure activities [34] that limits the self-regulatory potential of time use to achieve life-domain balance [23]. Moreover, men are less likely to reduce working hours to increase time spent on childcare to alleviate their partner's stress levels [30], which might lead to further conflict and stress. It is important to note that these effects vary based on the operationalization of time use.…”

Socioeconomic correlates of sedentary time during pregnancy among women at risk of gestational diabetes in the UK

“…Socioeconomic differences in childcare demands may also be relevant here. Women with higher education and household incomes tend to spend less time in domestic and childcare activities than women with lower education and incomes (Cusatis & Garbarski, 2019;Jonsson et al, 2020), which may result in higher sedentary time (van Uffelen et al, 2012).…”

“…The measurement of ST in this study has been detailed elsewhere (Wagnild et al, 2019). Briefly, ST was measured by the activPAL3 (PAL Technologies, Glasgow, UK), which is considered to be the gold standard for the measurement of ST in free-living contexts (Kozey-Keadle et al, 2011) and has been validated for the measurement of sit-to-stand transitions ('breaks') (Lyden et al, 2012). The activPAL was affixed to the anterior midline of the right thigh with waterproof adhesive by a trained member of the research team when the participant attended the hospital for an ultrasound scan at 20 weeks' gestation (second trimester).…”

Analysis of Smart Home use based on the Degree of Health-related Risk Variation: A Cross - Sectional National Survey in China

“…Currently, men generally have higher incomes than the income of women [53,54], which determines that men have stronger purchasing power for higher-priced smart homes. Secondly, men and women have different household lifestyles; women take on more household chores [55,56] and maybe more interested in smart drying racks related to household chores, while men have more leisure time at home and purchase more entertainment products. In addition, research has shown signi cant differences in the technology acceptance between men and women, with men showing a stronger intention to use technology [57,58], while women are more interested in fashion products during consumption [59] and maybe more interested in daily protection of clothing closely related to fashion.…”