As a result, women have less free time than men. Of the average three-hour difference in the amount of time women and men in the region spend on household chores per day, men spend two hours on labor market activities and one hour resting; we therefore see that women have less free time than men. This is quite consistent across the region. The most salient exception is Turkey, where men and women have almost the same amount of free time because, while women spend more time on household chores, men spend an almost equal amount of time working on other activities, for example labor market activities.36 The patterns in the gender division of work in the household in the region are traditional; thus, women spend more time than men on caring for other household members. Our calculations indicate that the traditional division of household chores between men and women persists in the region (figure 2.14). Women spend three-quarters of their time in cooking and the care of children and adults in the household. Indeed, while a quarter of the time women spend on domestic chores is taken up by care for other adults in the household, men do not spend any time on this task.37
% of total time spent in HH chores
Figure 2.14
Labor Market Transitions
Labor market transitions represent opportunities and costs among individuals.38 They can lead to jobs that are more well remunerated, but also to lower wages after periods of inactivity or to unem-
Noteworthy among the findings revealed through the time use data is the relatively small amount of time spent on labor market activities across all countries. Men report that they spend an average of five hours a day on labor market activities. This rather small number of hours can be partially explained by the fact that the unemployed and men and women who are out of the labor force are included in the sample. If we consider only the employed, the average among men rises to six hours a day. Although low, this number can be partially explained by part-time jobs. 37 This finding needs to be viewed with caution because it is based on only two countries: Armenia and Romania. In Romania, women report spending 2.5 hours a day taking care of other adults in the household. Women in Armenia report spending no time on this activity. 38 This section is mostly based on the work of Dimova, Gang, and Landon-Lane (2006) for Bulgaria and Blunch and Sulla (2011) for Serbia. A caveat should be noted: both studies analyze the situation during times of crisis and employment restructuring. 36
The Distribution of Household Chores among Men and Women
40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 Food Preparation, Dish Washing
Cleaning and Other Upkeep
Laundry, Ironing, Handicrafts and prod. textiles
Gardening, Construction and Repairs Women
Shopping and Services
Child care
Adult care
Other Domestic Activities
Men
Source: World Bank staff calculations based on data of the UNECE Statistical Database, United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, Geneva, http://w3.unece.org/pxweb/. Note: HH = household.
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Opportunities for Men and Women: Emerging Europe and Central Asia