The Rush Hour: The Character of Leisure Time and Gender Equity

Abstract

The distribution of leisure time between the genders is contested. Becker's theory of specialization suggests that there is an underlying gender equity in leisure, while the competing view suggests that women are now bearing a “dual burden” as both family providers and family carers. Using indicators of the quantity and quality of leisure drawn from the Multinational Time Budget Data Archive and the Australian Time Use Survey, we find some support for both views. Although men and women have similar quantities of free time, when the character of leisure is considered the gap between genders reemerges.