Intrafamily time allocation of housework: evidence from Japan

This study empirically examines determinants of intrafamily time allocation of housework. It specifically addresses simultaneous effects of housework time for wives and husbands in Japan. According to estimated results using microdata of the 1996 Survey on Time Use and Leisure Activities, a husband's help reduces his wife's housework time, although a five minute increase in a husband's help reduces only one minute of the wife's housework time in dual-earner households. Results also suggest that higher earnings reduce an individual's housework time and increase the spouse's housework time. J. Japanese Int. Economies19 (1) (2005) 1-23.