Using time use data to investigate gender inequalities: enduring patterns and new dimensions

Journal article

Research on the gender revolution highlights the slowing convergence between men and women in paid and unpaid work time. This review considers both seminal studies from the 2000s and more recent analyses, drawing on comparative time-diary data, to assess progress in narrowing gender gaps in paid work and unpaid domestic work, and to outline future research directions in light of shifting family structures, flexible working arrangements, and evolving norms of parenthood and care.

Time-use diaries, long central to the study of gender inequality, consistently reveal women’s disproportionate share of unpaid domestic work. Historically, such data were concentrated in Western industrialised societies. Recent developments, however, extend harmonisation to East Asia, including Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and China, thereby broadening the comparative framework.

The expanding availability of time-use data creates important opportunities to examine cross-national differences in paid and unpaid work, and to investigate how policies and cultural norms may shape gender equality. Beyond employment and domestic labour, these data reveal disparities in leisure, rest, and caregiving, the effects of family structures and life events, and the implications of flexible working. Future research should also consider under-explored groups—such as children, adolescents, and older people—and the sequencing of daily activities.

Authors: Zhou, M; Wu, Y; Kan, M

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: Wiley
• Journal: Sociology Compass
• Volume: 19
• Issue: 11
• Article number: e70132
• Publication date: 2025-11-15
• Acceptance date: 2025-11-06
• DOI: 10.1111/soc4.70132
• EISSN: 1751-9020
• ISSN: 1751-9020
• Language: English
• Keywords: gender; labour; life course sociology; organisations and work; social psychology; social stratification; sociology