In search of lost time patterns. How class, gender and social contexts structure our daily lives

Thesis

In this thesis, I investigate sequential patterns of time use in 23 countries during the period 1961- 2015, progressively moving down the level of analysis from a cross-national level to focus on the UK, and then on UK couples. This contribution to the literature comprises three empirical studies.

The first study explores the different daily time use sequences structuring 23 contem- porary societies across 50 years. The analyses reveal eight common everyday sequence patterns; including different paid work, unpaid work, and leisure clusters. This set of patterns shows similar distributions across the different countries and time periods. The second study investigates socio-demographic differences in time use patterns in the UK over the period 1983-2015. Important differences exist between men and women regarding the distribution of paid and unpaid work, and the time patterns of working class men and women are also very different from those of middle/upper class men and women. The social stratification of time use is also revealed by the unequal distribution of patterns between weekdays and weekends.

The last study explores gender inequalities at the level of couple time use patterns in the UK in 2015. I take an innovative approach by analysing diaries from partners of the same couple simultaneously. I find that, when together with their partner, men are much more likely to watch TV and enjoy leisure while women do domestic chores.

The thesis proposes new ways to explore time use diaries and contributes to several ar- eas of sociology, such as social stratification research and the domestic division of labour literature. The thesis concludes by reflecting on potential explanations as to why and how time use patterns can at the same time be highly stratified by class and gender while also being relatively stable across time and country.

Authors: Vagni, G

• DOI: 10.5287/ora-aq5v6d9pd
• Type of award: DPhil
• Level of award: Doctoral
• Awarding institution: University of Oxford
• Language: English
• Subjects: Sociology