Time Use, Gender and Disadvantage in Australia: Conventional Income and ‘Full Income’ Approaches to Estimation

Abstract

Conventional poverty and inequality measures, based only on comparisons of financial resources, may underestimate gender differences in living standards. The value of time spent in household work by oneself and partner, and the value of leisure are key elements that need to be considered in measures of living standards. This article develops a method for measuring wellbeing at the level of the individual, rather than the household. Following the tradition of Australian models of ‘full income’, the final measure of wellbeing includes the value of time in leisure and unpaid work along with individual income, the benefits accruing from the social wage and the welfare gains from the ownership and use of assets. The article then compares the conventional income distribution and the ‘full income’ distribution to identify population subgroups disadvantaged on each of these measures. The results show that gender inequalities in living standards may be underestimated by conventional income measures, and that inequalities in personal income and time use contribute most substantially to gender inequality in the full income distribution.

Reported time allocation and emotional exhaustion during COVID-19 pandemic lockdown in Slovenia

“…As our survey asked about the time allocation and emotional exhaustion before and after the measures for containing the spread of COVID-19 took place, we could assess the effect of kindergarten and school closures by comparing the changes in outcomes over time between parents and nonparents. Besides contributing to the growing literature on the effects of the pandemic, this article also complements the existing literature on gender inequalities (Hill, 2009;Hundley, 2000;Sullivan et al, 2018), the effect of parenthood (e.g. Andresen and Nix, 2019;Glauber, 2008;Hill, 2009;Killewald, 2013;Rose, 2000, 2002;Molina and Montuenga, 2009;Nwaka et al, 2016;Wilner, 2016) and on the consequences of economic downturns on labour market outcomes (Aguiar et al, 2013;Christiano et al, 2015;Hoynes et al, 2012;Rubery and Rafferty, 2013).…”

“…Besides contributing to the growing literature on the effects of the pandemic, this article also complements the existing literature on gender inequalities (Hill, 2009;Hundley, 2000;Sullivan et al, 2018), the effect of parenthood (e.g. Andresen and Nix, 2019;Glauber, 2008;Hill, 2009;Killewald, 2013;Rose, 2000, 2002;Molina and Montuenga, 2009;Nwaka et al, 2016;Wilner, 2016) and on the consequences of economic downturns on labour market outcomes (Aguiar et al, 2013;Christiano et al, 2015;Hoynes et al, 2012;Rubery and Rafferty, 2013).…”

Wellbeing economics in public policy: A distinctive Australasian contribution?

“…7 The production of mothers’ milk meets the inclusion requirements of the UNSNA, but does not appear in any country’s national accounts. Other notable contributions on family wellbeing in economic analysis include Hill (2009), Apps and Rees (2018) and Austen and Jefferson (2019).…”