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Time Use and Gender in Africa in Times of Structural Transformation

Author

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  • Taryn Dinkelman
  • L. Rachel Ngai
Abstract
Many African countries are still in the early stages of structural transformation. Typically, as economies move through the structural transformation, activities once conducted within the household are outsourced to the market. This has particular implications for women’s time use. In this paper, we document that current patterns of female time use in home production in several African countries closely resemble historical time use patterns in the US. We highlight two stylized facts about women’s time use in Africa. First, in North Africa, women spend very few hours in market work and female labor force participation overall is extremely low. Second, although extensive margin participation of women is high in sub-Saharan Africa, women tend to work in the market for only a few hours each week, with the rest of their work hours spent in home production. These two facts suggest two types of constraints that could slow down the reallocation of female time from home to market as economies grow: Social norms related to women’s market work, and a lack of infrastructure (e.g. household infrastructure and childcare facilities) to facilitate marketizing home production. We discuss recent empirical evidence related to each set of constraints and highlight new avenues for research.

Suggested Citation

  • Taryn Dinkelman & L. Rachel Ngai, 2021. "Time Use and Gender in Africa in Times of Structural Transformation," NBER Working Papers 29571, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:29571
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    5. Leonardo Bursztyn & Alessandra L. González & David Yanagizawa-Drott, 2020. "Misperceived Social Norms: Women Working Outside the Home in Saudi Arabia," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 110(10), pages 2997-3029, October.
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    Cited by:

    1. Farzana Afridi & Sisir Debnath & Taryn Dinkelman & Komal Sareen, 2023. "Time for Clean Energy? Cleaner Fuels and Women’s Time in Home Production," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 37(2), pages 283-304.
    2. Sinha, Aashima & Kumar Sedai, Ashish & Bahadur Rahut, Dil & Sonobe, Tetsushi, 2024. "Well-being costs of unpaid care: Gendered evidence from a contextualized time-use survey in India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 173(C).
    3. Zuazu-Bermejo, Izaskun, 2022. "Robots and women in manufacturing employment," ifso working paper series 19, University of Duisburg-Essen, Institute for Socioeconomics (ifso).
    4. Simplice A. Asongu & Nicholas M. Odhiambo, 2023. "Economic sectors and globalization channels to gender economic inclusion in Sub-Saharan Africa," Working Papers of the African Governance and Development Institute. 23/020, African Governance and Development Institute..
    5. Hiroyuki Takeshima, 2024. "Agricultural mechanisation and gendered labour activities across sectors: Micro‐evidence from multi‐country farm household data," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 75(1), pages 425-456, February.
    6. Izaskun Zuazu, 2024. "Reviewing feminist macroeconomics for the twenty-first century," Review of Evolutionary Political Economy, Springer, vol. 5(2), pages 271-299, September.
    7. Zuazu-Bermejo, Izaskun, 2024. "Reviewing feminist macroeconomics for the XXI century," ifso working paper series 30, University of Duisburg-Essen, Institute for Socioeconomics (ifso).
    8. Assefa, Thomas W. & Magnan, Nicholas & McCullough, Ellen & McGavock, Tamara, 2022. "Stifled by Stigma? Experimental Effects of Updating Husbands’ Beliefs on Participation in Women’s Household Work," 2022 Annual Meeting, July 31-August 2, Anaheim, California 322470, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    9. Small, Sarah F. & van der Meulen Rodgers, Yana, 2023. "The gendered effects of investing in physical and social infrastructure," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 171(C).
    10. Huoqing Cao & Chaoran Chen & Xican Xi & Sharon Xuejing Zuo, 2024. "Family migration and structural transformation," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 57(3), pages 753-776, August.
    11. Nyagweta, David Tinashe, 2024. "A gender comparison of factors associated with time use towards unpaid domestic, caregiving services and selfcare in Kenya," MPRA Paper 122442, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    12. Ding, Yawen & Wang, Xiaobing & de Brauw, Alan & Qiu, Huanguang, 2024. "Catch up with my husband as I can: Women’s decision-making power consequences of China’s poverty alleviation relocation program," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 173(C).
    13. Agénor, Pierre-Richard & Agénor, Madina, 2023. "Access to infrastructure and women’s time allocation: Implications for growth and gender equality," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    14. Li, Xinghao & An, Lufeng & Zhang, Dayong & Lee, Chi-Chuan & Yu, Chin-Hsien, 2024. "Energy access and female labor force participation in developing countries," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 199(C).

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D13 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Household Production and Intrahouse Allocation
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply
    • O11 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Macroeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
    • O12 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
    • O55 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Africa

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