Factors Contributing to Time Spent on Paid and Unpaid Work: A Regression Analysis of Time Use Survey Data

The study of time spent on different activities rather than the study of people can offer new insights as well as new challenges. This paper presents the results from an exploratory analysis of data from the first New Zealand Time Use Survey. Interesting questions arise about the distribution of paid and unpaid work across different groups in society. Of particular interest is how men and women balance the competing demands of paid and unpaid work. This paper is a first attempt at understanding some of the complex relationships between social, demographic and employment characteristics and paid and unpaid work time.