What do Time Use Studies Tell Us about Unpaid Care Work? Evidence from Seven Countries

Unpaid care work-the housework and care of persons that occurs in homes and communities of all societies on an unpaid basis-is an area that has generally been neglected by economists, as well as by many development actors. This neglect is evident across virtually all schools of economics, whether neoclassical, political economy or Marxist. Yet the amount of unpaid care work done, the way that the burden of the work is distributed across different actors, and the proportion and kinds of care work that are unpaid or paid have important implications for the well-being of individuals and households, as well as for the economic growth and well-being of nations.