Subjective Assessments of Time Use: Who Benefits from What Time? An Examination by Gender and Social Class

Marybeth J. Mattingly, University of New Hampshire and Stanford University
Liana C. Sayer, University of Maryland
Andrew Schaefer, University of New Hampshire

Research documents gender and class differences in the quantity, quality, and experience of leisure. Less is known about how differences are correlated with health and well-being or about how specific activities are associated with subjective perceptions of time. We use data from the 2010 and 2012 American Time Use Survey and Well-being Module to consider gender and social class differences in the distribution, experience, and perception of leisure, and investigate if gender, social class, and leisure independently and jointly affect feeling well rested, subjective health, and subjective experience of activities. Preliminary results indicate women have less leisure than men and leisure declines steadily as education, income, and job skill increase. We also find gender and class variation in associations of leisure with health. Future analyses will consider if gender and social class differences persist across new measures of leisure quality and if differences are mediated by subjective perceptions of leisure.