Mark Aguiar and Erik Hurst
University of Rochester
University of Chicago, May 2008.
This paper summarizes the key findings about trends in individual time use over the last four decades for prime age individuals. In particular, we recount key findings from Aguiar and Hurst (2007 and 2008). In particular, we show that leisure has increased for both men and women since 1965 by roughly 5 and 3.5 hours per week, respectively. However, most of these gains occurred prior to 1985 and the trends for women have some been somewhat reversed over the last decade. In addition, we show that for both men and women, leisure inequality has increased, particularly after 1985. In particular, since 1965, lower educated men and women have experienced substantial leisure increases, while their higher educated counterparts have experienced little, if any, leisure gains. The trends in leisure were similar across educational groups were similar up through the early 1980s and then started diverging sharply. The increase in leisure inequality, particularly for men, has matched the timing of the well-documented increases in wage and consumption inequality.
 A Summary of Trends in U.S. Time Use: 1965 - 2005 | [ ] |
