ABSTRACT
Time is a key gender issue both in the work place and in the home. Women and men have quite different patterns of time use in all countries, even those with the most egalitarian labour market organisation. The time women and men spend in the labour market varies not only on a daily or weekly basis, with women dominating part-time work, but also over the life cycle, with women more likely to take time out of the labour market to care for children. Women also take on a greater share of the domestic responsibilities in all countries. Even where women and men are both working full-time, women carry a double burden, doing more of the housework and caring duties and having less leisure time (Anxo and Flood 1995 and pp. 160-4 above). Labour Force Survey statistics in all countries show how women work fewer hours than men in paid employment but these results do not take account of the extra hours women work in unpaid domestic roles.
