# _Time Use by Education Level_

In general, men allocate more time to market activities and less time to unpaid domestic chores than women at all levels of education (Table 2).<sup>10</sup> However, consistent with previous studies, Figure 5 shows that the gender gap diminishes with the level of education. Among individuals with primary or no education, men work on average 3.2 more hours in the market than women per day. The difference diminishes to 2.9 hours per day for those with secondary and 2.1 hours per day for those with tertiary education. This pattern is mainly explained by the fact that individuals with higher levels of education work more hours in the market and the increase in the number of paid work hours if greater for women than for men. Unpaid domestic work mirrors the pattern of market work, but with opposite sign. Women with primary or no education devote 3.5 more hours to this activity than men on a daily basis. The difference decreases to 3.1 hours per day among women and men with secondary education and to 2.5 hours for individuals with tertiary. In this case, higher educational attainment is associated with fewer hours of domestic work and the effect is also larger for women than for men.

Gender differences in time allocated to market work and unpaid domestic chores diminish with the educational level, buy they persist even for more educated people.<sup>11</sup> These dynamics are explained by the fact that women devote more time to the market and fewer hours to domestic work as they get more educated, but men do not take on more household-related responsibilities. Thus, greater financial power—as measured by an increased involvement in the market—does not translate in greater gender equality in the domestic sphere. Rather than sharing household responsibilities with their partners, women are most likely outsourcing housework or drawing on family networks for support.

# _Time Use by Age Groups_

The analysis that follows focuses on three generations of potential productive workers within the household: young adults (15-24), women and men of prime working age who tend to specialize in market work (25-44), and mature adults (45-65) who tend to specialize in unpaid work and perform fewer hours of productive work than individuals in the other age groups. We construct these age groups based on the different roles that women and men play in most countries. Young adults are often between the ages of leaving compulsory education and entering the labor market. Prime age adults tend to be actively engaged in the labor market, but also assume family responsibilities such as raising children or caring for elderly relatives.

The traditional division of labor persists even among elderly women and men. Mature adults are often less attached to the labor market than their younger counterparts and are also likely to take care for other family members. While they devote similar amounts of time to personal care, women

> 10 Moldova and Uruguay are not included in the analysis as we could not define the educational level of our sample of interest.

> 11 These findings are consistent with previous analysis of time use by men and women (World Bank, 2011).

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