# **1 Introduction**

“Time is Money” wrote Benjamin Franklin nearly 300 years ago (Franklin, 1748). Indeed, for welfare economists a fundamental argument in utility and welfare models, alongside command over economic resources, involves the allocation of time, most notably the quantity of time devoted to leisure and other non-work activities (Wales and Woodland, 1977; Killingsworth and Heckman, 1986; Pencavel, 1986; Fafchamps, Kebede, and Quisumbing, 2009). Labor economists for their part are increasingly focusing on understanding and valuing that portion of work that does not result in market transactions, such as work spent on domestic chores as well as on household own production (Gaddis et al., 2023; Folbre, 2021; ILO, 2013; Beneria, 1999). As part of the Agenda 2030, Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5 on girls’ and women’s empowerment includes a target on valuing domestic and unpaid care work, to be monitored via indicator 5.4.1, the proportion of time spent on unpaid domestic and care work, by gender, age, and location.

Global patterns in men’s and women’s time use demonstrate the existence, particularly in low-income countries, of significant disparities in the time that men and women devote to activities such as unpaid domestic and care work and activities that are more closely tied to income generation. On average, women spend at least twice as much time as men in unpaid work, and often have a higher total work burden than men, when both paid and unpaid work are considered (UNDESA, 2010). These disparities impose several constraints on women’s well-being and livelihoods. Notably, women who choose to enter the labor market must contend with serious trade-offs in terms of their own personal needs (e.g., employment, education, leisure, personal care) and those of their families. Children’s diets and nutrition-related health behaviors are heavily dependent on mothers’ time allocation to a range of economic and nutrition- and health-enhancing activities (Black et al., 2013).

Efforts to formulate policies to address issues relating to income-generating activities, time allocation of domestic work, and gender disparities require accurate data on men’s and women’s time use. The revised statistical definition of ‘work’ which includes unpaid care and domestic activities (ILO, 2013), and Sustainable Development Goal Target 5.4 to “recognize and value unpaid care and domestic work through the provision of public services, infrastructure and social protection policies” have provided additional momentum for investments in time use data collection.

These analytical objectives, and the design of effective policies and programs for addressing gender disparities in both paid and unpaid work that they aim to inform, rely on the accurate measurement of men’s and women’s time use. The existing and persisting weaknesses in individual-level data and statistics on time use (Chatzitheochari et al., 2017; Harvey and Taylor, 2000; Juster et al., 2003; Kan and Pudney, 2008; Kes and Swaminathan, 2006) are a major bottleneck hindering progress towards these policy research goals. Time use surveys or time use modules as part of multi-topic household surveys are key sources of the required data. It is most common for these surveys and modules to elicit respondents’ recollection of their activities during the reference period, typically the previous 24 hours leading up to the interview (Fisher, 2015).<sup>2</sup> The shortcomings in terms of cross-country availability, comparability, and quality of individual-level data on time use can in part be traced back to underinvestment in rigorous methodological research for the development of scalable and accurate survey methods (Daum et al., 2019; Kilic et al., 2024). Research has drawn attention to the weaknesses in the availability and quality of individual-level survey data and statistics on time use measurement (Chatzitheochari et al., 2017; Harvey and Taylor, 2000; Juster et al., 2003; Kan and Pudney, 2008; Kes and Swaminathan, 2006). Studies have emphasized the importance of developing improved survey methods for time use (Bauman et al., 2017; Buvinic and King, 2018; Charmes, 2015), particularly in low-income contexts with high prevalence of illiteracy and unfamiliarity with clock-oriented time (Seymour et al., 2020).

> 2 Time use diaries can also be self-administered, and respondents can use a paper diary or an electronic device (e.g., tablet or smartphone) and are instructed to use it to record all their activities during the reference period.

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