Argentina leads to the reallocation of women from formal to informal wage employment (Viollaz, 2018).

_Have gender gaps in time use narrowed over time?_ To analyze the evolution of time use patters during the last years, we compare our results with those from the 2012 WDR (World Bank, 2011) for 10 countries: Argentina, Ghana, Guatemala, Iraq, Mexico, South Africa, Uruguay, USA, Timor-Leste and West Bank and Gaza.<sup>7</sup> We calculate changes in the gender gap in time allocated to market work, unpaid domestic work and care activities, and personal activities—including leisure. Survey instruments are different in some cases; thus, caution should be used when making comparisons. For example, while we use a time use module for Argentina and a time use survey for West Bank and Gaza, the 2012 WDR employs aggregate data for these two countries. Similarly, for Ghana we use a time use survey and the WDR employs a household survey module.

Progress in reducing gender gaps in time use has been uneven. Some countries have made small improvements in the last years, while differences persist or even widened in others. Figure 4 presents the change in gender gaps over time.<sup>8</sup> Panel A shows that the gender gap in time allocated to market work narrowed in 4 of the 10 countries (Ghana, Guatemala, USA and Timor-Leste); it increased in 5 countries (Argentina, Iraq, Mexico, South Africa and West Bank and Gaza), but the change was rather small in two of them (Argentina and South Africa); and in one country (Uruguay) the gender gap remained unchanged. With respect to the time allocated to unpaid domestic work, Panel B indicates that in 2 out of the 10 countries (Argentina and Uruguay) the gender gap increased (in absolute value); in 2 countries, the gender gap barely changed (Mexico and Guatemala); and in the remaining 6 countries the gender gap declined. Panel C shows that gender differences in time devoted to personal activities—including personal care and leisure, social and study—for the 8 countries with information. Over the last years, the gap increased in 4 countries (Guatemala, Mexico, USA and Uruguay) and declined in the remaining 4 countries (Argentina, Iraq, South Africa and West Bank and Gaza).

# **4. How do time use patterns vary according to individual and household characteristics?**

To analyze gender differences in time use patterns according to individual and household characteristics, we focus on the average number of hours devoted to market work and unpaid domestic work.<sup>9</sup> Consistent with previous sections, the gender gap is calculated as the difference between the number of hours that men and women allocate to each activity.

> 7 Time use patterns for these countries were analyzed in the 2012 WDR using previous rounds of surveys. The time difference between the survey data used in the WDR and those used in this study ranges between 4 and 12 years. 8 In this exercise, the gender gaps corresponding to our study were calculated for the sample of men and women aged 18-65 to match the sample definition used in the 2012 WDR.

> 9 Time use for self-care and leisure, social and study activities are not included in the analysis given that they do not present a clear pattern by gender.

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