Work Rich, Time Poor? Time-Use of Women and Men in Ireland

Abstract

Are we running out of time? This paper uses data from a recently completed time-use survey in Ireland to consider whether the recent employment growth has led to high workloads, time-pressure and a lack of free time. We examine levels of total committed time, that is, time spent on employment/education, unpaid work (caring and household work) and travel, across different groups in the population. We find high workloads among the employed and those caring for young children and adults. High levels of committed time are found to be associated with greater subjective feelings of time-pressure. Our evidence suggests that recent employment growth is likely to have contributed to time poverty and feelings of time-pressure.