Paid labour is often said to come at a price. Using time-budget information on 9063 Dutch respondents and their partners, we investigated whether couples working full time economize on their solitary and social time budget. Results show that individuals who are part of a full-time working couple spend a smaller share of their available time budget on social interaction with relatives and friends than individuals from single-earner families or combination households. Instead, in full-time working couples, partners prefer to spend a relatively large share of their leisure time on institutionalized social interaction, such as volunteering, cultural participation and attending sports events.
Argyle, M. ( 1996) The Social Psychology of Leisure. London: Penguin.
2.
Bittman, M. and Wajcman, J. ( 2000) ‘The Rush Hour: The Character of Leisure Time and Gender Equity’, Social Forces79(1): 165-89.
3.
Blair, S.L. ( 2003) ‘Measuring the Division of Household Labor: "Gender Segregation of Housework Among American Couples"’Journal of Family Issues12(1): 91-113.
4.
Blekesaune, M. ( 2005) ‘Working Conditions and Time Use’, Acta Sociologica48(4): 308-20.
5.
Bryant, W.K. and Zick, C.D. ( 1996) ‘An Examination of Parent-Child Shared Time’ , Journal of Marriage and the Family58(1): 227-37.
6.
CBS (2005) Arbeidsdeelname van paren. Available at: http://statline.cbs.nl
7.
Clarkberg, M. and Merola, S.S. ( 2003) ‘Competing Clocks: Work and Leisure’ , in P. Moen (ed.) It’s About Time: Couples and Careers, pp. 35-48. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
8.
Coleman, J.S. ( 1988) ‘Social Capital in the Creation of Human Capital’ , American Journal of Sociology94(supplement): S95-S120.
9.
Cote, J.E. ( 1996) ‘Sociological Perspectives on Identity Formation: The Culture-Identity Link and Identity Capital’, Journal of Adolescence19(5): 417-28.
10.
Cousins, C.R. and Tang, N. ( 2004) ‘Working Time and Work and Family Conflict in The Netherlands, Sweden and the UK’, Work, Employment & Society18(3): 531-49.
11.
Daly, K.J. ( 2001) ‘Deconstructing Family Time: From Ideology to Lived Experience’, Journal of Marriage and the Family63(2): 283-94.
12.
Elder, G. ( 1985) Life Course Dynamics: Trajectories and Transitions, 1968-1980 . Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
13.
Fine, G. ( 1996) Kitchens: The Culture of Restaurant Work. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
14.
Garhammer, M. ( 2003) ‘Changes in Working Hours in Germany’ , Time & Society4(2): 167-203.
15.
Garhammer, M. ( 2004) ‘Time Pressure and Quality of Life’ . Paper presented at the International Workshop on Time Competition , Utrecht University, The Netherlands, 24-5 June.
16.
Gauthier, A.H., Smeeding, T.M. and Furstenberg, F.F. Jr. (2004) ‘Are Parents Investing Less Time in Children? Trends in Selected Industrialized Countries’, Population and Development Review30(4): 647-72.
17.
Gershuny, J. ( 2000) Changing Times: Work and Leisure in Postindustrial Society . Oxford: Oxford University Press .
18.
Gershuny, J. and Sullivan, O. ( 1998) ‘The Sociological Uses of Time-use Diary Analysis’ , European Sociological Review14(1): 69-86.
19.
Hochschild, A.R. and Machung, A. ( 2003) The Second Shift. New York: Penguin.
20.
Jacobs, J.A. and Gerson, K. ( 2001) ‘Overworked Individuals or Overworked Families: Explaining Trends in Work, Leisure, and Family Time’, Work and Occupations28(1): 40-63.
21.
Kelly, J.R. ( 1996) Leisure. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.
22.
Mannell, R.C. and Kleiber, D.A. ( 1997) A Social Psychology of Leisure. State College, PA: Venture.
23.
Mattingly, M.J. and Bianchi, S.M. ( 2003) ‘Gender Differences in the Quantity and Quality of Free Time: The US Experience’, Social Forces81(3): 999-1030.
24.
Mattingly, M.J. and Sayer, L.C. ( 2006) ‘Under Pressure: Gender Differences in the Relationship Between Free Time and Feeling Rushed’, Journal of Marriage and Family68: 205-21.
25.
Moen, P. ( 2003) It’s About Time: Couples and Careers. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
26.
Nock, S.L. and Kingston, P.W. ( 1989) ‘The Division of Leisure and Work’ , Social Science Quarterly70(1): 24-39.
27.
Nomaguchi, K.M. and Bianchi, S.M. ( 2004) ‘Exercise Time: Gender Differences in the Effects of Marriage, Parenthood, and Employment’, Journal of Marriage and Family66(2): 413-30.
28.
Orthner, D.K. and Mancini, J.A. ( 1990) ‘Leisure Impacts on Family Interaction and Cohesion’ , Journal of Leisure Research22(2): 125-37.
29.
Putnam, R. ( 1995) ‘Bowling Alone: America’s Declining Social Capital’, Journal of Democracy6(1): 65-78.
30.
Robinson, J.P. and Godbey, G. ( 1997) Time for Life: The Surprising Ways Americans Use Their Time. University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University Press.
31.
Schor, J.B. ( 1991) The Overworked American: The Unexpected Decline of Leisure . New York: HarperCollins .
32.
Shaw, S.M. ( 2001) ‘Purposive Leisure: Examining Parental Discourses on Family Activities’, Leisure Sciences23(4): 217-31.
33.
Southerton, D. ( 2003) ‘Squeezing Time: Allocating Practices, Coordinating Networks and Scheduling Society’, Time & Society12(1): 5-25.
34.
Southerton, D. ( 2006) ‘Analysing the Temporal Organization of Daily Life: Social Constraints, Practices and Their Allocation’, Sociology40(3): 435-54.
35.
Szalai, S. ( 1973) The Use Of Time: Daily Activities of Urban and Suburban Populations in Twelve Countries. The Hague: Mouton.
36.
Tiehen, L. ( 2000) ‘Has Working More Caused Married Women to Volunteer Less? Evidence from Time Diary Data, 1965 to 1993’, Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly29(4): 505-29.
37.
Treas, J. and Hilgeman, C. ( 2006) ‘Trading Off or Having It All? Workers’ Preferences for Work and Family Time’, in T. van der Lippe and P. Peters (eds) Competing Claims in Work and Family Life, pp. 93-107. Cheltenham : Edward Elgar.
38.
Van de Werfhorst, H. and Kraaykamp, G. ( 2001) ‘Four Field-related Educational Resources and Their Impact on Labor, Consumption and Sociopolitical Orientation’ , Sociology of Education74: 296-317.
39.
Van der Lippe, T. ( 2007) ‘Dutch Workers and Time Pressure: Household and Workplace Characteristics’, Work, Employment & Society21(4): 693-711.
40.
Van der Lippe, T. and Van Dijk, L. ( 2001) Women’s Employment in a Comparative Perspective . New York: Aldine de Gruyter .
41.
Van Gils, W. and Kraaykamp, G. ( 2008) ‘The Emergence of Dual-earner Couples: A Longitudinal Study of The Netherlands’, International Sociology23(3): 345-66.
42.
Warren, T. ( 2003) ‘Class- and Gender-based Working Time? Time Poverty and the Division of Domestic Labour’, Sociology37(4): 733-51.
43.
Wilson, J. ( 2000) ‘Volunteering’, Annual Review of Sociology26: 215-40.
