A woman’s work is never done
In class, one point that I wanted to make on the last day I forgot to make. Here is the theory framing the point. As a worker’s wage rises, the substitution effect of the higher wage, a higher opportunity cost of not working at a market job (as opposed to a job in the home, or even leisure), means that workers will demand less time off of work and substitute time at work for time off. However, there is another force going on, what we called the income effect. With higher wages, a worker’s income rises, and by being richer as a result, can now afford to take more time off of work, which is usually taken to mean more time for leisure.
However, when economists look at men and women and their labor decisions, we see that as wages rise for men and rise high enough, after some high level of hours worked per day, male workers who earn very high wage rates begin to “buy” more leisure or time off of work, giving up the wage rage for each hour taken off. However, working women are not observed “buying” more time off as their wages rise at any level of wages or hours worked. The question that should be raised is “why are women different from men in this behavior?”
Ah, the title I have provided is based on an old English poem by that name that you can find at this site and here are a few appropriate lines:
“As I was wandering on the way,
I heard a married woman say
That she had lived a solid life [grave, serious]
Ever since the time that she was made a wife.
“For why,” quoth she, “my labor is hard,
And all my pleasures are debarred:
Both morning, evening, night and noon,
I’m sure a woman’s work is never done.”
So now do you see? For most men, time off means fishing, golf, some time for themselves, so that time off is really a “normal good” one that people buy more when their incomes rise.
For women, the story is not quite the same. A working woman goes home after working all day, and what does she do? Fix supper, help kids with homework, clean a bathroom, put on a load of clothes, and when she stops at 11pm or so, she falls to sleep rather exhausted. For her, a rise in wages at any level does not induce a choice of more time off and less work offered. And the reason is that the time off of work is nothing special, nothing to lose time at work over, because the time off is not spent at real leisure, not spent playing golf or tennis, but all too often, working at home instead of working at the office. The big difference is getting paid well in one place and not getting paid in the other.
Have a good summer. Relax, unless of course, you are a working, married woman.
-MC
July 1st, 2008 at 6:41 pm
You are right, Dr. Coats. As I have appreciated reading this blog, I especially enjoyed reading it to my husband. And this blog did not come a moment too soon, as we were heavily discussing who does more work in the house! As mentioned, a woman’s work is never done, especially if that woman has a baby boy. My son is 21 months old, and still attached to the umbilical cord.
Actually, traveling back and forth to Thibodaux from Franklin (about an hour one way) every morning and then back to Franklin after class, including class time, was my leisure. I did have to give up wages to attend class this summer, so this class I suppose would be an inferior good in the sense that although my income changed, it did not affect my decision to attend and go after my degree.
And as far as relaxing goes, even Calgon won’t take it away! I have to work even on vacation!
July 3rd, 2008 at 12:16 pm
Danielle,
Well, I hope the class was not inferior, as classes go! The important thing is for infereior or normal, remember, is if you consume less of it as your income goes up, independent of the price or the cost to you. So I hope it was just that the cost was significant, but a cost that you saw as being potentially worthwhile. More importantly, it was an investment in what we call “human capital.” As you are so near your BS now, and your previous investement is sunk, and becomes more valuable when the degree is finalized, even with the loss of wages, which is part of your investment.
As far as your leisure time during your commute, that is also what my wife claims. During her drives to Destrahan, she listens to books on CD and has enjoyed “Chronicles of Narnia” that way.
Have a good summer–and that goes for all of you.
-MC
July 30th, 2009 at 1:50 pm
When I read this blog, I think of my mother. Her work is never done. She works a full time job as a store manager, and she is also a realtor, which both take up a lot of her time. When she gets home, there isn’t much leisure time. Her time off is spent cooking and cleaning the house. (Because of our troubled economy, the real estate business is moving pretty slow. People can’t afford to buy houses. This affected the income in my mother’s house tremendously.) On the other hand, her husband, also works full time. When he gets time off, he lounges around the house or spends his time riding one of his Harley Davidson’s. Question is, why is it “understood” that a woman must take care of the household and the man gets the leisure time ???
August 3rd, 2009 at 11:38 am
While reading this blog, it made me think about myself. My work is never done due to me being a single parent and a full time student. I have giving up working for the next year (capital) to finish school. By me giving up on gaining capital for a year, I will gain human capital in that I will have my BS in May. However, I dont have much time for leisure since I have carried 15 hours this summer. Once I am home I have to tend to my son and study. The only time i have alone is when I am commuting to school from New Orleans. When on the other hand his father’s work is done once he leaves New Orleans to go back home to Altanta. A woman is very strong and they will keep going and striving to do her best long after a days work!