Time distribution in single-mother households. Living with others as work-life balance strategy

Abstract

This paper analyses single-mother households' unpaid work distribution -childcare and housework-compared with dual-parent households using the EET 2009-10. We hypothesize that working single-mothers implement two balance strategies: rearrange their time and live with rela-tives that are not part of the nuclear family. Results show that while working single-mothers invest the same amount of time in childcare as dual-parent mothers, the time in-vested in housework is lower, especially in time-demanding activities such as cooking or cleaning. On the other hand, single-mothers more often live with other people compared to dual-parent mothers. Furthermore, other members' time contribution to childcare is significantly higher in single-mother households, but this tendency is not observed for housework.