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Urban commuting behavior and time allocation among women: Evidence from US metropolitan areas
Author(s) -
Sakanishi Akiko
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
regional science policy and practice
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.342
H-Index - 8
ISSN - 1757-7802
DOI - 10.1111/rsp3.12261
Subject(s) - microdata (statistics) , metropolitan area , time allocation , economics , demographic economics , wage , public use , inequality , marital status , time use survey , work (physics) , labour economics , geography , sociology , census , demography , political science , population , management , archaeology , mechanical engineering , engineering , mathematical analysis , mathematics , law
This paper examines the determinants of commuting time and hours worked among women living in US metropolitan areas. The empirical analysis using the data of the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series (IPUMS‐USA) shows that commuting time and hours worked have a positive relationship. However, commuting time and hours worked are not direct causal relation but are affected by the common factors: wage rate and preference for non‐work activity time based on the theoretical model of time allocation. Commuting time increases with wages because the disutility of longer commutes must be compensated by higher wage income. The results of our empirical analysis show that commuting time is significantly dependent on wages, marital status, presence of children and household automobile ownership. Policies alleviating constraints of commuting and improving public transport are crucial for improving work‐life balance and expanding job opportunities for married women with many household responsibilities, which help to reduce regional labour market inequality.