Michael Stretton, III, Rosa Ferreum (鐵瑰) Profile picture
A discursive E.D.P.N.A. Social Security disability benefits (paralegal) advocate, information designer, bibliothecal researcher, tutor, and tea traveler (茶旅人).

Sep 15, 2020, 17 tweets

@PadmaLakshmi @NewYorker …but does the data support that she would be taking on more responsibility than he would?

There is a #GenderedLaborGap, but It is probably not what you think it is, @PadmaLakshmi.

Let's look at the data!

@PadmaLakshmi @NewYorker If you add up both the unpaid labor and paid labor, on average, men work more total time than women creating a #GenderedLaborGap pursuant to the @BLS_gov's 2017 American Time Use Survey (bls.gov/news.release/a…) and @pewresearch data (pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018…).

@PadmaLakshmi @NewYorker @BLS_gov @pewresearch American Time Use Survey (with 2017 as an example) shows that women on average are not spending enough more time with their kids, doing chores, or anything else to justify women's lack of time working.

On average, men just work more in America (considering both paid and unpaid).

@PadmaLakshmi @NewYorker @BLS_gov @pewresearch Let's do the math:

Table 8A, column 1: Men: Women:
Household activities: 1.31 2.34
Caring for household: 1.01 1.85
Work-related activities: 5.46 3.37
==========
Total: 7.78 7.56

@PadmaLakshmi @NewYorker @BLS_gov @pewresearch Now comparing the men from Table 8B to the women from Table 8C (where the youngest child is under 6):

Women care for and help household members 2.08 more hours per day than men in the most extreme case presented by Table 8A, but men work 6.43 hours more per day than women.

@PadmaLakshmi @NewYorker @BLS_gov @pewresearch Similarly, comparing the men from Table 8B to the women from Table 8C (where the youngest child is under 6), women do household activities for 1.91 more hours per day than men in the most extreme case presented by Table 8A, but, again, men work 6.43 hours more per day than women.

@PadmaLakshmi @NewYorker @BLS_gov @pewresearch Let's do the math: Men: Women:
Household activities: 1.26 3.17
Caring for household: 1.42 3.36
Work-related activities: 6.57 0.00
==========
Total: 9.25 6.53

Who is doing more?

@PadmaLakshmi @NewYorker @BLS_gov @pewresearch By comparing the men from Table 8B to the women from Table 8C (using the youngest child under 6 column), we see the situation where women are unemployed and spending the most time caring not only for the children but the whole family.

@PadmaLakshmi @NewYorker @BLS_gov @pewresearch Other @BLS_gov data (see below) indicates that 61% of families have both parents employed (bls.gov/opub/ted/2017/…), but does not indicate whether the mothers are working full-time or part-time.

The American Time Use Survey does have an answer in Table 8B.

Let's check that out.

@PadmaLakshmi @NewYorker @BLS_gov @pewresearch Let's do the math:

Table 8B, column 1: Men: Women:
Household activities: 1.23 1.90
Caring for household: 0.93 1.52
Work-related activities: 6.35 5.01
===========
Total: 8.51 8.43

@PadmaLakshmi @NewYorker @BLS_gov @pewresearch Maybe women are forced to stay home with their kids and that causes the gap. If true, women with no kids should be working the same amount as men in the workforce as there is no reason not to since there is no reason to be on call and no extra household or child care duties.

@PadmaLakshmi @NewYorker @BLS_gov @pewresearch Let's do that math:

Table 8A, column 4: Men: Women:
Household activities: 1.54 2.21
Caring for household: 0.07 0.07
Work-related activities: 4.11 2.83
===========
Total: 5.72 5.11

@PadmaLakshmi @NewYorker @BLS_gov @pewresearch Consider just workers:

Table 8B, column 4: Men: Women:
Household activities: 1.34 1.80
Caring for household: 0.04 0.05
Work-related activities: 6.17 5.29
===========
Total: 7.55 7.14

@PadmaLakshmi @NewYorker @BLS_gov @pewresearch Whether you consider all currently childless folks (Table 8A) or just the ones working (Table 8B), women spend less time on paid labor and related activities and women spend less time working considering both unpaid domestic labor and paid labor added together. The pattern holds.

@PadmaLakshmi @NewYorker @BLS_gov @pewresearch In light of the data (outlined hereinabove), it would seem that he would be taking on more responsibility than she would (on average), @PadmaLakshmi, which makes this comic hilariously false when dealing with the general or typical case ().

Share this Scrolly Tale with your friends.

A Scrolly Tale is a new way to read Twitter threads with a more visually immersive experience.
Discover more beautiful Scrolly Tales like this.

Keep scrolling