Lifecycle analysis of the gender gap in paid and unpaid work by household structure

Abio, Gemma (author), Patxot, Concepció (author), Rentería, Elisenda (author), Souto, Guadalupe (author), Istenič, Tanja (author)

The paper provides new insights into men and women’s lifetime contributions to the overall economy and societal well-being, taking both market and non-market activities into account. It extends the National Transfer Accounts (NTA) and National Time Transfer Accounts (NTTA) methodologies by including household structure – specifically, partnership and parenthood status – in the analysis. Using Spain as a case study, the results reveal the need to consider family characteristics to fully understand gendered patterns of economic production. Three synthetic indicators are defined that permit new insights concerning the well-documented gender gap. Interestingly, this gap is already present in singles (single women spend more time doing housework), reinforced in childless couples (by the division of labour) and most apparent when children are present. Visible in the indicator of family generosity, the latter dimension also shows the existence of a sizeable ‘parenthood gap’. Addressing both gaps is particularly urgent in the context of accelerated population ageing given the potential implications it holds for fertility, care provision, and intergenerational support.

• Language: English
• Keywords: demography, national accounts, family, national transfer accounts, intergenerational transfers, unpaid work, gender
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: EF - School of Economics and Business
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2025
• Number of pages: 19 str.
• Numbering: Vol. 32, art. 100597
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-174520
• UDC: 314
• ISSN on article: 2212-828X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jeoa.2025.100597
• COBISS.SI-ID: 250161923
• Publication date in RUL: 03.10.2025

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: The journal of the economics of ageing
• Publisher: Elsevier
• ISSN: 2212-8298
• COBISS.SI-ID: 519739417

Licences

• License: CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Description: This is the standard Creative Commons license that gives others maximum freedom to do what they want with the work as long as they credit the author.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Keywords: demografija, družbeni računi, neplačano delo, spol, družina