Determining Factors and Their Interdependence in the Distribution of Household Labor Between Married Couples

Assuming that couples’ time allocation decisions are not independent activities, this research has examined the determining factors of time allocation and their interdependence by using a simultaneous equations model. The empirical portion of the research makes use of the thirdyear Korean Longitudinal Survey of Women and Family (KLoWF) and segmented an individual’s time into market labor, household labor, and leisure activities. According to the findings, the substitute effect between domestic labor and market labor of women was significantly weakened, and their husbands’ time allocation had a minimal impact on women’s time allocation. However, men’s time allocation was greatly influenced by their wives’ time allocation. Competition between husband and wife over housework was not detected, but both husband and wife placed additional time into housework when the amount of necessary household labor increased. This suggests that the burden of domestic labor, including care work, is not transferred from women to men but is replaced by marketization.