‘Mondays in the Sun:’ Unemployment, Time Use, and Consumption Patterns in Spain

  1. Ahn, Namkee 1
  2. Jimeno, Juan F. 13
  3. Ugidos, Arantza 2
  1. 1 FEDEA, Madrid, Spain
  2. 2 Universidad del País Vasco/Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea
    info

    Universidad del País Vasco/Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea

    Lejona, España

    ROR https://ror.org/000xsnr85

  3. 3 Universidad de Alcalá
    info

    Universidad de Alcalá

    Alcalá de Henares, España

    ROR https://ror.org/04pmn0e78

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Book:
Contributions to Economic Analysis

Publisher: Elsevier

ISSN: 0573-8555

ISBN: 978-0-444-51534-6

Year of publication: 2004

Pages: 237-259

Type: Book chapter

DOI: 10.1016/S0573-8555(04)71009-3 GOOGLE SCHOLAR lock_openOpen access editor

Sustainable development goals

Abstract

This study is a first step toward learning about the implications of unemployment for the combination of consumption expenditures and time use within households under the theoretical basis of Beckers (1965) household production theory. We examine the Spanish experience, where the unemployment rate was above 15% from the early 1980s to the late 1990s and, clearly, many unemployed workers were out of jobs involuntarily. Our results seem consistent with the main prediction of household production theory. As time is less scarce, we expect that unemployed workers spend more time in the production of commodities, which are relatively time-intensive. Time-intensive commodities (passive leisure, active leisure, housework, and child care) are produced more in households with unemployed individuals. We also find that (with the exception of single females) the proportion of consumption expenditures in time-saving goods is lower in households with unemployed individuals.

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