Teaching time use in economics classes: introducing students to time poverty and inequality in unpaid work

This article describes a brief module for economics courses in which students learn about inequality through the lens of time-use data. Economic research on time use is common in feminist, gender, New Home, and development economics and has been pivotal for understanding inequality in unpaid work. This course module provides an opportunity for economics instructors to enhance students’ understandings of inequality as well as data collection. We offer a roadmap for instructors that includes (1) an introduction to time-use data, (2) an exercise for students to record their own time-use diaries and compare these with national averages, and (3) an exercise for students to consider measures of time poverty. We offer this module specifically for instructors searching for opportunities to infuse feminist economic perspectives in their courses.