Housework Efficiency and Economical Systems’ Development: A Case Study of Thailand
Housework takes part in the list of individual’s activities affecting productivity, wage and time allocation. This research examines factors influencing time use for housework as well as how Thai people’s time use for housework and time allocation changes in response to the change in wage and income. The findings indicate that the single are spending the shortest housework time use while the household heads devote a shorter time for this domestic work then other members do. The increasing age leads to more responsibilities for housework. Among 7 days of a week, people choose to spend longest time for housework on Saturday and dedicate relatively short time in the weekdays. The higher income groups in Thailand or the rich devote a shorter time for housework while those with a greater hourly wage are more willing to do housework in a longer time because they work in a shorter time. The gender difference in time use for housework confirms the gender gap. Even women increasingly work in the market like men do nowadays, women still need to be in charge of housework even they also have to work in the market during the days. This could be a cause of shorter leisure time, more worsen health and bad environment in the workplace and lower productivity. Policies and measures stimulating optimal time allocation, especially for women should be implemented in order to not only reduce gaps in time use between genders, but also boost people’s labor productivity and income.