Unpaid work, the household and the value of time. An analysis of the effects of the unequal distribution of unpaid care and domestic work within the household and beyond

This thesis is comprised of four parts, among which there are two empirical analyses. The first chapter of this thesis provides the reader with the theoretical background that can be employed for positioning this thesis with regards to the economic theory. In the measurement and evaluation of unpaid care and domestic work, time is a fundamental variable. A large part of chapter 2 is devoted to presenting the time-use surveys and the methodologies used for giving a monetary value to unpaid care and domestic work. In the first empirical analysis (chapter 3), I employ the most advanced measure of time and income poverty developed by the Levy Economics Institute – the LIMTIP – for analysing the Italian case and exploring the linkages between gendered time allocation, employment patterns and wellbeing. In the second empirical analysis (chapter 4), we look at the effects that the fiscal consolidation measures, together with the public reforms and the austerity measures adopted by European countries to avoid the risk of a sovereign debt crisis, may have had on women through their impact on unpaid care and domestic work.