Consideraciones, recomendaciones

Two problems are associated with the use of panel data. First, the number of cases available for analysis is reduced and second, the use of unchanging characteristics limits cross-classification to a few subgroups, such as those by age and educational attainment. The reduction in the amount of time devoted to domestic work was largely due to the life cycle changes. Therefore, it can be assumed that not only the domestic time of employed women but also of non-employed women would be reduced between 1975 and 1985.

Other studies have shown that women move in and out of the labour market during the course of their lifetime for several reasons. This section focuses not only on women who were never employed and those who were previously employed, but also on those who changed their employment status between 1975 and 1985.

Women exhibited different patterns of change according to their employment status. A number of trends can be seen in Table 4.7. Life cycle changes did not influence the time allocation of those women who never participated in any market activity, whereas women who changed their employment status reported a lower number of hours devoted to domestic work in 1985 than in 1975, except for women who worked in 1975 and 1985 but not in 1982. The time devoted to personal care either increased or remained stable over the ten-year period. One might expect that the time saved from market work by women who became non-employed in 1985 would be transferred to domestic work. However, the expected shift did not occur. Instead, the time saved from market work was wholly shifted to personal care.

The invariability or constancy in the amount of time devoted to domestic work of those women who never participated in the market may be probably due to two reasons: Parkinson's Law and the unclear value of household work. According to Parkinson's Law, women keep housework at a constant level despite the time savings possible to occupy themselves (Robinson, 1980: 55). Because household work does not bring monetary income, non-employed women might have felt the pressure to spend long hours at it to ensure that equal contribution with their working husbands is made (Game and Pringle, 1983: 125).

The other interesting feature in Table 4.6 is the significant decline in the number of hours devoted to market time of women who were working in the market in 1975 and 1985 but not in 1982. The time devoted to market time in 1975 was reduced by more than half in 1985. These women also exhibited insignificant changes in the number of hours devoted to domestic work. Thus, the time devoted to personal activities increased significantly between 1975 and 1985. Perhaps the decreased market time spent by returning women to the labour force supports the argument that women did not benefit from the employment opportunities brought about by infrastructural improvement and the growth of urban centres in and near the province.

Table 4.7 Mean number of hours (per week) that women devoted to activities by employment status, Laguna, Philippines, 1975-1985

Employment status/ F- Activity 1975 1982 1985 ratio Never employed (n=7) Domestic work 56 39 55 2.6 Personal care 112 129 113 2.6 Total 168 168 168

Ever employed in 1975,1982 and 1985 (n=34)

Domestic work 71 43 44 7.4*** Market work 25 35 34 1.3 Personal care 72 89 91 2.7* Total 168 168 168 Employed in 1975 and 1985 but not in 1982 (n=12) Domestic work 59 68 49 1.4 Market work 45 a 22 12.3*** Personal care 64 100 97 3.1* * Total 168 168 168 Non-employed in 1975 but employed in 1985 (n=30) Domestic work 58 39 40 6.9*** Market work 0 19 28 19.4*** Personal care 110 110 100 1.7 Total 168 168 168 Employed in 1975 but non-employed in 1985 (n=14) Domestic work 68 42 64 4.9** Market work 22 10 a 6.2*** Personal care 78 116 104 6.9*** Total 168 168 168

Sources: Laguna data sets, 1975,1982 and 1985

Notes: Except in 1985, the number of hours for personal care was computed by deducting home and market work from 168 (24 hours x 7 days). The number of hours for personal care in

1985 was asked from the respondents.

Total number of hours may not add to 168 due to rounding a = less than 0.05

Excludes four women who worked only in 1982

The one-way analysis of variance with repeated measures was used to determine the significance of differences in the number of hours devoted to each activity by surveys. ♦♦♦Statistically significant at a = 0.01

4.6 Summary

Overall, less time was reported for domestic activities in 1985 than in 1975. The time saved from domestic work was apparently shifted to personal care because that spent on market activities remained stable over the ten-year period. The general pattern of change was echoed when women were examined according to several socio-demographic, economic and environmental factors.

As expected, the decrease in the amount of time devoted to child care contributed significantly to the overall reduction in women's domestic time. However, it was the time devoted to cooking and related activities which was mainly responsible for the decline in domestic time, although these activities continued to be the most time-consuming domestic responsibilities. Changes in the life cycle largely accounted for the decrease in the amount of time devoted to child care. Perhaps life cycle changes also affected meal preparation time, but this can also be attributed to changes in food preparation methods and the availability of cooked meals.

The increasing employment opportunities brought about by development, as well as the hard economic times that might have forced women to work more in the market, did not increase women's market time. As a result of stable market and decreasing domestic time, the time devoted to personal activities increased significantly for employed women. Perhaps, despite an increase in employment opportunities, the time devoted to market activities failed to increase because women lacked the necessary skills for employment. The age of these women could also be a contributory factor: by 1985, the mean age of women was 40. Furthermore, the high growth in population through migration may have made it more difficult for these comparatively less educated women to obtain employment.

The stability of the number of hours devoted to wage work activities of women supports the notion that lack of training and age could have prevented women from employment in factories and other establishment. The other

explanation for the lack of increase in women's time spent on market activities was the conflicting patterns in the components of market activities. The significant increase in the number of hours devoted to 'other market' activities was somewhat negated by the decline in women's crop production time.

Neither age nor educational attainment influenced the amount of time women devoted to total market work. Only the type of area (more modem areas versus less modem areas) significantly increased their total market time, but this pattern was not as expected. Surprisingly, the number of hours devoted to market activities rose significantly for women from less modem areas rather than women from more modem areas; this was largely due to the increase in the number of hours devoted to 'other market' time.

An examination of women's time allocation by their employment status revealed that women who remained not employed between 1975 and 1985 reported a similar number of hours devoted to domestic work. However, for women who have been employed and worker either in 1975 and 1985, there was a significant decline in the number of hours devoted to domestic activities.

The examination of trends by employment status showed that employed women's daily activities were clearly affected by outside employment. Employed women did less household work, while their time devoted to market work remained stable; thus, their personal time increased. From these results, it is still not possible to know anything about the context in which these trade-offs were made. If employed women did less at home, for example, did other family members come to their support and do more? What is the relationship between employed women's routines and those of their husbands and children, in particular with respect to domestic work? What accounted for the unchanging average number of hours that non-employed women devoted to household tasks? Did they not receive assistance

from other household members? These questions are addressed in the following chapter.

C hapter 5