Eating in: employment and home production during the Great Recession

Abstract

The shift from market purchases to home production is a prevalent feature of the macroeconomy during a recession. However, the nature of aggregate data makes observing this phenomenon difficult. Using the American Time Use Survey, this work highlights the substitution between eating out and eating in at the aggregate level in the United States during the Great Recession by comparing food service industry employment and estimates of time spent on food preparation at home.

Keywords:

• business cycle
• home production
• food services
• recession

JEL Classification:

• E00
• E32
• E24

Acknowledgements

The author expresses gratitude to Mike Allgrunn, Mandie Weinandt, Chadwick Curtis, James Murray, Nabamita Dutta, session participants at the Southern Economic Association Conference, and the Beacom School of Business Research Group. The author also acknowledges summer support from the Beacom School of Business at the University of South Dakota.

Notes

¹ Each activity coded for the American Time Use Survey (ATUS) has a six-digit identifier. These identifiers are used to group the activities into tier 1, tier 2 and tier 3 activities. This work uses data aggregated to the tier 2 level. Food services are described as ‘Time spent preparing, serving, and cleaning up food’. The ATUS code is 0202 ‘Food and Drink Preparation, Presentation, and Clean up’. A more technical guide to constructing time-use estimates with the ATUS can be found in the ATUS User’s Guide, Appendix J.