Time Use and Living Satisfaction of Korean Middle-Aged and Older Women: Focusing on the People Living with Spouses and Living Alone

ABSTRACT

This study aimed to analyze differences between married couples and single-person households in their time spent and analyzed the expected behavior and differences in living satisfaction of middle-aged and older women. Data from the 2014 Korean Time Use Survey collected by the Korean National Statistical Office were used in this study. The results showed intergenerational differences in aspects of time use and their effects on life satisfaction. Our results also showed that the time spent on each activity alone or together with a spouse influenced life satisfaction of middle-aged and older women differently. Both middle-aged women and older women spent lengthy amounts of time on housework, and both middle-aged and older women appeared to assume the same gender roles, regardless of intergenerational differences. Women 65 years and older spent large amounts of time watching media alone. This indicates the need for policies to ensure that the elderly can be more active by taking part in different activities. This study, which adopted the life-course perspective, served to specifically determine the time that middle-aged women and older women spent with family members.

KEYWORDS:

• Time use
• living satisfaction
• middle-aged women
• older women
• time use data

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF-2016-S1A3A2924582).