The Disability Gap in Time Use by Age Across the Life Course

Abstract

How people spend their time is an indicator of how they live their lives, with time use over the life course conditioned both by age and by participation in age-graded institutions. This chapter uses nationally representative data from the pooled 2008–2020 American Time Use Survey (ATUS) to evaluate how time use in 12 activity categories varies by age, gender, and disability status among 137,266 respondents aged 15 and older. By doing so, we quantify the “disability gap” in time use between men and women with and without disabilities, identifying at what age and by how much people with disabilities experience time differentials in activities of daily living (ADLs), instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs), and other indicators of social participation. Results indicate that – at many ages – patterns of time use for people with disabilities deviate from those of people without disabilities, with more pronounced differences in midlife. Further, the magnitude of women's disability gaps equals or exceeds men's for sleeping, and nearly all ADLs and IADLs, indicating that disability gaps are also gendered.

Citation

Shandra, C.L. and Burke, F. (2023), "The Disability Gap in Time Use by Age Across the Life Course", Dillaway, H.E., Shandra, C.L. and Bender, A.A. (Ed.) Disabilities and the Life Course (Research in Social Science and Disability, Vol. 14), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 183-207. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1479-354720230000014011