Time use, exploitation, and the dual-career household: Competing perspectives

This article evaluates Laibman's reformulation of Marxian exploitation theory, and compares it to two preference-based analyses of household time use (advanced by Becker and Hakim). Using a quantitative Marxist approach, and the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS), we show profound dissatisfaction with working hours for members of dual-career households, and inequality, by gender, vis-à-vis pure consumption time. The results support exploitation-based theories of the household, and cast doubt on such preference-based theories of time use.