Time of Our Lives

Singles and childless couples—male and female—spend broadly similar amounts of time at work, play and otherwise. Before children come into the picture, research indicates that couples tend to share housework more equally. (Illustration by Jason Keisling)

A basket piled with unfolded laundry. Kickoff for the big game in 10 minutes. A toddler waking up grumpy from a nap.

Although these circumstances may appear unrelated, ask yourself how you’d typically handle each one. With just that information, researchers in the Maryland Time Use Laboratory, the country’s leading center for time-use studies, can start drawing a picture of who you are, from your gender to the kind of work you do.

If that sounds like a parlor game, the field’s real goal is to understand how people live their lives and how sweeping social and economic changes affect them, says Liana Sayer, a sociology professor and the lab’s director.

Read the rest of the story at terp.umd.edu.

This article originally appeared in Maryland Today.

January 24, 2019