Intergenerational Co-Residence, Women’s Labor Force Participation and Leisure Time in Egypt

Nadia Diamond-Smith, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
Omaima El Gibaly, Assiut University

TThis paper examines the role of intergenerational co-residence on women's labor supply and leisure time using data on time allocation in Egypt. Data were collected from 548 women with a living mother-in-law, 291 co-residing and 257 not. Survey data included labor supply, fertility, a 24 hour time diary, and senior health assessment. Multivariate regression models predicted labor supply and leisure time use using standard models. Labor supply was decreased by co-residing with a disabled mother-in-law. Leisure consumption in the cohort was high at four hours per day and increased by 32 minutes per day for women co-residing with non-disabled mother-in-law but was unaffected by disabled mother-in-laws. Changing demographic patterns that will increase co-residence may continue to suppress female labor supply, especially if there is an extension of disability causing the aging population to live more years in a disabled state, requiring increasing demands for care.