@misc{b577799a-9b2f-435e-8177-72b6baa4efa3,
  abstract     = {{Domestic  outsourcing  is  often  presented  as  a  way  to  reduce  unpaid  work,  ease  work-family conflict, and promote gender equality. However, it remains unclear whether outsourcing domestic services changes how individuals divide their time between paid work, housework, childcare, and other forms of unpaid work. This paper examines the relationship between domestic outsourcing and time use in Sweden, a strong dual-earner context in which the RUT tax deduction subsidies half of domestic services costs. We link  the  2021  Swedish  Time  Use  Survey  to  administrative  register  data  on  household-level  use  of  RUT services  to  reliably  capture  outsourcing  incidence  and  intensity.  This  linkage  allows  us  to  examine  how domestic outsourcing associates with time spent on paid work and types of unpaid work, and how these associations differ by gender and parenthood status. <br/><br/>The results indicate that outsourcing associates with differences in time allocation above a relatively high threshold of regular use, but<br/>that the relationship between outsourcing and time use depends on family type. Regular  domestic  outsourcing associates with  a  pattern  consistent  with  time  reallocation  theory  among individuals  without  resident  children.  Non-parenting  men  and  women  who  regularly  outsource  spend substantially more time on paid work and less time on unpaid work than otherwise similar non-outsourcers. Reductions in unpaid work are concentrated in routine housework, the activity most directly substitutable. Among parents, by contrast, regular outsourcing does not associate with more time in paid work nor clear reductions  in total unpaid  work.  Mothers  show  some  reduction  in  routine  housework,  accompanied  by increases in non-routine housework, while fathers in regularly outsourcing households do not spend less time on unpaid work, including routine housework. <br/><br/>The results suggest that domestic outsourcing cannot be understood simply as buying time for paid work. Among parents it may supplement rather than replace own unpaid work and may thus help sustain intensive combinations  of  employment, caregiving  and other  parts  of domestic  life. The  analysis  also  reveals discrepancies between register-based and self-reported measures of outsourcing. The study contributes to research on gender, outsourcing, and work-family dynamics by showing that the meaning of “buying time” varies by gender and parenthood.}},
  author       = {{Selassie, Betiel and Dalman, Elien and Eklund, Lisa and Nilsson, Therese}},
  keywords     = {{domestic outsourcing; time use; paid and unpaid work; gender; parenthood}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{06}},
  note         = {{Preprint}},
  pages        = {{1--43}},
  publisher    = {{SocArXiv}},
  title        = {{Buying time, doing family? Domestic outsourcing and time use in Sweden}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.31235/osf.io/tp2ez_v1}},
  doi          = {{10.31235/osf.io/tp2ez_v1}},
  year         = {{2026}},
}