Inequality in the joint distribution of consumption and time use

a column by Jeehoon Han, Bruce Meyer and James Sullivan for VOX: CEPR’s Policy Portal

Economic well-being depends on the consumption of not just goods and services, but also the consumption of time.

This column looks at leisure and consumption together for the same families by imputing the amount of leisure families consume in the Consumer Expenditure Survey, and finds a negative relationship between consumption and leisure.

Accounting for both leisure and consumption implies somewhat less inequality in society, and suggests that social welfare policies and the business cycle can alter the economic well-being of families by both altering resources consumed and through their effect on leisure.

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