Authors:

L.S. Skachkova, D.D. Krivosheeva-Medyantseva

Southern Federal University, Rostov-on-Don, Russia

Abstract:

The issues of time management and work-life balance have become increasingly prominent in socio-economic discourse, particularly against the backdrop of labour market transformation and shifts in the demographic structure of society. Nevertheless, the actual patterns of time use in Russia remain insufficiently explored. The study aims to identify and verify key trends in the distribution of the daily time budget by the Russian population with differentiation by gender, age, employment status, presence of children, and the household income level. The theoretical foundation of the research rests on Strumilin’s pioneering work on the systematic analysis of time budgets, Becker’s theory of the allocation of time, Giddens’s theory of structuration, and Gershuny’s comparative methodologies for time use analysis. Descriptive statistics and cross-tabulation analysis served as the primary analytical instruments. The empirical base includes microdata from Rosstat’s sample observation for 2024 (124,461 diaries; respondents aged 15–75). The findings indicate that the structure of the daily time budget is strongly determined by biological and occupational rhythms, which considerably constrains the time available for leisure and self-development. The paper documented the persistent reproduction of the “second shift” phenomenon: despite spending a comparable number of hours in paid employment, women bear a significantly higher burden of unpaid domestic labour encompassing routine household tasks and childcare responsibilities. The “motherhood penalty” was confirmed: among women with young children, the amount of time devoted to paid work declines while domestic workload increases substantially. The study demonstrates that rising household income is associated with a reduction in time spent on domestic labour, thereby releasing resources for alternative activities. The findings contribute to the conceptualization of time poverty as a distinct dimension of social inequality and may inform the development of socio-economic policy measures as well as the improvement of human resource management policies.

Keywords: time budget; time use; gender inequality; housework; unpaid work; second shift; time poverty.

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For citation: Skachkova L.S., Krivosheeva-Medyantseva D.D. (2026). Where does time go? Between work and home: Time use patterns in Russia. Upravlenets / The Manager, vol. 17, no. 2, pp. 18–37. DOI: 10.29141/2218-5003-2026-17-2-2. EDN: BKUAAO.