El tiempo donado el en ámbito doméstico. Reflexiones para el análisis del trabajo doméstico y los cuidados

Abstract

This article conceptualizes the time donated neither as time that is sold nor given away, which operates on a different logic to that of quantification and mercantilism. Starting from this premise, both housework and house care are studied from the central idea of the time donated, exploring its continuity and discontinuity both inside and outside the market. First, the article analyses the social distribution of work within the household from the data gathered in the Time Budgets by the Basque Institute of Statistics (Eustat, 1993, 1998, 2003). Secondly, it reasserts both the possibilities and difficulties of approaching this issue from a quantitative perspective. Finally, the article concentrates on the qualitative aspects, based on a study carried out by the author in the Autonomous Community of Euskadi with a grant from the Basque Institute for Women (Emakunde).