How does commuting influence time use and domain and life satisfaction? Evidence from dual-earner couples with school-age children in a small Chinese city

Abstract

Most evidence about commuting, and how it influences time use, domain satisfaction, and life satisfaction, comes from the individual level; very few studies have investigated this issue within a household. Using survey data collected from couples with school-age children in Ganyu (a small Chinese city), this paper explores how women and men schedule their time use around daily activities—including the commute—and how such time use contributes to different degrees of domain and life satisfaction. Results of our structural equation modeling showed that for men, longer commutes reduce the amount of time spent on leisure activities at home which in turn decreases life satisfaction. By contrast, longer commutes for women reduce the amount of time spent on household tasks, but such reduced time for household tasks does not impact satisfaction with household task allocation. In addition, intra-household interactions regarding time use were also found, which have implications for each spouse's satisfaction obtained in various domains and overall life. Moreover, we found no direct impact of commute time on commute satisfaction, which is related to short commute times and light traffic volumes in Ganyu. Our study suggests that policies aiming at enhancing individual subjective well-being should consider time use from both a household perspective and a cultural context.