Leisure in the common world of women

Abstract

The lifestyles of women continue to change as they enter the workforce, yet the societal expectations of women's roles have been slow to make the transition. Women are still expected to keep family and home as their priority. This emphasis on the home sphere would seem to provide a ‘common world’ for women with leisure as an important component. This paper explores similarities and differences in the leisure experience of homemakers and women employed outside the home. The findings from a 24-hour time budget indicated that the home was the primary site for leisure for all the women, that homemakers experienced more leisure in activities done alone than did employed women, and that all of the women associated a high degree of choice with leisure. The importance placed on perceived choice supports this aspect of Neulinger's paradigm of leisure, but the fact that leisure was experienced in situations in which choice was clearly restricted suggests that further variables need to be investigated.