An empirical analysis of the time allocation of farm household members in the West of Ireland

This paper reports on research into the task management and time use in rural households in order to increase understanding of livelihood strategies, household organisation, and leisure time choices and constraints of farm families. The research provides a detailed understanding of how farm household members in the West of Ireland allocate an important household resource: their time. Data collection was using a single purpose time use diary survey and the research also makes a number of significant contributions to identified gaps in the currently available literature on time use. The research design allowed for the collection of close grained data and the investigation of questions of community engagement, social-capital, quality of life and should therefore enable more informed policy decisions relating to farm households.

Dr Keogh carried out her PhD research in the Economics department at NUI Galway. She has subsequently worked as a lecturer in Economics and is currently a researcher with the Centre for Disability Law and Policy.

Part of the Research Methodology Seminar Series