GENDER CONVERGENCE IN THE AMERICAN HERITAGE TIME USE STUDY (AHTUS).

We present evidence from a new comprehensive database of harmonized national time-diary data that standardizes information on almost 40 years of daily life in America. The advantages of the diary method over other ways of calculating how time is spent are reviewed, along with its ability to generate more reliable and accurate measures of productive activity than respondent estimates or other alternatives. We then discuss the various procedures used to develop these harmonized data, both to standardize reporting detail and to match with Census Bureau population characteristics.