The Time-use Agency Scale: Development and Validation of a Measure for Ghana and Beyond

AbstractGlobal health and development interventions often are predicated on the reallocation of women's time for the achievement of program objectives; yet research and programs have paid limited attention to women's preferences for and agency over their time use. This study aims to develop and validate an instrument to measure time-use agency. It follows a sequenced approach involving qualitative and quantitative research, with exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses and assessment of concurrent validity. The authors conducted surveys with women and men within an impact assessment of a livelihoods program being implemented across rural districts in Ghana. Results indicate a three-factor model with subscales for intrinsic time-use agency, voice related to time use, and decision making related to time use, which were each positively correlated with an item on satisfaction with time use. This time-use agency scale should be validated widely and used within global health and development programs.HIGHLIGHTS In Ghana, time poverty, often a proxy for disempowerment, does not alone provide a full picture of women's quality of time use.Time-use agency is a more direct measure of exercising choice over the allocation of one's time.Time-use agency is a necessary component of empowerment processes.A survey instrument that measures time-use agency should be used alongside customary time-use surveys.KEYWORDS: Time usetime povertyempowermentGhanadevelopmentmixed methodsJEL Codes: I18J16J22 ACKNOWLEDGMENTSWe thank the Rural Enterprises Program – Phase III (REP-III) and DevtPlan Consult, our data collection partner in Ghana, along with the cadre of enumerators who administered our time-use agency survey module. We additionally thank the Value Chain Development Program, Sarah Eissler, and the interviewers who facilitated cognitive interviews for our module in Nigeria. We thank the women and men who participated in cognitive interviews to test early versions of our survey module in Nigeria as well as those who responded to our survey module in Ghana, without whom this study would not have been possible.Additional informationFundingThis work was supported by funding from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) to the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) [Grant number: #2000002043], via sub award to Emory University [Grant number: 2019X197.UE, Site PI: Yount].Notes on contributorsSheela SinharoySheela Sinharoy, PhD, is Assistant Professor in the Hubert Department of Global Health at the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University. Her research focuses on the nutrition of women and children, especially in relation to agriculture and food security; gender, empowerment, and social inclusion; water, sanitation, and hygiene; and household air pollution. Her work uses inter-disciplinary and multi-sectoral approaches to address complex problems. Methodologically, she is trained in both quantitative and qualitative methods. Dr. Sinharoy’s research spans across Latin America, Asia, Africa, and the Pacific. She holds a PhD in Nutrition and Health Sciences from Emory University.Yuk Fai CheongYuk Fai Cheong, PhD, is Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at Emory University. His research interests include multilevel and psychometric analyses as applied to the study of women’s agency, intimate partner violence, test bias, and learning. Dr. Cheong received his PhD in Measurement and Quantitative Methods from Michigan State University.Greg SeymourGreg Seymour, PhD, is a Research Fellow with the Environment and Production Technology Division of the International Food Policy Research Institute. Greg’s research agenda includes gender and agriculture; time use; household survey methods and measurement; and more recently, climate change adaptation. He was part of the teams that developed the original Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index (WEAI) and project-level WEAI (pro-WEAI). His current research focuses on improving survey methods for measuring agency and understanding the impacts of women’s economic empowerment on agricultural and development outcomes. He has a PhD in economics from American University.Jessica HeckertJessica Heckert, PhD, is a Research Fellow in the Poverty, Health and Nutrition Division at the International Food Policy Research Institute. Using both quantitative and qualitative methods, she addresses research questions related to 1) adolescent/youth health and well-being 2) the development of metrics to measure women’s empowerment, 3) the impact of agricultural development interventions on women’s empowerment and other gender-related outcomes, and 4) the intersection of household gender dynamics and health. She is a social demographer and earned a PhD in Demography and Human Development & Family Studies from the Pennsylvania State University in 2013.Erin R. JohnsonErin R. Johnson, MPH, is a Data Analyst in the Hubert Department of Global Health at the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University and a PhD Candidate in the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences at the University of California, San Francisco. She specializes in mixed methods research and evaluation, focusing on increasing access to care for marginalized populations. Erin earned her Master’s of Public Health from Emory University.Kathryn M. YountKathryn M. Yount, PhD, is Asa Griggs Candler Chair of Global Health and Professor of Global Health and Sociology at Emory University. Her research centers on the social determinants of women’s health, including mixed-methods evaluations of social-norms and empowerment-based programs to reduce gender-based violence and health disparities in underserved populations. She has been funded continuously since 2002 from US federal agencies, private foundations, and foreign agencies to work in parts of Asia, Latin America, the Middle East, Sub-Saharan Africa, and underserved communities in Atlanta. These collaborations have culminated in more than 250 publications in the social sciences and global health.