Abstract :: With the rise in women participation in labour force and gender equality campaigns on the one
hand and cultural norms which characterise women as house makers on the other, most married women often
find themselves in a dilemma as to how to allocate their time among competing needs. This paper used a
theoretical approach in reviewing the applicability of the proposals of Becker’s allocation of time theory to the
married women’s allocation of time between household duties and labour force participation to the
Zimbabwean situation. It was concluded that though the model ignores the cultural norms of assigning
household roles to specific gender, it explained to a greater extent the trends observed in which women spend
more time in household chores to which they have a comparative advantage as opposed to their male
counterparts. The substitution and income effects explained in this model are also applicable to the preferences
and patterns of time allocation by married when faced with a change in wages