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

Global 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. The objective of our study was to develop and validate an instrument to measure time-use agency. We followed a sequenced approach involving qualitative and quantitative research, with exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses and construct validation. We conducted surveys with women and men within an impact assessment of a livelihoods program being implemented across all rural districts in Ghana. Results indicated a three-factor model with sub-scales 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. We recommend that our time-use agency scale be validated widely and used within global health and development programs