Using data from the China Women Social Status Survey, this paper describes the status, trend and associates of time use between males and females in 1990-2010. Analytical results suggest that females' time use is characterized by shorter working hours, study time and leisure time, but much longer housework hours, compared to males'. Since females' housework time is over two-hours longer than males', leading to a heavier burden among females than males. Also, marriage is associated with time use divergently for males and females:increasing males' work hours and reducing their housework hours, while it is the opposite for females, suggesting that married females tend to sacrifice their social work time (and also leisure time and study time) to maintain marriage and the family. While better education and higher income reduce the gender disparity in time use, they are not strongly enough to combat traditional gender role. Since non-paid work takes on females' too much time, they have to rely more on their family members, particularly among those who are married. Hence, it is necessary to promote a more equal and balanced time use mode in promoting gender equality in China.
