Changes in children’s time with parents: United States, 1981–1997

In this paper we examine changes in the time American children spent with their parents between 1981 and 1997, and the contribution to these changes made by shifting patterns of female labor force participation, family structure, and parental education. We decompose changes into the parts attributable to changes in demographic characteristics and the parts probably due to changes in behavior. In general, children’s time with parents did not decrease over the period; in two-parent families it increased substantially. Population-level changes in demographic characteristics exerted only small direct effects on the time children spent with parents.

[1]  G. Ludwig.  What did you do today? , 2005, JEMS : a journal of emergency medical services.

[2]  S. Bianchi.  Maternal employment and time with children: Dramatic change or surprising continuity? , 2000, Demography.

[3]  John P. Robinson,et al.  Time for Life: The Surprising Ways Americans Use Their Time , 1998 .

[4]  S. Blair.  Book Reviews : Donald J. Hernandez, America's Children: Resources from Family, Government, and the Economy , 1997 .

[5]  John P. Robinson,et al.  What did you do today? Children's use of time, family composition, and the acquisition of social capital. , 1997 .

[6]  C. Zick,et al.  Are we investing less in the next generation? Historical trends in time spent caring for children , 1996 .

[7]  Michael E. Lamb,et al.  Fatherless in America: Confronting Our Most Urgent Social Problem , 1996 .

[8]  C. Zick,et al.  An Examination of Parent-Child Shared Time. , 1996 .

[9]  April A. Brayfield.  Juggling jobs and kids: The impact of employment schedules on fathers' caring for children. , 1995 .

[10]  M. Marini,et al.  Measuring Household Work: Recent Experience in the United States , 1993 .

[11]  R. Larson,et al.  The Quality of Family Time among Young Adolescents in Single-Parent and Married-Parent Families. , 1991 .

[12]  Chris J. Skinner,et al.  Analysis of complex surveys , 1991 .

[13]  K. Harris,et al.  Fathers, sons, and daughters: Differential paternal involvement in parenting. , 1991 .

[14]  J. Arditti,et al.  When the Bough Breaks: The Cost of Neglecting Our Children , 1991 .

[15]  Donald R. Williams.  Structural Change and the Aggregate Poverty Rate , 1991, Demography.

[16]  H. Presser.  Can we make time for children? the economy, work schedules, and child care , 1989, Demography.

[17]  L. Bumpass,et al.  Recent trends in marital disruption , 1989, Demography.

[18]  John P. Robinson,et al.  Historical changes in the household division of labor , 1988, Demography.

[19]  S. Nock,et al.  Time with children: the impact of couples work-time commitments. , 1988 .

[20]  A. Bachu,et al.  Fertility of American women: June 1987. , 1988, Current population reports. Series P-20, Population characteristics.

[21]  F. Juster,et al.  Time, Goods, and Well-Being , 1985 .

[22]  D. Binder.  On the variances of asymptotically normal estimators from complex surveys , 1983 .

[23]  O. D. Duncan,et al.  Fertility of American women , 1977 .

[24]  S. Hofferth.  Women's employment and care of children in the United States , 2001 .

[25]  L. Dijk,et al.  Women's employment in a comparative perspective , 2001 .

[26]  C. Ryff,et al.  The parental experience in midlife , 1996 .

[27]  D. Commerce.  Statistical abstract of the United States , 1978 .

[28]  A. Leibowitz.  Education and Home Production , 1974 .