IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/popdev/v30y2004i4p647-672.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Are Parents Investing Less Time in Children? Trends in Selected Industrialized Countries

Author

Listed:
  • Anne H. Gauthier
  • Timothy M. Smeeding
  • Frank F. Furstenberg

Abstract

Trends in parental time invested in children since the 1960s are examined in 16 industrialized countries using time‐use survey data. Despite the time pressures that confront today's families, parents appear to be devoting more time to children than they did 40 years ago. Results also suggest that mothers continue to devote more time to childcare than fathers, but the gender gap has been reduced. The consistency of these results across countries suggests a global trend toward an increase in parental time investment in children. Multivariate analysis of trends in parental time by type of activity was undertaken for Canada. It revealed a significant increase in parental time even after controlling for changes in the demographic composition of the population during the past few decades.

Suggested Citation

  • Anne H. Gauthier & Timothy M. Smeeding & Frank F. Furstenberg, 2004. "Are Parents Investing Less Time in Children? Trends in Selected Industrialized Countries," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 30(4), pages 647-672, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:popdev:v:30:y:2004:i:4:p:647-672
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1728-4457.2004.00036.x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1728-4457.2004.00036.x
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/j.1728-4457.2004.00036.x?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lee Rainwater & Timothy Smeeding & Irwin Garfinkel, 2004. "Welfare State Expenditures and the Distribution of Child Opportunities," LIS Working papers 379, LIS Cross-National Data Center in Luxembourg.
    2. Gershuny, Jonathan, 2000. "Changing Times: Work and Leisure in Postindustrial Society," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198287872.
    3. Francesco C. Billari & Chris Wilson, 2001. "Convergence towards diversity? Cohort dynamics in the transition to adulthood in contemporary Western Europe," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2001-039, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
    4. Irwin Garfinkel & Lee Rainwater & Timothy M. Smeeding, 2004. "Welfare State Expenditures and the Distribution of Child Opportunities," Center for Policy Research Working Papers 63, Center for Policy Research, Maxwell School, Syracuse University.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Arnstein Aassve & Maria Iacovou & Letizia Mencarini, 2006. "Youth poverty and transition to adulthood in Europe," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 15(2), pages 21-50.
    2. Lane Kenworthy & Jonas Pontusson, 2005. "Rising Inequality and the Politics of Redistribution in Affluent Countries," LIS Working papers 400, LIS Cross-National Data Center in Luxembourg.
    3. Iacovou, Maria & Aassve, Arnstein & Mencarini, Letizia, 2005. "Youth poverty in Europe: what do we know?," ISER Working Paper Series 2005-02, Institute for Social and Economic Research.
    4. Lamia Kandil & Hélène Perivier, 2017. "La division sexuée du travail dans les couples selon le statut marital en France - une étude à partir des enquêtes emploi du temps de 1985-1986, 1998-1999, et 2009-2010," Documents de Travail de l'OFCE 2017-03, Observatoire Francais des Conjonctures Economiques (OFCE).
    5. Stella Chatzitheochari & Kimberly Fisher & Emily Gilbert & Lisa Calderwood & Tom Huskinson & Andrew Cleary & Jonathan Gershuny, 2018. "Using New Technologies for Time Diary Data Collection: Instrument Design and Data Quality Findings from a Mixed-Mode Pilot Survey," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 137(1), pages 379-390, May.
    6. Fischer, Ilan & Sullivan, Oriel, 2007. "Evolutionary modeling of time-use vectors," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 62(1), pages 120-143, January.
    7. Booth, A.L. & van Ours, J.C., 2007. "Job Satisfaction And Family Happiness : The Part-Time Work Problem," Discussion Paper 2007-69, Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research.
    8. repec:hal:wpspec:info:hdl:2441/8651 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. repec:hal:wpspec:info:hdl:2441/8642 is not listed on IDEAS
    10. Cécile Brousse, 2015. "La vie quotidienne en France depuis 1974. Les enseignements de l'enquête Emploi du temps," Économie et Statistique, Programme National Persée, vol. 478(1), pages 79-117.
    11. Laura Langner, 2022. "Desperate Housewives and Happy Working Mothers: Are Parent-Couples with Equal Income More Satisfied throughout Parenthood? A Dyadic Longitudinal Study," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 36(1), pages 80-100, February.
    12. Rickard Eriksson & Magnus Nermo, 2010. "Care for Sick Children as a Proxy for Gender Equality in the Family," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 97(3), pages 341-356, July.
    13. Naomi Friedman-Sokuler & Claudia Senik, 2022. "Time-Use and Subjective Well-Being: Is there a Preference for Activity Diversity?," PSE Working Papers halshs-03828272, HAL.
    14. Zachary Van Winkle & Anette Fasang, 2021. "The complexity of employment and family life courses across 20th century Europe: More evidence for larger cross-national differences but little change across 1916‒1966 birth cohorts," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 44(32), pages 775-810.
    15. Manfred Garhammer, 2002. "Pace of Life and Enjoyment of Life," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 3(3), pages 217-256, September.
    16. John Robinson & Steven Martin, 2009. "Changes in American Daily Life: 1965–2005," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 93(1), pages 47-56, August.
    17. Frank Stafford, 2009. "Emerging Modes of Timeline Data Collection: Event History Calendar Time Diary and Methods," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 93(1), pages 69-76, August.
    18. Merz, Joachim, 2009. "Time Use and Time Budgets – Improvements, Future Challenges and Recommendations," MPRA Paper 16304, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    19. Yuta Masuda & Lea Fortmann & Mary Gugerty & Marla Smith-Nilson & Joseph Cook, 2014. "Pictorial Approaches for Measuring Time Use in Rural Ethiopia," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 115(1), pages 467-482, January.
    20. Dominique Anxo & Letizia Mencarini & Ariane Pailhe & Anne Solaz & Maria Letizia Tanturri & Lennart Flood, 2011. "Gender Differences in Time Use over the Life Course in France, Italy, Sweden, and the US," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(3), pages 159-195.
    21. Bojan Đerčan & Dragica Gatarić & Milka Bubalo Živković & Marija Belij Radin & Danijela Vukoičić & Bojana Kalenjuk Pivarski & Tamara Lukić & Petar Vasić & Milena Nikolić & Miloš Lutovac & Milena Lutova, 2023. "Evaluating Farm Tourism Development for Sustainability: A Case Study of Farms in the Peri-Urban Area of Novi Sad (Serbia)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(17), pages 1-21, August.
    22. Michael C Burda & Daniel S Hamermesh & Philippe Weil, 2006. "Different but Equal: Total Work, Gender and Social Norms in the EU and US Time Use," Post-Print hal-01053588, HAL.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:popdev:v:30:y:2004:i:4:p:647-672. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0098-7921 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.