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Time with Children: Do Fathers and Mothers Replace Each Other When One Parent is Unemployed?

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  • Ariane Pailhé

    (INED)

  • Anne Solaz

    (INED)

Abstract

This article aims to study the substitution of parental time between the mother and the father. Taking the “experience” of unemployment as a release from the time constraint, we analyse time transfers between partners in such a situation. A bivariate Tobit model is applied on the French time-use data. It shows that parents quite rarely substitute the time devoted to children between each other, except for child transportation and childcare. Parents do not want to relinquish their parental activities, a fact which reflects their desire to contribute to the children’s education, and the contribution of parental time to the balance of power between spouses. Exchanges remain asymmetric: non-employed fathers release less their partner from parental tasks than unemployed mothers do, which reflects the weight of gender social norms.

Suggested Citation

  • Ariane Pailhé & Anne Solaz, 2008. "Time with Children: Do Fathers and Mothers Replace Each Other When One Parent is Unemployed?," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 24(2), pages 211-236, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:eurpop:v:24:y:2008:i:2:d:10.1007_s10680-007-9143-5
    DOI: 10.1007/s10680-007-9143-5
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    Cited by:

    1. Lamia Kandil & Hélène Périvier, 2017. "La division sexuée du travail dans les couples selon le statut marital en France," Working Papers hal-03457505, HAL.
    2. Adele Menniti & Pietro Demurtas & Serena Arima & Alessandra De Rose, "undated". "Gender inequality at home when mothers work. The case of Italy," Working Papers 130/14, Sapienza University of Rome, Metodi e Modelli per l'Economia, il Territorio e la Finanza MEMOTEF.
    3. Takuya Obara & Yoshitomo Ogawa, 2024. "Optimal taxation in an endogenous fertility model with non-cooperative behavior," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 22(1), pages 173-197, March.
    4. Lamia Kandil & Hélène Périvier, 2017. "La division sexuée du travail dans les couples selon le statut marital en France," SciencePo Working papers Main hal-03457505, HAL.
    5. Morrill, Melinda Sandler & Pabilonia, Sabrina Wulff, 2012. "What Effects Do Macroeconomic Conditions Have on Families' Time Together?," IZA Discussion Papers 6529, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. Tracey, Marlon R. & Polachek, Solomon W., 2018. "If looks could heal: Child health and paternal investment," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 179-190.
    7. Su, Weiliang & Eriksson, Tor & Zhang, Linxiu & Bai, Yunli, 2016. "Off-farm employment and time allocation in on-farm work in rural China from gender perspective," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 34-45.
    8. Daniele Vignoli & Sven Drefahl & Gustavo De Santis, 2012. "Whose job instability affects the likelihood of becoming a parent in Italy? A tale of two partners," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 26(2), pages 41-62.
    9. Ariane Pailhé & Anne Solaz, 2012. "The influence of employment uncertainty on childbearing in France: A tempo or quantum effect?," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 26(1), pages 1-40.
    10. Helen Norman & Mark Elliot, 2015. "Measuring Paternal Involvement in Childcare and Housework," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 20(2), pages 40-57, May.

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