IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/anname/v638y2011i1p21-44.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Family Change and Time Allocation in American Families

Author

Listed:
  • Suzanne M. Bianchi

Abstract

Delayed marriage and childbearing, more births outside marriage, the increase in women’s labor force participation, and the aging of the population have altered family life and created new challenges for those with caregiving demands. U.S. mothers have shed hours of housework but not the hours they devote to childrearing. Fathers have increased the time they spend on childcare. Intensive childrearing practices combine with more dual-earning and single parenting to increase the time demands on parents. Mothers continue to scale back paid work to meet childrearing demands. They also give up leisure time and report that they “are always rushed†and are “multitasking most of the time.†Time-stretched working couples reduce the time they spend with each other. A large percentage of both husbands and wives also report they have “too little time†for themselves. Delayed childbearing and the aging population also increase the likelihood that both (adult) children and elderly parents need support and care from workers later in life.

Suggested Citation

  • Suzanne M. Bianchi, 2011. "Family Change and Time Allocation in American Families," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 638(1), pages 21-44, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:anname:v:638:y:2011:i:1:p:21-44
    DOI: 10.1177/0002716211413731
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0002716211413731
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0002716211413731?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. Peter McDonald, 2000. "Gender Equity in Theories of Fertility Transition," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 26(3), pages 427-439, September.
    2. Garey Ramey & Valerie A. Ramey, 2010. "The Rug Rat Race," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 41(1 (Spring), pages 129-199.
    3. Heather Boushey, 2005. "Are Women Opting Out? Debunking the Myth," CEPR Reports and Issue Briefs 2005-36, Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR).
    4. Heather Joshi, 2002. "Production, Reproduction, and Education: Women, Children, and Work in a British Perspective," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 28(3), pages 445-474, September.
    5. 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.
    6. Clair Vickery, 1977. "The Time-Poor: A New Look at Poverty," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 12(1), pages 27-48.
    7. Heather Joshi, 1998. "The opportunity costs of childbearing: More than mothers' business," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 11(2), pages 161-183.
    8. Lynne Casper & Martin O’Connell, 1998. "Work, income, the economy, and married fathers as child-care providers," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 35(2), pages 243-250, May.
    9. Johnson John H., 2004. "Do Long Work Hours Contribute to Divorce?," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 4(1), pages 1-25, October.
    10. Suzanne Bianchi, 2000. "Maternal employment and time with children: Dramatic change or surprising continuity?," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 37(4), pages 401-414, November.
    11. Jacob Klerman & Arleen Leibowitz, 1999. "Job continuity among new mothers," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 36(2), pages 145-155, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Kay W. Kim & Jan L. Wallander & Bokyung Kim, 2024. "Associations of Broader Parental Factors with Children’s Happiness and Weight Status through Child Food Intake, Physical Activity, and Screen Time: A Longitudinal Modeling Analysis of South Korean Fam," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 21(2), pages 1-17, February.
    2. Heather A. Haveman & Lauren S. Beresford, 2012. "If You’re So Smart, Why Aren’t You the Boss? Explaining the Persistent Vertical Gender Gap in Management," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 639(1), pages 114-130, January.
    3. Philip DeCicca & Harry Krashinsky, 2023. "The effect of education on overall fertility," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 36(1), pages 471-503, January.
    4. Afridi, Farzana & Arora, Abhishek & Dhar, Diva & Mahajan, Kanika, 2023. "Women's Work, Social Norms and the Marriage Market," IZA Discussion Papers 15948, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    5. Yang Xiao & Yanjie Bian & Lei Zhang, 2020. "Mental Health of Chinese Online Networkers under COVID-19: A Sociological Analysis of Survey Data," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(23), pages 1-17, November.
    6. David S. Johnson & Katherine A. McGonagle & Vicki A. Freedman & Narayan Sastry, 2018. "Fifty Years of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics: Past, Present, and Future," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 680(1), pages 9-28, November.
    7. Jorge Rojo-Ramos & Antonio Castillo-Paredes & María Mendoza-Muñoz & José Carmelo Adsuar & Irene Polo-Campos & Santiago Gomez-Paniagua & Carmen Galán-Arroyo, 2023. "Children’s Influence on Their Parents’ Satisfaction with Physical Activity in Nature: An Exploratory Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(6), pages 1-10, March.

    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. Jonathan Guryan & Erik Hurst & Melissa Kearney, 2008. "Parental Education and Parental Time with Children," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 22(3), pages 23-46, Summer.
    2. Kertesi, Gábor & Kézdi, Gábor & Hajdu, Tamás, 2022. "Idő és pénz a gyermeknevelésben Magyarországon, 1993-2010 [Time and money in raising children in Hungary, 1993-2010]," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(11), pages 1255-1297.
    3. Liana Fox & Wen-Jui Han & Christopher Ruhm & Jane Waldfogel, 2013. "Time for Children: Trends in the Employment Patterns of Parents, 1967–2009," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 50(1), pages 25-49, February.
    4. Zhu, Guozhong & Vural, Gulfer, 2013. "Inter-generational effect of parental time and its policy implications," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 37(9), pages 1833-1851.
    5. Eric R. Nielsen, 2015. "The Income-Achievement Gap and Adult Outcome Inequality," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2015-41, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    6. d'Albis, Hippolyte & Greulich, Angela & Ponthiere, Gregory, 2018. "Development, fertility and childbearing age: A Unified Growth Theory," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 177(C), pages 461-494.
    7. Nicoletta Balbo & Francesco C. Billari & Melinda Mills, 2013. "Fertility in Advanced Societies: A Review of Research," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 29(1), pages 1-38, February.
    8. Rodrigo R. Soares & Bruno L. S. Falcão, 2008. "The Demographic Transition and the Sexual Division of Labor," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 116(6), pages 1058-1104, December.
    9. Monika Hjeds Löfmark, 2007. "Gender and time allocation differences in Taganrog, Russia," electronic International Journal of Time Use Research, Research Institute on Professions (Forschungsinstitut Freie Berufe (FFB)) and The International Association for Time Use Research (IATUR), vol. 4(1), pages 69-92, September.
    10. J. Gimenez-Nadal & Jose Molina, 2013. "Parents’ education as a determinant of educational childcare time," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 26(2), pages 719-749, April.
    11. Pia S. Schober, 2012. "Parental Leave Policies and Child Care Time in Couples after Childbirth," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 434, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    12. Gimenez-Nadal, Jose Ignacio & Sevilla, Almudena, 2016. "Intensive Mothering and Well-being: The Role of Education and Child Care Activity," MPRA Paper 74249, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    13. Gimenez-Nadal, Jose Ignacio & Sevilla, Almudena, 2012. "Trends in time allocation: A cross-country analysis," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 56(6), pages 1338-1359.
    14. Ariane Pailhé & Anne Solaz & Maria Stanfors, 2021. "The Great Convergence: Gender and Unpaid Work in Europe and the United States," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 47(1), pages 181-217, March.
    15. Arnstein Aassve & Alice Goisis & Maria Sironi, 2012. "Happiness and Childbearing Across Europe," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 108(1), pages 65-86, August.
    16. J Alberto Molina & J Ignacio Giménez-Nadal & José A Cuesta & Carlos Gracia-Lazaro & Yamir Moreno & Angel Sanchez, 2013. "Gender Differences in Cooperation: Experimental Evidence on High School Students," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 8(12), pages 1-1, December.
    17. Eva Österbacka & Joachim Merz & Cathleen D. Zick, 2012. "Human capital investments in children –A comparative analysis of the role of parent-child shared time in selected countries," electronic International Journal of Time Use Research, Research Institute on Professions (Forschungsinstitut Freie Berufe (FFB)) and The International Association for Time Use Research (IATUR), vol. 9(1), pages 120-143, November.
    18. Ursula Henz, 2019. "Fathers' involvement with their children in the United Kingdom: Recent trends and class differences," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 40(30), pages 865-896.
    19. Joni Hersch, 2013. "Opting out among women with elite education," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 11(4), pages 469-506, December.
    20. Sarah Flood & Joel McMurry & Aaron Sojourner & Matthew Wiswall, 2022. "Inequality in Early Care Experienced by US Children," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 36(2), pages 199-222, Spring.

    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:sae:anname:v:638:y:2011:i:1:p:21-44. 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: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    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.