IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/jopoec/v35y2022i3d10.1007_s00148-021-00864-z.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Changes in children’s time use during periods of financial hardship

Author

Listed:
  • Jessica L. Arnup

    (Monash University)

  • Nicole Black

    (Monash University)

  • David W. Johnston

    (Monash University)

Abstract

Economically disadvantaged children are more likely than other children to experience worse cognitive, health, and behavioral outcomes. The mechanisms for these associations are not fully understood, hindering policy initiatives aimed at closing the gaps. One hypothesis is that children experiencing financial hardship allocate their time differently. In this study, we use seven waves of time use diary data from a large sample of Australian children to explore how children’s time use changes when their family experiences financial hardship or deprivation. Focusing on four key child health and development time inputs––screen time, physical activity, sleep, and reading––we find that financial hardship is associated with significantly more screen time, particularly passive screen time, and screen time at excessive levels. We explore potential mechanisms for these associations.

Suggested Citation

  • Jessica L. Arnup & Nicole Black & David W. Johnston, 2022. "Changes in children’s time use during periods of financial hardship," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 35(3), pages 1133-1162, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jopoec:v:35:y:2022:i:3:d:10.1007_s00148-021-00864-z
    DOI: 10.1007/s00148-021-00864-z
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s00148-021-00864-z
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s00148-021-00864-z?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
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Slawa Rokicki & Mark E. McGovern, 2020. "Heterogeneity in Early Life Investments: A Longitudinal Analysis of Children's Time Use," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 66(3), pages 647-676, September.
    2. Ha Trong Nguyen & Luke B. Connelly & Huong Thu Le & Francis Mitrou & Catherine L. Taylor & Stephen R. Zubrick, 2020. "Ethnicity differentials in academic achievements: the role of time investments," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 33(4), pages 1381-1418, October.
    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. Cawley, John & Liu, Feng, 2012. "Maternal employment and childhood obesity: A search for mechanisms in time use data," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 10(4), pages 352-364.
    5. Mario Fiorini & Michael P. Keane, 2014. "How the Allocation of Children's Time Affects Cognitive and Noncognitive Development," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 32(4), pages 787-836.
    6. Gregorio Caetano & Josh Kinsler & Hao Teng, 2019. "Towards causal estimates of children's time allocation on skill development," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 34(4), pages 588-605, June.
    7. Daniela Del Boca & Chiara Monfardini & Cheti Nicoletti, 2017. "Parental and Child Time Investments and the Cognitive Development of Adolescents," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 35(2), pages 565-608.
    8. James X. Sullivan & Lesley Turner & Sheldon Danziger, 2008. "The relationship between income and material hardship," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(1), pages 63-81.
    9. James J. Heckman & Dimitriy V. Masterov, 2007. "The Productivity Argument for Investing in Young Children," Review of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 29(3), pages 446-493.
    10. Anika Schenck-Fontaine & Lidia Panico, 2019. "Many Kinds of Poverty: Three Dimensions of Economic Hardship, Their Combinations, and Children’s Behavior Problems," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 56(6), pages 2279-2305, December.
    11. Andrew E. Clark & Conchita D'Ambrosio & Marta Barazzetta, 2021. "Childhood circumstances and young adulthood outcomes: The role of mothers' financial problems," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(2), pages 342-357, February.
    12. Kalb, Guyonne & van Ours, Jan C., 2014. "Reading to young children: A head-start in life?," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 1-24.
    13. Sergio Firpo & Nicole M. Fortin & Thomas Lemieux, 2009. "Unconditional Quantile Regressions," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 77(3), pages 953-973, May.
    14. Liyousew Gebremedhin Borga, 2019. "Children’s Own Time Use and its Effect on Skill Formation," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 55(5), pages 876-893, May.
    15. Ariel Kalil & Rebecca Ryan & Michael Corey, 2012. "Diverging Destinies: Maternal Education and the Developmental Gradient in Time With Children," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 49(4), pages 1361-1383, November.
    16. Angela Fertig & Gerhard Glomm & Rusty Tchernis, 2009. "The connection between maternal employment and childhood obesity: inspecting the mechanisms," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 7(3), pages 227-255, September.
    17. Amy Hsin & Christina Felfe, 2014. "When Does Time Matter? Maternal Employment, Children’s Time With Parents, and Child Development," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 51(5), pages 1867-1894, October.
    18. Zilanawala, Afshin & Pilkauskas, Natasha V., 2012. "Material hardship and child socioemotional behaviors: Differences by types of hardship, timing, and duration," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 34(4), pages 814-825.
    19. Greg Duncan & Katherine Magnuson & Ariel Kalil & Kathleen Ziol-Guest, 2012. "The Importance of Early Childhood Poverty," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 108(1), pages 87-98, August.
    20. 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.
    21. Nicolai T. Borgen, 2016. "Fixed effects in unconditional quantile regression," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 16(2), pages 403-415, June.
    22. Robert Haveman & Barbara Wolfe, 1995. "The Determinants of Children's Attainments: A Review of Methods and Findings," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 33(4), pages 1829-1878, December.
    23. Colleen Heflin, 2016. "Family Instability and Material Hardship: Results from the 2008 Survey of Income and Program Participation," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 37(3), pages 359-372, September.
    24. Stevens, Ann Huff, 1994. "The Dynamics of Poverty Spells: Updating Bane and Ellwood," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 84(2), pages 34-37, May.
    25. Anika Schenck-Fontaine & Lidia Panico, 2019. "Many Kinds of Poverty: Three Dimensions of Economic Hardship, Their Combinations, and Children’s Behavior Problems," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 56(6), pages 2279-2305, December.
    26. Iceland, John & Bauman, Kurt J., 2007. "Income poverty and material hardship: How strong is the association?," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 36(3), pages 376-396, June.
    27. E. Bourova & I. Ramsay & P. Ali, 2019. "The Experience of Financial Hardship in Australia: Causes, Impacts and Coping Strategies," Journal of Consumer Policy, Springer, vol. 42(2), pages 189-221, June.
    28. Heather E. Joshi & Andrew McCulloch, 2002. "Child development and family resources: Evidence from the second generation of the 1958 British birth cohort," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 15(2), pages 283-304.
    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. Slawa Rokicki & Mark E. McGovern, 2020. "Heterogeneity in Early Life Investments: A Longitudinal Analysis of Children's Time Use," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 66(3), pages 647-676, September.
    2. Nicole Black & Danusha Jayawardana & Gawain Heckley, 2023. "Children’s Time Allocation and the Socioeconomic Gap in Human Capital," Papers 2023-06, Centre for Health Economics, Monash University.
    3. Jonas Jessen & Christa Katharina Spieß & Sevrin Waights, 2022. "Centre‐Based Care and Parenting Activities," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 84(6), pages 1356-1379, December.
    4. Elena Claudia Meroni & Daniela Piazzalunga & Chiara Pronzato, 2022. "Allocation of time and child socio-emotional skills," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 20(4), pages 1155-1192, December.
    5. Margaret M. C. Thomas, 2022. "Longitudinal Patterns of Material Hardship Among US Families," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 163(1), pages 341-370, August.
    6. Chang, Grace, 2022. "How is adolescents' time allocation associated with their self-esteem and self-efficacy? Evidence from four developing countries," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 115059, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    7. Joseph Price & Luke P. Rodgers & Jocelyn S. Wikle, 2021. "Dinner timing and human capital investments in children," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 19(4), pages 1047-1075, December.
    8. Nguyen, Ha Trong & Brinkman, Sally & Le, Huong Thu & Zubrick, Stephen R. & Mitrou, Francis, 2022. "Gender differences in time allocation contribute to differences in developmental outcomes in children and adolescents," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    9. Samantha Trajkovski, 2019. "California Paid Family Leave and Parental Time Use," Center for Policy Research Working Papers 217, Center for Policy Research, Maxwell School, Syracuse University.
    10. 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.
    11. Elly Field, 2020. "Material Hardship and Contraceptive Use During the Transition to Adulthood," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 57(6), pages 2057-2084, December.
    12. Emilia Del Bono & Marco Francesconi & Yvonne Kelly & Amanda Sacker, 2016. "Early Maternal Time Investment and Early Child Outcomes," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 126(596), pages 96-135, October.
    13. Bigoni, Maria & Bortolotti, Stefania & Fort, Margherita & Guarini, Annalisa & Iorio, Daniela & Monfardini, Chiara & Sansavini, Alessandra & Sansone, Davide & Suttora, Chiara, 2023. "A New Time-Use Diary App to Measure Parental Investments," IZA Discussion Papers 16661, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    14. Jürges, Hendrik & Khanam, Rasheda, 2021. "Adolescents’ time allocation and skill production," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    15. Patrick Bauer & Lyudmyla Sonchak, 2017. "The effect of macroeconomic conditions on parental time with children: evidence from the American time use survey," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 15(3), pages 905-924, September.
    16. Ha Trong Nguyen & Huong Thu Le & Luke B Connelly, 2021. "Weather and children's time allocation," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(7), pages 1559-1579, July.
    17. Ha Trong Nguyen & Luke B. Connelly & Huong Thu Le & Francis Mitrou & Catherine L. Taylor & Stephen R. Zubrick, 2020. "Ethnicity differentials in academic achievements: the role of time investments," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 33(4), pages 1381-1418, October.
    18. Gold, Sarah, 2020. "Is housing hardship associated with increased adolescent delinquent behaviors?," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 116(C).
    19. Gahramanov, Emin & Hasanov, Rashad & Tang, Xueli, 2020. "Parental involvement and Children's human capital: A tax-subsidy experiment," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 16-29.
    20. Peter Funk & Thorsten Kemper, 2016. "Leisure and Learning - Activities and Their Effects on Child Skill Development," Working Paper Series in Economics 85, University of Cologne, Department of Economics.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Time use; Screen time; Financial hardship; Material deprivation; Poverty;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D1 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior
    • I1 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health
    • I3 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty

    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:spr:jopoec:v:35:y:2022:i:3:d:10.1007_s00148-021-00864-z. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    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.