posts: 37843

{
    "id": "wp-37843",
    "slug": "untitled-reusable-block-236",
    "content": {
        "toc": [],
        "body": [
            {
                "type": "text",
                "value": [
                    {
                        "text": "Over the last 50 years many countries have seen large changes in family structures and the institution of marriage. These changes \u2013 which include a ",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    },
                    {
                        "url": "https://ourworldindata.org/marriages-and-divorces#single-parenting-is-common-and-in-many-countries-it-has-increased-in-recent-decades",
                        "children": [
                            {
                                "text": "rise in single-parenting",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            }
                        ],
                        "spanType": "span-link"
                    },
                    {
                        "text": " and a large increase in the ",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    },
                    {
                        "url": "https://ourworldindata.org/female-labor-supply#female-participation-in-labor-markets-grew-remarkably-in-the-20th-century",
                        "children": [
                            {
                                "text": "share of women working outside the home",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            }
                        ],
                        "spanType": "span-link"
                    },
                    {
                        "text": " \u2013 have made some people worry that children might be getting \u2018short-changed\u2019, because parents are not spending as much time with them.",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    }
                ],
                "parseErrors": []
            },
            {
                "type": "text",
                "value": [
                    {
                        "text": "In 1999, for example, a ",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    },
                    {
                        "url": "https://clintonwhitehouse4.archives.gov/media/pdf/famfinal.pdf",
                        "children": [
                            {
                                "text": "report",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            }
                        ],
                        "spanType": "span-link"
                    },
                    {
                        "text": " from the Council of Economic Advisors in the US analyzed trends over the second half of the 20th century and concluded: ",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    },
                    {
                        "children": [
                            {
                                "text": "\u201cThe increase in hours mothers spend in paid work, combined with the shift toward single-parent families, resulted in families on average experiencing a decrease of 22 hours a week (14 percent) in parental time available outside of paid work that they could spend with their children.\u201d",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            }
                        ],
                        "spanType": "span-italic"
                    }
                ],
                "parseErrors": []
            },
            {
                "type": "text",
                "value": [
                    {
                        "text": "The line of thought behind these concerns is that changes to the structure of families and work have meant that children spend less time with parents, because parents \u2013 particularly mothers \u2013 spend less time at home.",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    }
                ],
                "parseErrors": []
            },
            {
                "type": "text",
                "value": [
                    {
                        "text": "Here we review the evidence and show that this reasoning is flawed. As we explain, in the US and many other rich countries parents spend more time with their kids today than 50 years ago. Equating \u2018mother time at home' with 'children\u2019s time with parents\u2019 is a huge and unhelpful oversimplification.",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    }
                ],
                "parseErrors": []
            },
            {
                "text": [
                    {
                        "text": "Mothers and fathers spend an increasing amount of time with kids: evidence from time-use surveys",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    }
                ],
                "type": "heading",
                "level": 2,
                "parseErrors": []
            },
            {
                "left": [
                    {
                        "type": "text",
                        "value": [
                            {
                                "text": "The chart here shows the time that mothers and fathers spend with their children. This is measured using time-use diaries where parents record the amount of time that they spend on various activities, including child care.",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            }
                        ],
                        "parseErrors": []
                    },
                    {
                        "type": "text",
                        "value": [
                            {
                                "text": "These estimates, which are sourced from a ",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            },
                            {
                                "url": "https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=es&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=Educational+Gradients+in+Parents%27+Child-Care+Time+Across+Countries%2C+1965-2012%3A+Educational+Gradients+in+Parents%27+Child-Care+Time&btnG=",
                                "children": [
                                    {
                                        "text": "paper",
                                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                                    }
                                ],
                                "spanType": "span-link"
                            },
                            {
                                "text": " published in 2016 by sociologists Giulia Dotti Sani and Judith Treas, are disaggregated by education levels and are adjusted to account for demographic differences between countries. We explain ",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            },
                            {
                                "url": "https://ourworldindata.org/parents-time-with-kids#digging-deeper-raw-vs-population-adjusted-trends-in-time-use",
                                "children": [
                                    {
                                        "text": "below",
                                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                                    }
                                ],
                                "spanType": "span-link"
                            },
                            {
                                "text": " in more detail why these adjustments are important.{ref}The full reference for the source paper is: Dotti Sani, G. M., & Treas, J. (2016). ",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            },
                            {
                                "url": "https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=es&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=Educational+Gradients+in+Parents%27+Child-Care+Time+Across+Countries%2C+1965-2012%3A+Educational+Gradients+in+Parents%27+Child-Care+Time&btnG=",
                                "children": [
                                    {
                                        "text": "Educational gradients in parents' child\u2010care time across countries",
                                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                                    }
                                ],
                                "spanType": "span-link"
                            },
                            {
                                "text": ", 1965\u20132012. Journal of Marriage and Family, 78(4), 1083-1096. {/ref}",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            }
                        ],
                        "parseErrors": []
                    },
                    {
                        "type": "text",
                        "value": [
                            {
                                "text": "As we can see here, there has been a clear increase in the amount of time parents spend with their children over the last 50 years. This is true for both fathers and mothers, and holds across almost all education groups and countries. The two exceptions are France, where mothers\u2019 time has declined (from a very comparatively high level); and Slovenia where it has remained roughly constant among non-university-educated parents.",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            }
                        ],
                        "parseErrors": []
                    },
                    {
                        "type": "text",
                        "value": [
                            {
                                "text": "In terms of within-country inequalities we also see two clear patterns. First, in all countries mothers spend more time in child care activities than fathers. The differences are large and persistent across education groups. In some countries, such as Canada, France and the US, this gender gap has shrunk; while in other countries such as Denmark and Spain, the gap has widened.",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            }
                        ],
                        "parseErrors": []
                    },
                    {
                        "type": "text",
                        "value": [
                            {
                                "text": "Second, in all countries there is a positive \u2018educational gradient\u2019, meaning more educated parents tend to spend more time with their children. In many countries this gradient increased, and nowhere did it decline.",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            }
                        ],
                        "parseErrors": []
                    }
                ],
                "type": "sticky-right",
                "right": [
                    {
                        "text": [
                            {
                                "text": "How much time do parents spend with their children per day?{ref}Dotti Sani, G. M., & Treas, J. (2016). ",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            },
                            {
                                "url": "https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=es&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=Educational+Gradients+in+Parents%27+Child-Care+Time+Across+Countries%2C+1965-2012%3A+Educational+Gradients+in+Parents%27+Child-Care+Time&btnG=",
                                "children": [
                                    {
                                        "text": "Educational gradients in parents' child\u2010care time across countries",
                                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                                    }
                                ],
                                "spanType": "span-link"
                            },
                            {
                                "text": ", 1965\u20132012. Journal of Marriage and Family, 78(4), 1083-1096.{/ref}",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            }
                        ],
                        "type": "heading",
                        "level": 6,
                        "parseErrors": []
                    },
                    {
                        "alt": "",
                        "size": "wide",
                        "type": "image",
                        "filename": "Parent-time-spent-with-children-2.png",
                        "parseErrors": []
                    }
                ],
                "parseErrors": []
            },
            {
                "type": "gray-section",
                "items": [
                    {
                        "text": [
                            {
                                "text": "Additional information",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            }
                        ],
                        "type": "heading",
                        "level": 2,
                        "parseErrors": []
                    },
                    {
                        "type": "expandable-paragraph",
                        "items": [
                            {
                                "left": [
                                    {
                                        "type": "text",
                                        "value": [
                                            {
                                                "text": "The main chart in this post, where we show the amount of time that fathers and mothers spend with their children, plots \u2018population-adjusted trends\u2019. This means that the estimates are not what you directly observe in the surveys, but rather the output of a statistical model that takes these surveys as an input but corrects for differences in key factors such as age, partnership status, number of children and employment.\u00a0",
                                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                                            }
                                        ],
                                        "parseErrors": []
                                    },
                                    {
                                        "type": "text",
                                        "value": [
                                            {
                                                "text": "This is why the trends look so smooth \u2013 rather than plotting the raw survey averages for each year, the chart shows \u2018modelled estimates\u2019 after holding compositional factors constant.\u00a0",
                                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                                            }
                                        ],
                                        "parseErrors": []
                                    },
                                    {
                                        "type": "text",
                                        "value": [
                                            {
                                                "text": "These adjustments are helpful for the analysis, because there are large differences between population groups within countries (e.g. single parents are not able to spend as much time with their children); and since the relative size of these groups is changing, the aggregate trend that we observe is affected by these compositional changes (e.g. in some countries single-parenting is increasing, while in others it is decreasing).",
                                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                                            }
                                        ],
                                        "parseErrors": []
                                    },
                                    {
                                        "type": "text",
                                        "value": [
                                            {
                                                "text": "So how much difference do these \u201cadjustments\u201d make? After all, we are also interested in the ",
                                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                                            },
                                            {
                                                "children": [
                                                    {
                                                        "text": "observed",
                                                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                                                    }
                                                ],
                                                "spanType": "span-italic"
                                            },
                                            {
                                                "text": " amount of time that parents spend with their children, and not only the values that are adjusted for population changes. What would the trends look like if we just plotted the raw survey estimates?",
                                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                                            }
                                        ],
                                        "parseErrors": []
                                    },
                                    {
                                        "type": "text",
                                        "value": [
                                            {
                                                "text": "The next chart shows this with data for the US. As we can see, the trend goes in the same direction for both fathers and mothers.",
                                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                                            }
                                        ],
                                        "parseErrors": []
                                    }
                                ],
                                "type": "sticky-right",
                                "right": [
                                    {
                                        "url": "https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/us-child-care-time-sex",
                                        "type": "chart",
                                        "parseErrors": []
                                    }
                                ],
                                "parseErrors": []
                            }
                        ],
                        "parseErrors": []
                    }
                ],
                "parseErrors": []
            },
            {
                "text": [
                    {
                        "text": "Parents\u2019 time with children, as reported by children, has also increased",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    }
                ],
                "type": "heading",
                "level": 2,
                "parseErrors": []
            },
            {
                "type": "text",
                "value": [
                    {
                        "text": "The analysis above looked at time-use diaries from ",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    },
                    {
                        "children": [
                            {
                                "text": "parents.",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            }
                        ],
                        "spanType": "span-italic"
                    },
                    {
                        "text": " But children may experience time and attention differently from adults. Is there evidence that children also feel they are getting more time with their parents?\u00a0",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    }
                ],
                "parseErrors": []
            },
            {
                "type": "text",
                "value": [
                    {
                        "text": "In a ",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    },
                    {
                        "url": "https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=es&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=Sandberg%2C+J.+F.%2C+%26+Hofferth%2C+S.+L.+%282001%29.+Changes+in+children%E2%80%99s+time+with+parents%3A+United+States%2C+1981%E2%80%931997.+Demography&btnG=",
                        "children": [
                            {
                                "text": "study",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            }
                        ],
                        "spanType": "span-link"
                    },
                    {
                        "text": " published in 2001 in the journal ",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    },
                    {
                        "children": [
                            {
                                "text": "Demography",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            }
                        ],
                        "spanType": "span-italic"
                    },
                    {
                        "text": ", John Sandberg and Sandra Hofferth analyzed two surveys with data from child time-use diaries in the US, and found that children reported spending about 4.3 more hours per week with mothers, and 3 more hours per week with fathers in 1997 versus 1981.{ref}The estimates from Sandberg and Hofferth correspond to weekly hours among children ages 3-12. The estimates cover both \u2018engaged time\u2019 and other activities where parents are not engaged but children say they are present. When looking jointly at both parents, Sandberg and Hofferth find that time spent with either parent remains roughly unchanged, which suggests part of the increase corresponds to an intra-household reallocation of time. In the paper you find more details and discussion, including a detailed analysis of trends for more narrow population groups and possible demographic and behavioral drivers: Sandberg, J. F., & Hofferth, S. L. (2001). ",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    },
                    {
                        "url": "https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=es&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=Sandberg%2C+J.+F.%2C+%26+Hofferth%2C+S.+L.+%282001%29.+Changes+in+children%E2%80%99s+time+with+parents%3A+United+States%2C+1981%E2%80%931997.+Demography&btnG=",
                        "children": [
                            {
                                "text": "Changes in children\u2019s time with parents: United States, 1981\u20131997",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            }
                        ],
                        "spanType": "span-link"
                    },
                    {
                        "text": ". Demography, 38(3), 423-436. {/ref}",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    }
                ],
                "parseErrors": []
            },
            {
                "type": "text",
                "value": [
                    {
                        "text": "The data is sparse because time-use diaries for children are not very common; but the evidence that is available is consistent with what we\u2019ve seen above: Children in the US agree that they\u2019re spending more time with their parents than in the past.",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    }
                ],
                "parseErrors": []
            },
            {
                "text": [
                    {
                        "text": "Social norms affect how we allocate time",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    }
                ],
                "type": "heading",
                "level": 2,
                "parseErrors": []
            },
            {
                "type": "text",
                "value": [
                    {
                        "text": "The amount of time that parents spend with their children is determined by many factors, and working hours outside the home are only one of them. Choices, parenting norms, family size, and relationship ideals \u2013 for men and women, parents and children \u2013 matter a lot.",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    }
                ],
                "parseErrors": []
            },
            {
                "type": "text",
                "value": [
                    {
                        "text": "Several academic studies have dissected the data from the US in an attempt to disentangle the relative importance of different underlying factors. The conclusion from these studies is that the reason why we see an increase in the amount of time that American parents spend with kids is that many families, particularly those who are well-off, have been able to undergo changes in their routines and the allocation of tasks and time within the household, in order to spend more time with their children. Parents have been able to undergo \u2018behavioral changes\u2019 that have more than compensated for \u2018structural changes\u2019 that could have pushed in the opposite direction.{ref}For an overview of the literature see (i) Dotti Sani, G. M., & Treas, J. (2016). Educational gradients in parents' child\u2010care time across countries, 1965\u20132012. Journal of Marriage and Family, 78(4), 1083-1096. (ii) Sayer, L. C., Bianchi, S. M., & Robinson, J. P. (2004). Are parents investing less in children? Trends in mothers\u2019 and fathers\u2019 time with children. American journal of sociology, 110(1), 1-43. (iii) Sandberg, J. F., & Hofferth, S. L. (2001). Changes in children\u2019s time with parents: United States, 1981\u20131997. Demography, 38(3), 423-436.{/ref}",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    }
                ],
                "parseErrors": []
            },
            {
                "type": "text",
                "value": [
                    {
                        "text": "Employment, and in particular ",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    },
                    {
                        "url": "https://ourworldindata.org/working-hours",
                        "children": [
                            {
                                "text": "working hours",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            }
                        ],
                        "spanType": "span-link"
                    },
                    {
                        "text": " outside the home, determine a range of possible arrangements, but individual preferences and social conventions determine the actual allocation of time within that range of feasible options.\u00a0",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    }
                ],
                "parseErrors": []
            },
            {
                "type": "text",
                "value": [
                    {
                        "text": "Preferences and social conventions are dynamic and change with time. There is a large academic literature that emphasizes the importance of parent-child interactions for children\u2019s development, and it seems natural to allow for the possibility that in recent decades parenting norms have undergone considerable change in response to this scientific evidence.{ref}The parenting guide from the National Health Insurance in the UK, for example, says ",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    },
                    {
                        "children": [
                            {
                                "text": "\u201cParents should make the time to play with a first or only child. And while brothers and sisters are natural playmates, parents can also play an active role in siblings' games...If you're pressed for time as a parent, it's a good idea to find ways to involve your child in what you're doing \u2013 even the housework.",
                                "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                            }
                        ],
                        "spanType": "span-italic"
                    },
                    {
                        "text": "\u201d You find a review of the academic literature on the importance of parent-child interactions for children\u2019s development in Dotti Sani, G. M., & Treas, J. (2016). Educational gradients in parents' child\u2010care time across countries, 1965\u20132012. Journal of Marriage and Family, 78(4), 1083-1096.{/ref}",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    }
                ],
                "parseErrors": []
            },
            {
                "text": [
                    {
                        "text": "Why should we care?",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    }
                ],
                "type": "heading",
                "level": 2,
                "parseErrors": []
            },
            {
                "type": "text",
                "value": [
                    {
                        "text": "The available data shows that in many countries parents spend more time with their kids than ever before, and this is partly due to changes in social conventions and economic progress, especially declining working hours.",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    }
                ],
                "parseErrors": []
            },
            {
                "type": "text",
                "value": [
                    {
                        "text": "There are large differences between countries, and also large inequalities across different population groups within each country; but overall the trends tend to go in the same direction.",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    }
                ],
                "parseErrors": []
            },
            {
                "type": "text",
                "value": [
                    {
                        "text": "Of course, there\u2019s a lot that is not being captured by these aggregate statistics. There are important distributional issues, and there is also clearly more to parents\u2019 and children\u2019s welfare than \u2018total time spent together\u2019. But despite these limitations, the available research and data still offers a clear lesson: contrary to what some people fear, it\u2019s not the case that children in rich countries are being systematically \u2018shortchanged\u2019 by widespread changes in family structures.\u00a0",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    }
                ],
                "parseErrors": []
            },
            {
                "type": "text",
                "value": [
                    {
                        "text": "Parents are spending more time with their kids than they used to, and this matters because parent-child interactions are important for childhood development.",
                        "spanType": "span-simple-text"
                    }
                ],
                "parseErrors": []
            }
        ],
        "type": "article",
        "title": "Are parents spending less time with their kids?",
        "authors": [
            null
        ],
        "dateline": "November 29, 2020",
        "sidebar-toc": false,
        "featured-image": ""
    },
    "createdAt": "2020-11-29T21:42:13.000Z",
    "published": false,
    "updatedAt": "2020-12-11T19:52:17.000Z",
    "revisionId": null,
    "publishedAt": "2020-11-29T21:42:02.000Z",
    "relatedCharts": [],
    "publicationContext": "listed"
}