Time with Children: The Impact of Couples' Work-Time Commitments

Using detailed time diaries of a 1981 national sample of 226 married couples with children, we analyze the extent of the trade-off between their time commitments to work and time with their children. Parents in single-earner families spend substantially more time with children than their dual-earner counterparts; the overall difference is largely accounted for by the lesser time of employed mothers in activities that involve children only peripherally, not in directly child-oriented activities. Dual-earner couples have lesser parental time with children for the simple fact that they work more as a unit than single-earner couples. Although the widespread employment of women has not led to a more directly participative male parental role, work time affects fathers' time with children more than mothers'.