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Being there: The time dual-earner couples spend with their children

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Article: Being there: The time dual-earner couples spend with their children (PDF)

Objectives

To develop familiarity with the applications of data on time use.
To understand gender differences in the tasks associated with raising children.

Method

Provide each student with a copy of the article "Being there: The time dual-earner couples spend with their children". Have them read the article as a homework or in-class assignment and write brief answers to each of the questions below.
1. Fathers with children under 5 spend just as much time as mothers playing with their kids, but only half as much time on personal care. One of the reasons is that, although their wives are also working full-time, fathers are working more hours. What are some other reasons?
2. One trend the time use data shows is the growing independence of children as they become older. Is there a way for parents to spend more time with their teenage children without compromising or jeopardizing their children's ability to assume responsibility for themselves?
3. How much time did your mother and father spend with you yesterday? Calculate the class average and compare it with the national results.
4. The article looked only at families in which both parents worked full time for pay. This was mainly to keep the comparisons between time use of mothers and fathers as straightforward as possible. How might the story differ for couples with another type of working arrangement? How might the story differ for lone-parent families?
5. Suggest some of the reasons why the author chose to exclude stepfamilies from the analysis.
As a class discuss some of the highlights of the article and summarize some of differences involved in caring for children at different ages.

Using other resources

Access E-STAT site. Select Data, then under the heading People, select Labour. Under Census Databases, select Work arrangements then "Labour force activities, occupation and industry, place of work, mode of transportation to work, unpaid work". Then look at the distribution of males and females by the number of hours of unpaid childcare they spend for your community.

Please e-mail comments or examples of how you used this exercise in your class.