Parents’ Time With Children:
Evidence on the Role of Occupation from the American Time Use Survey, 2003
Margaret L. Usdansky
Department of Sociology & Center for Policy Research,
Maxwell School of Citizenship & Public Affairs, Syracuse University
THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES
 Occupational Variation in Parental Time With
Children
 High-end occupational advantage
hypothesis
 Parents in high-end occupations,
particularly professionals and managers,
enjoy greater flexibility and autonomy
than many other workers (Perry-Jenkins
and Folk 1994). This increased
flexibility and autonomy should
translate into greater control over work
schedules and thus greater ability to
schedule work to avoid work-family
time conflicts. Ultimately, this should
lead to parents in high-end occupations
spending more time with children than
parents whose work must always be
performed in particular places and at
particular times.
 Occupational Similarity in Parental Time With
Children
 Spurious relationship hypothesis
 Once parental income, education and
race are taken into account, there is no
relationship between parental occupation
and time with children.
Independent variables
 Socio-Economic Status
 Parent’s occupation
 Parent’s education
 Annual family income
 Demographic Characteristics
 Parent’s race
 Control variables
 Demographic/Socioeconomic
 Parent’s age
 Parent’s marital status
 Number of own children in
household under age 18
 Presence of at least one
own child under age six in
household
 Parent’s usual number of
weekly work hours
 Other
 Time diary took place on a
weekday (rather than a
weekend or holiday)
90
30
83.92
88.01
27.68
91.46
85.78
28.23
27.12
23.91
25
Mean Minutes with Children
80
70.7
70
60
53.05
52.1
49.58
46.73
50
46.7
41.26
40
35.15
34.26
30
20
21.39
21.13
20
18.16
18.97
15.84
18.15
17.87
16.69
13.6
15
10
5
10
0
---------------------------------------------------------------MOTHERS
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------FATHERS
Occupation Category/Parental Status
C
on
st
ru
ct
io
n
Pr
od
uc
tio
n
ffi
ce
O
Se
rv
Sa
le
s
ic
e
Pr
of
es
si
on
al
**
M
an
ag
er
ia
l*
ffi
ce
O
Sa
le
s*
ic
e
Se
rv
-------------------------------------------------------------MOTHERS
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------FATHERS
Occupation Category/Parental Status
Note: Sigificance Level of Difference +p<.10, *p<.05, **p<.01, ***p<.001 from occupation w ith low est average time (production)
Note: Sigificance Level of Difference +p<.10, *p<.05, **p<.01, ***p<.001 from occupation w ith low est average time (production)
Figure 3. Mean Secondary Tim e Spent w ith Children by Occupation Category (Weighted)
Figure 4. Mean Total Tim e Spent w ith Children by Occupation Category (Weighted)
350
400
321.62
286.16
357.35
302.91
350
279.9
273.48
269.32
250
215.41
205.03
202.19
217.97
213.72
209.42
192.94
200
150
100
Mean Minutes with Children
300
Pr
od
uc
tio
n
C
M
an
ag
er
ia
l*
Pr
of
es
si
on
al
*
on
st
ru
ct
io
n
Pr
od
uc
tio
n
O
ffi
ce
**
Sa
le
s
ic
e
Se
rv
M
an
ag
er
ia
l*
*
Pr
of
es
si
on
al
**
*
Pr
od
uc
tio
n
*
ffi
ce
O
Sa
le
s
**
*
**
*
ic
e
Se
rv
M
an
ag
er
ia
l*
**
Pr
of
es
si
on
al
**
*
0
347.22
321.98 324.86
309.76
309.92
300
243.55
250
249.32
226.73
242.06
234.15
243.45
231.84
200
150
100
50
50
MOTHERS
on
st
ru
ct
io
n
C
Pr
od
uc
tio
n
O
ffi
ce
Sa
le
s
Se
rv
ic
e
M
an
ag
er
ia
l
Pr
of
es
si
on
al
Pr
od
uc
tio
n
ffi
ce
O
Sa
le
s+
Se
rv
M
an
ag
er
ia
l
Pr
of
es
si
on
al
on
st
ru
ct
io
n
tio
n
Pr
od
uc
ffi
ce
O
Sa
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s
ic
e
Se
rv
tio
n
Pr
od
uc
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O
Sa
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s
ic
e*
*
M
an
ag
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ia
l
Pr
of
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si
on
al
C
--------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Occupation Category/Parental Status
MOTHERS
FATHERS
Note: Sigificance Level of Difference +p<.10, *p<.05, **p<.01, ***p<.001 from occupation w ith low est average time (mothers: office; fathers: service)
ic
e*
*
0
0
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Occupation Category/Parental Status
FATHERS
Note: Sigificance Level of Difference +p<.10, *p<.05, **p<.01, ***p<.001 from occupation w ith low est average time (mothers: office; fathers: service)
Table 1. Tobit Regression Models of Minutes Per Day Parents Spend With Children abc
Variables
Occupation (omitted: Production for mothers,
Service for fathers)
Managerial
Primary
Time
Mothers’ Time with Children
“Engaged”
Secondary
Total Time
Time d
Time
Primary
Time
Fathers’ Time with Children
“Engaged” Secondary
Total Time
Time d
Time
29.29** e
(10.43)
15.97
(9.84)
15.71
(9.95)
10.47
(10.87)
14.3
(9.70)
X
15.83 f
(10.46)
0.81
(9.92)
-0.17
(10.08)
4.47
(10.89)
-1.20
(9.83)
X
62.69*
(30.71)
41.40
(28.90)
50.55+
(29.16)
11.83
(31.95)
35.32
(28.42)
X
1.62
(22.22)
-1.83
(20.86)
-6.91
(21.10)
-22.79
(23.12)
2.35
(20.52)
X
22.17*
(9.47)
24.38*
(9.54)
8.23
(9.47)
15.02
(10.55)
19.44
(12.77)
4.00
(9.37)
21.25*
(11.20)
23.82*
(954)
4.49
(11.31)
3.10
(12.55)
3.37
(15.41)
7.55
(11.01)
57.17*
(28.28)
54.71+
(28.64)
54.48 +
(28.03)
33.12
(31.71)
32.21
(38.28)
13.65
(27.80)
43.64*
(19.71)
52.19**
(19.95)
50.76**
(19.46)
46.87*
(22.01)
23.73
(26.85)
27.23
(19.29)
8.71
(5.97)
11.71+
(6.80)
9.89+
(6.04)
13.03+
(6.80)
12.40
(17.69)
6.39
(20.08)
-7.95
(12.89)
-6.68
(14.66)
18.77*
(7.32)
30.67***
(7.77)
8.00
(8.75)
17.80+
(9.24)
39.71+
(21.67)
75.51**
(23.07)
27.58+
(15.06)
30.20+
(16.05)
30.73***
(5.24)
17.79**
(5.14)
42.15**
(15.67)
32.42**
(11.40)
21.96***
(5.85)
21.11**
(6.85)
11.94
(17.67)
11.03
(12.38)
-24.92***
(6.90)
-30.97***
(7.13)
-7.01
(9.03)
-21.63**
(7.08)
-21.71**
(7.31)
1.22
(8.70)
-17.64
(20.31)
29.02
(20.74)
3.57
(27.02)
-45.09**
(14.89)
-3.09
(15.24)
39.10*
(19.62)
-19.07+
(10.23)
-16.35*
(7.51)
-23.36*
(9.29)
-28.52*
(12.98)
-8.04
(8.88)
-1.26
(10.40)
-27.17
(29.57)
-29.18
(22.48)
-63.33*
(27.90)
-45.56*
(20.53)
-1.96
(15.72)
-8.40
(19.28)
45.04
(18.43)
-31.51
(18.57)
602.59
(54.61)
513.41
(39.77)
20.87
(21.70)
-32.73
(25.63)
520.67
(65.55)
388.93
(45.50)
24960.84
13368.87
30367.99
34796.61
17719.83
9727.73
25994.80
30811.60
Censored observations
699
1695
612
165
1126
1797
734
270
Uncensored Observations
1982
986
2055
2516
1351
680
1727
2207
Total Observations
2681
2681
2667
2681
2477
2477
2461
2477
Professional
Service (Mothers) / Production (Fathers)
Sales
Office
Construction/Maintenance
Family Income (omitted: Lowest Third)
Middle Third
Top Third
Education (omitted: No degree)
Bachelor’s Degree
Race (omitted: White)
Black/African American
Hispanic
Analytic Strategy
 Separate analyses for mothers and
fathers.
 Bivariate analysis
 Mothers’ and fathers’ time
with children by parent’s
occupation (weighted)
 Multivariate analysis
 Tobit regression models
predicting time with children
Figure 2. Mean "Engaged" Tim e Spent w ith Children by Occupation Category (Weighted)
100
Se
rv
 Does the time parents spend with children
differ according to parents’ occupation?
 Do occupational differences remain after
taking parental education and income into
account ?
 Does the role of occupation differ between
mothers and fathers?
 Does the role of occupation differ across
different measures of time? These include:
primary time, “engaged” time devoted to
education and play activities, secondary time, and
total time.
DISCUSSION
Figure 1. Mean Prim ary Tim e Spent w ith Children by Occupation Category (Weighted)
M
an
ag
er
ia
l
Pr
of
es
si
on
al
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
Data
 2003 American Time Use Survey
(ATUS)
 Analysis includes employed parents
with at least one own child under age 18
in the household (N=2681 Mothers;
N=2477 Fathers). Mothers in
construction (N=20) were excluded to
avoid overly small cell sizes.
 Parents whose reported time with
children exceeded the 95th percentile
were recoded to the 95th percentile.
Dependent Variables
 Primary time with children (parent
reports activity with child was main
activity; includes basic care as well as
“engaged time”)
 “Engaged” time with children
(educational and play activities)
 Secondary time with children (parent
reports activity with child while engaged
in another primary activity)
 Total time with children
RESULTS
Mean Minutes with Children
 The question of how much time parents spend
with children and how parental time relates to
socio-economic status has received increased
attention in recent years (Sayer et al. 2004a;
Sayer et al. 2004b; Bianchi et al. 2004). This
interest reflects concern about the impact of rising
employment among mothers of young children
and evidence of growing social-class disparities
among children (McLanahan 2004).
To date, research on the relationship between
socio-economic status and parental time has
focused on parents’ educational attainment and,
less often, income. Little is known about the
impact of parental occupation. Previous studies
have often been limited to an examination of one
type of time, and small sample sizes have usually
precluded examining the role of race.
DATA AND METHODS
Mean Minutes with Children
BACKGROUND
Other
Constant
-2 log likelihood
Notes: a Standard errors in parenthesis; b +p<.10, * p<.05, ** p<.01, ***p<.001; c All models control for parent’s age, marital status, number of own children under age 18 in household, presence
of any own children under age of 6 in household, usual weekly work hours, and time diary occurring on a weekday rather than a weekend or holiday. d “Engaged” time refers to education and
play time with children. e Coefficients in blue indicate statistically significant differences compared with the omitted group. Coefficients in orange indicate statistically significant differences
compared with managers among mothers and compared with managers and professionals among fathers. f Managers differ significantly from professional, service and office workers (p<.05).
 The Role of Occupation
 Occupation is related to the time parents
spend with children, and this association
remains even after taking other measures
of socio-economic status (parents’
education and family income) and related
factors (parents’ race and marital status)
into account.
 Parents in high-end occupations are
more likely to spend time and to spend
higher amounts of time with their
children. Among mothers, holding a
managerial position is most
consistently related to time with
children. Among fathers, both
managerial and professional jobs are
associated with greater time with
children.
 Among mothers, occupation is related
to three of the four time categories
measured: primary time; engaged time;
and secondary time. Among fathers,
occupation is related to all four
categories of time, including total time.
 Education, Income and Race
 Parents who are college educated are
more likely to spend time and to spend
more time with children. This
association is significant across all four
types of time among mothers and for
primary and engaged time among
fathers.
 Having a high family income also
appears to be associated with more time
with children, but the relationship is
statistically significant only for fathers
and, among fathers, only with regard to
primary and secondary time.
 On average, African-American
mothers and fathers spend less time
with children than white parents, and
this relationship holds across most
measures of time. Parents of Hispanic
origin spend less time on primary care
of children and, among mothers only,
less time in engaged interaction with
children.
 Remaining Questions for Future Research
 How do parents’ work schedules relate to
time with children? Does working nonstandard hours or days mediate the
relationship between occupation and time
with children?
 Workers’ level of autonomy and flexibility
varies within as well as across occupation
groups. Does occupational autonomy and
flexibility mediate the relationship
between occupation group and time with
children?