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Title: Parents' time with a partner in cross-national context: A comparison of the US, Spain, and France

Citation Type: Working Paper

Publication Year: 2016

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Abstract: BACKGROUND Time shared with a partner is an indicator of marital well-being and couples wants to spend time together. However, time with a partner depends on work and family arrangements as well as the policies, norms and values that prevail in society. Contrary to time spent with children, couples shared time in cross-national context is relatively unstudied. Previous studies from specific countries show that dual-earner couples spend less time together and that parents spend less time alone together. OBJECTIVE The aim of our study is to investigate partnered parents' shared time across countries to understand how social conditions, cultural norms and policy contexts are related to the amount and nature of couples shared time. Specifically, we compare time with a partner in the US, France and Spain. METHODS We use data from the Multinational Time Use Study, a harmonized collection of time diary data that includes information on individuals daily activities and sociodemographic characteristics. We leverage information about with whom activities are done to examine three types of time shared with a partner: total time with a partner indicates the minutes per day spent in the presence of a partner; exclusive time corresponds to the minutes per day spent alone with a partner when no one else is present; and family time indicates the minutes per day spent with a partner and a child at the same time. RESULTS Our results show that American couples spend the least time together and Spanish couples spend the most time together. Parents in France spend the most time alone together. The most striking difference across countries is in time with a partner and children, which is much higher among Spanish families. CONCLUSION Paid work constraints explain a small part of the differences in couples shared time that we observe between countries. Differences in couples shared time across countries seem to be related to social norms surrounding family and general time use.

Url: https://pop.umn.edu/sites/pop.umn.edu/files/wp-2016-1.pdf

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Authors: Garcia Roman, Joan; Flood, Sarah; Genadek, Katie

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Publication Number: 2016-1

Institution: University of Minnesota

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Publisher Location: Minneapolis, MN

Data Collections: IPUMS Time Use - ATUS

Topics: Family and Marriage, Gender

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