Full Citation
Title: The Death of the Stay-at-Home Parent? Gender, Work and Parenting in the 21st century US
Citation Type: Conference Paper
Publication Year: 2011
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Abstract: Using a mixed-methods approach, this paper critically evaluates the conceptualization and measurement of stay-at-home parenthood by the Census Bureau. More specifically, I combine Census microdata from the American Community Survey, semi-structured interviews and household time diary data from 40 fathers to empirically examine the time-use of men who "stay home." I find that -- due to fathers' time devoted to paid work, education, volunteering, and leisure, as well as their wives efforts and children's hours spent in school or activities -- men who identify as "stay-at-home parents" report little difference in "primary caregiving" hours per week than fathers who are employed full-time. In addition, 2 out of 3 self-identified stay-at-home fathers would be excluded from the official Census count due to their participation in paid work, short duration of time at home, or alternative reasons stated for not being in the laborforce. I build on these findings by detailing how fathers who identify as full-time caregivers define stay-at-home parenthood in their own words. I then extend these results to stay-at-home mothers, suggesting that stay-at-home parents, in general, are diminishing in number because of the increasingly antiquated conceptualizations and measurements we use to define them. I conclude by proposing that the Census expands its criteria or changes its measurements to a focus on primary caregivers" instead.
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Authors: Latshaw, Beth A.
Conference Name: Population Association of America
Publisher Location: Washington, D.C.
Data Collections: IPUMS USA
Topics: Family and Marriage, Labor Force and Occupational Structure, Other
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