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Title: Marital Status and Mothers Time Use: Child Care, Housework, Leisure, and Sleep

Citation Type: Conference Paper

Publication Year: 2015

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Abstract: Assumptions that single mothers are time-poor compared to married mothers are ubiquitous, but variation in mothers time use by marital status is less studied than differences between mothers and fathers. We use the 2003-2012 American Time Use Survey to examine variation in mothers time spent in housework, child care, leisure, and sleep by their marital status. We find no difference in time spent on childcare between married and single mothers, suggesting that behavioral propensities to engage in child care are similar for all mothers. Married mothers do more housework and spend less time sleeping than all other mothers. Never married and cohabitating mothers have significantly more leisure time than married mothers, although this time is mostly spent watching television. Differences in demographic characteristics explain two thirds of the difference in sedentary leisure time between married and never married mothers. These results provide no support for the time poverty thesis but offer some support for the doing gender perspective.

Url: http://paa2015.princeton.edu/uploads/153021

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Authors: Pepin, Joanna R; Sayer, Liana C; Casper, Lynne M

Conference Name: Population Association of America

Publisher Location: San Diego, CA

Data Collections: IPUMS Time Use - ATUS

Topics: Family and Marriage, Gender, Housing and Segregation, Labor Force and Occupational Structure

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