Beyond childcare: Changes in the amount and types of parent‐child time over three decades
Level 4 - case-series / case-control
Level 4 by design analogy (repeated cross-sectional survey analysis; non-clinical sociological study).
OpenAlex W3184651367 · doi:10.1111/cars.12356
What was done
Analyzed time-diary data from the 1986–2015 cycles of the Canadian General Social Survey to evaluate 30-year trends in parents' childcare time and total co-present time with children. The authors also performed decomposition analyses to determine whether trends were driven by shifts in parenting behavior or demographic composition.
What was found
Co-present time with children increased by 1.0 hour per day for fathers and 1.5 hours per day for mothers between the mid-1980s and 2015. This rise reflected increases in direct childcare, parents' housework performed in the presence of children, and mothers' leisure time with children. Decomposition analyses indicated that behavioral changes in parenting, rather than demographic or compositional shifts, primarily drove the increase.
Why it matters
Demonstrates that the multi-decade expansion of intensive parenting extends beyond dedicated childcare tasks into general household routines and leisure time.
Limits
The abstract does not report the total sample size (n) or exact statistical confidence intervals. As an observational time-diary study, it relies on self-reported activity logs and is limited to the Canadian population.
Cited by
- supports Men have tripled their time spent on parenting effort since the 1970s.