Parental Care of Children: Time Diary Estimates of Quantity, Predictability, and Variety

Abstract

Time inputs to children are measured using data from the recent Time Use Survey conducted by the University of Michigan. We analyze time parents devote to their children, particularly in their preschool years, in an attempt to find out if there are social-class and education-of-wife differentials in this particular time use that may provide some insight into the intergenerational transmission of income inequality. We also offer some comment on labor supply of women and child care by men. We find that more-educated women spend more time playing with children, helping with the teaching of children, and in child-related travel.