The Effects of Family Structures and Environment on Adolescent Girls' and Boys' Time Use

Constance T. Gager, University of Pennsylvania

Recent research has shown that major demographic changes including increased rates of divorce, remarriage, and maternal employment influence the gender-based division of household tasks in families, and specifically, children's household contributions. This research examines variation in time use by family structure characteristics, such as family size, parent's marital status and maternal employment status, as well as family environment in terms of levels of work/family stress, evaluations of parent/child relationships and time spent together, all of which should influence the division of labor in the home. We address gaps in previous literature by analyzing data from the Survey of Parents and Youth, a new national survey of children's after-school time-use. Our most important contribution is looking at time-use in families, in the context of the family atmosphere, i.e. levels of stress and parent and child evaluations of the quality of their relationship.