Changing Rhythms of American Family Life (Rose Series in Sociology.)

Over The Last Forty Years, The Number Of American Households With A Stay-at-home Parent Has Dwindled As Women Have Increasingly Joined The Paid Workforce And More Women Raise Children Alone. Many Policy Makers Feared These Changes Would Come At The Expense Of Time Mothers Spend With Their Children. In Changing Rhythms Of American Family Life, Sociologists Suzanne M. Bianchi, John P. Robinson, And Melissa Milkie Analyze The Way Families Spend Their Time And Uncover Surprising New Findings About How Americans Are Balancing The Demands Of Work And Family. Using Time Diary Data From Surveys Of American Parents Over The Last Four Decades, Changing Rhythms Of American Family Life Finds That--despite Increased Workloads Outside Of The Home--mothers Today Spend At Least As Much Time Interacting With Their Children As Mothers Did Decades Ago--and Perhaps Even More. Unexpectedly, The Authors Find Mothers' Time At Work Has Not Resulted In An Overall Decline In Sleep Or Leisure Time.^ Rather, Mothers Have Made Time For Both Work And Family By Sacrificing Time Spent Doing Housework And By Increased Multitasking. Changing Rhythms Of American Family Life Finds That The Total Workload (in And Out Of The Home) For Employed Parents Is High For Both Sexes, With Employed Mothers Averaging Five Hours More Per Week Than Employed Fathers And Almost Nineteen Hours More Per Week Than Homemaker Mothers. Comparing Average Workloads Of Fathers With All Mothers--both Those In The Paid Workforce And Homemakers--the Authors Find That There Is Gender Equality In Total Workloads, As There Has Been Since 1965. Overall, It Appears That Americans Have Adapted To Changing Circumstances To Ensure That They Preserve Their Family Time And Provide Adequately For Their Children. Changing Rhythms Of American Family Life Explodes Many Of The Popular Misconceptions About How Americans Balance Work And Family.^ Though The Iconic Image Of The American Mother Has Changed From A Docile Homemaker To A Frenzied, Sleepless Working Mom, This Important New Volume Demonstrates That The Time Mothers Spend With Their Families Has Remained Steady Throughout The Decades.--publisher's Website. Using Time-diary Data From Surveys Of American Parents Over The Last Four Decades, Changing Rhythms Of American Family Life Finds That, Despite Increased Workloads Outside Of The Home, Mothers Today Spend At Least As Much Time Interacting With Their Children As Mothers Did Decades Ago - And Perhaps Even More. Unexpectedly, The Authors Find The Increase In Mothers' Time At Work Has Not Resulted In An Overall Decline In Sleep Or Leisure Time. Rather, Mothers Have Made Time For Both Work And Family By Sacrificing Time Spent Doing Housework And By Increased Multi-tasking.--jacket. 1. Parenting : How Has It Changed? -- 2. Measuring Family Time -- 3. Changing Workloads : Are Parents Busier? -- 4. Parental Time With Children : More Or Less? -- 5. Housework, Leisure, Personal Care, Relationships : What Gives In Busy Families? -- 6. Gender Equality, Role Specialization, And The Second Shift : What Do Weekly Diaries Show? -- 7. Feelings About Time : Parental Stress And Time Pressures -- 8. Children's Time Use : Too Busy Or Not Busy Enough? By Sara Raley -- 9. Multinational Patterns In Parental Time : How Unique Is The United States? -- 10. Mothers' Time, Fathers' Time, And Gender Equal Parenting : What Do We Conclude? Suzanne M. Bianchi, John P. Robinson, And Melissa A. Milkie. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 229-240) And Index. Title Page, Copyright, Series Information Contents About the Authors Acknowledgments Chapter 1: Parenting: How Has It Changed? Chapter 2: Measuring Family Time Chapter 3: Changing Workloads: Are Parents Busier? Chapter 4: Parental Time with Children: More or Less? Chapter 5: Housework, Leisure, Personal Care, Relationships: “What Gives” in Busy Families? Chapter 6: Gender Equality, Role Specialization, and “The Second Shift”: What Do Weekly Diaries Show? Chapter 7: Feelings About Time: Parental Stress and Time Pressures Chapter 8: Children’s Time Use: Too Busy or Not Busy Enough? Chapter 9: Multinational Patterns in Parental Time: How Unique Is the United States? Chapter 10: Mothers’ Time, Fathers’ Time, and Gender Equal Parenting: What Do We Conclude? Appendix A: Reliability and Validity of the Time-Diary Approach Appendix B: Additional Data Sources Appendix C: Multinational Data Appendix D: Tables Notes References Index This book is based on two rounds of new data collection, reanalysis of all the existing U.S. time use data collections dating back to 1965, and a comparison of U.S. trends to several other nations. Changing Rhythms of American Family Life is the best and most authoritative study of trends in parents' use of time over the past several decades. Its conclusion that parents today are not spending few hours with their children, despite the increase in wives working outside the home, goes against conventional wisdom.