Family Time: An Analysis of Ways Parents Spend Time with their Children

Betsy Thorn, University of Maryland

This paper seeks to gain insight into the reproduction of social inequality by examining class differences in the amount of time parents spend with their children and the types of activities they do together during that time. I use data from the American Time Use Survey to measure the amount of time parents spend with their children and the distribution of time between various sorts of activities - child care, sports, cultural events, shopping, etc. Preschool and school-aged children are analyzed separately.