Children’s time with fathers and mothers over the pre-school years: A longitudinal time-use study of couple families in Australia

Abstract

This paper explores fathering over children’s early years, using longitudinal time-use data for children at ages 0–1, 2–3 and 4–5 years. These Australian data provide information about children’s total and solo time with fathers and mothers on weekdays and weekends. This unique large-scale dataset allows analyses of changes in children’s time with fathers as they grow and with contextual changes such as increases in parental work hours. Taking account of mothers’ return to work, which may mean changes to fathers’ roles, is especially relevant at these ages. Descriptive and multivariate analyses confirm that time with fathers and mothers vary with parents’ work hours, with longitudinal models showing that changes in parental work hours are reflected in changes in children’s time with parents. Children’s time with fathers and mothers are also explored according to a range of other child, parental and family characteristics.