Parental disability and teenagers’ time allocation

Abstract

Using the 2003–2019 American Time Use Survey, we examine how living with a parent who has a work-limiting disability is related to teenagers’ time allocation. Girls living with a disabled parent spend less time on educational activities, including both class time and homework, less time on shopping, and more time on pet care and leisure. Boys living with a disabled parent spend less time sleeping on schooldays. In addition, when examining the time spent by girls and boys in two-parent households, we find that the gender of the disabled parent matters. Girls living with a disabled mother in a two-parent household spend less time on educational activities and shopping and more time on pet care. Girls living with a disabled father in a two-parent household spend less time on shopping and food preparation and cleanup. Boys living with a disabled mother in a two-parent household spend less time on housework and caring for household children. However, if their father is disabled, boys spend more time on food preparation and cleanup. Boys living with a disabled father also spend less time with their mother. Thus, there are differences in teens’ time use that depend on both the gender of the teen and of the disabled parent, with teen girls likely being worse off than teen boys given the reduction in educational time. Our results suggest that differences in teenagers’ time investments are a plausible mechanism for gender differences in intergenerational economic mobility by parental-disability status.