Cross-National Differences in the Association Between Parental Work Hours and Time with Children in Europe: A Multilevel Analysis

This study investigates cross-national differences in the association between parental work hours and parent–child interaction time and explains differences in this individual-level association on the basis of country characteristics. It extends prior research by testing the moderating effects of country characteristics through multilevel analyses and by considering the possibility of selection effects. The presumption was that parents employ strategies to protect family life from work encroachments and that these strategies are enhanced by reconciliation policies, stronger parenthood ideologies, access to part-time work and higher income levels. Multilevel analyses were based on a subset of 5.183 parents in 23 countries from the 2005 European Working Conditions Survey that was complemented with country-level data. The negative association between parental work hours and parent–child time indeed varied significantly across countries and was weaker in countries where formal child care coverage was higher, part-time work was less prevalent, and earnings were lower. The effects of part-time work and earnings mainly applied to mothers. These findings suggest that child care coverage limits the availability of children and that differences in parent–child time between parents who work short and long hours are more pronounced when part-time work is more accessible and affordable.     

Re-Conceptualizing Gaps by Socioeconomic Status in Parental Time with Children

Differences in the total time that parents spend with their children by socioeconomic status (SES) are well documented. However, the qualitative aspects of such gaps are potentially important, yet relatively understudied. The current study analyzes time-use data for a nationally representative sample of married households with at least two children, one of whom is under 13 (N = 21,016), from the American Time Use Survey to provide a more nuanced analysis of previously documented differences in the time parents spend with children by SES. Specifically, two understudied aspects of family time are considered, both of which are distinct from other types of parent–child time and are potentially particularly developmentally beneficial: shared time when both parents are present with a child and individual child time when no siblings are present. We find that shared time when both parents are simultaneously present with a child often comprises a substantial portion of the total gap in parental time spent with children between college-educated parents and parents who did not complete high school. Similarly, college-educated parents spend more time with children in the absence of the child’s siblings than do less-educated parents. Gaps in this time classification are often found within enriching time, which is likely especially developmentally beneficial, potentially amplifying the effects of these gaps on child development. Generally, these results suggest that gaps in parental time with children by SES are more nuanced than previous research has recognized.     

Work Hours and Well Being: An Investigation of Moderator Effects

The relationship between work hours and subjective well being is marked by contradictory findings, thereby implying that it is far from being completely understood. A study of moderator effects can help explain variations in results across studies and, thus, overcome inconsistencies in past research. Accordingly, the current study aims to enlighten the relationship between work hours and well being by investigating how a number of variables moderate this relationship. To develop the research hypotheses concerning the moderator effects, this study relies mostly on social identity theory. Overall, the results suggest that work hours, per se, do not have a significant relationship with individual well being. Rather, their effects seem to depend on a number of issues, namely concerned with individuals’ objective characteristics, as well as their social identities.     

Cohort Differences in Parental Financial Help to Adult Children

In this article, we examine birth cohort differences in parents’ provision of monetary help to adult children with particular focus on the extent to which cohort differences in family structure and the transition to adulthood influence these changes. Using data from the Health and Retirement Study from 1994 to 2010, we compare financial help to children of three respondent cohorts as the parents in these birth cohorts from ages 53–58 to 57–62. We find that transfers to children have increased among more recent cohorts. Two trends—declining family size and children’s delay in marriage—account for part of the increase across cohorts. However, other trends, such as the increase in the number of stepchildren and increasing child’s income level, tend to decrease the observed cohort trend.     

Resolved Parental Infertility and Children’s Educational Achievement

Although difficulty conceiving a child has long been a major medical and social preoccupation, it has not been considered as a predictor of long-term outcomes in children ultimately conceived. This is consistent with a broader gap in knowledge regarding the consequences of parental health for educational performance in offspring. Here we address that omission, asking how resolved parental infertility relates to children’s academic achievement. In a sample of all Swedish births between 1988 and 1995, we find that involuntary childlessness prior to either a first or a second birth is associated with lower academic achievement (both test scores and GPA) in children at age 16, even if the period of infertility was prior to a sibling’s birth rather than the child’s own. Our results support a conceptualization of infertility as a cumulative physical and social experience with effects extending well beyond the point at which a child is born, and emphasize the need to better understand how specific parental health conditions constrain children’s educational outcomes.     

The Mediating Role of Perceived Parental Warmth and Parental Punishment in the Psychological Well-Being of Children in Rural China

Research has documented that parenting practices, such as parental warmth and parental punishment, play a mediating role in linking individual (e.g., age, gender) and familial characteristics (e.g., economic status, marital quality) to the psychological well-being of children. However, few studies have validated these connections with respect to the Chinese population, especially those in rural areas of China plagued with unfavorable conditions such as poverty and lack of education. In this study, we investigated whether child (age, gender, and sibship size), and familial characteristics (family wealth, parental education, and marital quality) indirectly contribute to the children??s psychological well-being (as indicated by their self-reported internalizing and externalizing problems) through their perceived parental warmth and parental punishment. Using structural equation modeling, we analyzed data collected from 2,000 children (ages 9?C13) and their parents in rural China. The results reveal significant, indirect relationships from family wealth and marital quality to these children??s externalizing problems through parental warmth and parental punishment. There are age and gender differences in the children??s experiencing internalizing and externalizing problems. Gender differences are also found in their perceived parental warmth and parental punishment. Directions for future research are discussed.     

Gendered Time-Crunch and Work Factors in Denmark

Being crunched for time is an important aspect of life quality. Although Denmark is a country known for gender-equality, on average mothers are more time-crunched than fathers. We show this using a representative sample of Danish dual-earner couples with at least one child aged 0–10 years. We analyze the determinants of time-crunch in relation to work factors for the individual as well as the spouse and find significant gender differences. One result is that longer working hours are associated with more time-crunch for both mothers and fathers, whereas the amount of housework only matters for mothers. The results show that men and women have different working conditions, which partly explains the gendered time-crunch.     

Time or Money: The Relationship Between Educational Attainment,Income Contribution,and Time with Children Among Korean Fathers

Korean parents’ enthusiasm for and financial investment in children’s education are well known. However, parental time with children, particularly fathers’ time, and how it differs by parental education and income are not fully explored. Using the 2009 Korean Time Use Survey data, this paper examines how much time Korean fathers spend with children, how it differs by their education and income contribution to household, and which aspect Korean fathers choose to prioritize: time or money. In order to investigate a cross-couple effect, this paper also considers mothers’ time with children and their level of education. The sample is limited to married couples with the youngest child aged between 0 and 12. The stepwise multivariate regression analysis indicates that fathers’ education consistently shows a positive relationship with childcare time. Although fathers’ income contribution to household income has a negative effect on childcare time, positive effects of fathers’ education remain. Both mother’s education and childcare time increase fathers’ time with children. Korean fathers seem to juggle dual demands for money and time contribution and highly educated fathers tend to prioritize time over money. Given that time has become an important resource, different time investment in children by parental socioeconomic status may exacerbate social inequality.     

我国劳动者劳动时间变化趋势及原因初探

我国在改革开放以来,经历了从计划经济向市场经济的过渡,在社会转型期里,作为我国经济重要支撑的劳动力资源也呈现出了一系列新的特征。本文重点探讨了劳动者劳动时间的两个维度：劳动年限与劳动时数的变化趋势,并结合分析我国劳动者教育水平与劳动时间的关系,进而分析我国劳动者劳动时间变化的原因。     

Generational Differences in Work Values,Perceived Job Rewards,and Job Satisfaction of Chinese Female Migrant Workers: Implications for Social Policy and Social Services

This cross-sectional survey study is a pioneering attempt to investigate the generational differences in the work values, perceived job rewards, and job satisfaction of Chinese female migrant workers. The study targeted two toy factories in the Guangdong Province of China and recruited a total of 1,307 female workers as participants. Among them were 577 female migrant workers who comprised the target group for this research. The authors hypothesized that the younger generation of female migrant workers would have higher levels of cognitive work values (such as self-enhancement and career development) but lower levels of perceived job rewards and job satisfaction than those of the older generation. The results indicate that there are no generational differences in work values among the three birth cohorts of Chinese female migrant workers. The older generation felt more satisfied with the job rewards that they received, and their sense of job satisfaction was higher than that of the younger generation. Furthermore, the findings showed a substantial positive influence of perceived social job rewards (such as support from co-workers and supervisors) on job satisfaction among the younger generation. The current findings suggest that in China, generational differences in work are affected by both the generation factor and the rural–urban stratification factor. The authors hope that the study will provide a knowledge base for understanding the perceptions of Chinese female migrant workers toward work and for exploring the ways in which new policies and social services can be developed in order to address their needs.     

Experiential Wellbeing Data from the American Time Use Survey: Comparisons with Other Methods and Analytic Illustrations with Age and Income

There has been a recent upsurge of interest in self-reported measures of wellbeing by official statisticians and by researchers in the social sciences. This paper considers data from a wellbeing supplement to the American Time Use Survey (ATUS), which parsed the previous day into episodes. Respondents provided ratings of five experiential wellbeing adjectives (happiness, stress, tiredness, sadness, and pain) for each of three randomly selected episodes. Because the ATUS wellbeing module has not received very much attention, in this paper we provide the reader with details about the features of these data and our approach to analyzing the data (e.g., weighting considerations), and then illustrate the applicability of these data to current issues. Specifically, we examine the association of age and income with all of the experiential wellbeing adjective in the ATUS. Results from the ATUS wellbeing module were broadly consistent with earlier findings on age, but did not confirm all earlier findings between income and wellbeing. We conclude that the ATUS, with its measurement of time use, specific activities, and hedonic experience in a nationally representative survey, offers a unique opportunity to incorporate time use into the burgeoning field of wellbeing research.     

农村地区流动儿童、留守儿童和其他儿童教育机会比较研究

本文使用2000年人口普查0.95‰数据,比较农村地区11～14岁的流动儿童,留守儿童和其他儿童的教育机会(定义为是否在学).模型分析结果显示;(1)与其他儿童相比,留守儿童的教育机会显著偏高,但流动儿童的教育机会显著降低;(2)与母亲一起留守儿童的教育机会得到改善,但与父亲一起留守儿童的教育机会显著降低;独自流动和与父母一起流动儿童教育机会受到不利影响,但与母亲一起流动儿童教育机会与其他儿童无显著差异;(3)女童教育机会明显低于男孩,但儿童类型对教育机会的作用不因性别而异.模型分析结果具有多方面的政策启示意义.     

Diverging Destinies: Maternal Education and the Developmental Gradient in Time With Children

Using data from the 2003?C2007 American Time Use Surveys (ATUS), we compare mothers?? (N = 6,640) time spent in four parenting activities across maternal education and child age subgroups. We test the hypothesis that highly educated mothers not only spend more time in active child care than less-educated mothers but also alter the composition of that time to suit children??s developmental needs more than less-educated mothers. Results support this hypothesis: not only do highly educated mothers invest more time in basic care and play when youngest children are infants or toddlers than when children are older, but differences across education groups in basic care and play time are largest among mothers with infants or toddlers; by contrast, highly educated mothers invest more time in management activities when children are 6 to 13?years old than when children are younger, and differences across education groups in management are largest among mothers with school-aged children. These patterns indicate that the education gradient in mothers?? time with children is characterized by a ??developmental gradient.??     

关注地震灾区子女伤亡家庭 做好相关扶助工作

针对地震中学生伤亡的情况，2008年5月底，国务院抗震救灾总指挥部召开专题会议，研究部署做好地震灾区学生伤亡有关善后工作。随后，国务院办公厅下发了《关于进一步做好地震灾区学生伤亡有关善后工作的通知》（国办发电[2008]6号），要求有关地方“要按照有关人口与计划生育地方性法规规定，对有子女在震灾中死亡或伤残的家庭，给予再生育政策照顾”。