Changing Trends of Mothers’ Active and Passive Childcare Times

This paper explores how mothers’ allocation of types of time with children and the determinants of this allocation have changed during 1981–1997 in the United States, using Time Use Longitudinal Panel Study and Family Interaction, Social Capital and Trends in Time Use. Data reveal that active time with children has increased for the case of educated working mothers with young children. Estimations also provide evidence that although different uses of time are substitutes; active time is less sensitive than passive. Moreover, the relationship between active and passive time with children has changed over time.