Northwestern University

Abstract

This paper describes a model of Americans ’ time use, in which time spent with children in-home and out-of-home influences activity and travel time allocation. While children’s activities and travel are being studied more in depth now than in the past, to date there are few studies that examine time spent with children as a dependent variable within a time-use model. Most existing models of activity and travel participation allocate time to work activities, followed by obligatory maintenance activities, and non-obligatory “discretionary ” activities. This model expands the data into 8 different activity categories to determine whether these activities are more or less necessary than past research assumes. The results suggest that total time spent inside the home with children has a statistically significant and negative impact on work, leisure, and personal activities inside the home; but work duration and work travel have no significant or practical impact on time spent with children, everything else constant. There is also some indication that more time spent in in-home activities is associated with greater travel time expenditures. Overall, single mothers appear to have more time constraints than others, and the 2007 American Time Use Survey contains a variety of details that helps illuminate many such questions.

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