Science Daily reassures us that at least we seem to be doing *something* right. This generation is spending more time with our kids than parents did 50 years ago:
Mothers — and fathers — across most Western countries are spending more time with their children than parents did in the mid-’60s, according to a University of California, Irvine study. And time spent with kids is highest among better-educated parents — a finding that somewhat surprised study co-author Judith Treas, UCI Chancellor’s Professor of sociology.
“According to economic theory, higher wages should discourage well-educated parents from foregoing work to spend extra time with youngsters,” she said. “Also, they have the money to pay others to care for their children.”
Treas and co-author Giulia M. Dotti Sani, a postdoctoral fellow at Collegio Carlo Alberto in Turin, Italy, found that between 1965 and 2012, all but one of 11 Western nations showed an increase in the amount of time both parents spent with their kids. The study was published online in the August issue of the Journal of Marriage and Family.
In 1965, mothers spent a daily average of 54 minutes on child care activities, while moms in 2012 averaged almost twice that at 104 minutes per day. Fathers’ time with children nearly quadrupled — 1965 dads spent a daily average of just 16 minutes with their kids, while today’s fathers spend about 59 minutes a day caring for them.
These numbers include parents from all education levels. When the researchers broke out the 2012 data into two categories — parents with a college education versus parents without — they found quite a difference.
College-educated moms spent an estimated 123 minutes daily on child care, compared with 94 minutes spent by less educated mothers. Fathers with a college degree spent about 74 minutes a day with their kids, while less educated dads averaged 50 minutes.
—
I guess since we’re not letting them out to roam the neighborhood and nearby fields, they’re stuck in our faces, right?