Quantity time Do children want more time with their full-time employed parents?

Quantity time

Do children want more time with their full-time employed parents?

Polatnick

M. Rivka

Polatnick, M. Rivka

Author

University of California, Berkeley

Center for Working Families

University of California, Berkeley. Center for Working Families

Sponsor

text

working paper

Berkeley, CA Center for Working Families, University of California, Berkeley 2002 2002 monographic

Berkeley, CA

Center for Working Families, University of California, Berkeley

2002

monographic

English eng

English

eng

electronic application/pdf 24 p. born digital

electronic

application/pdf

24 p.

born digital

This paper explores childrens views on whether they get sufficient time with dual-earner or single parents who are employed full-time. It draws on semi structured interviews with twenty two children, ages ten to twelve and from diverse backgrounds, and on supplementary interviews with twenty-six of their parents. The children's responses about parental availability were complex and contradictory. Most children seemed to feel more dissatisfaction than they stated on the surface. I argue that family, social, and economic pressures influenced them to damp down or suppress desires for parental time. I raise concerns about the potential for underestimating children's discontent.

M. Rivka Polatnick has been a Senior Postdoctoral Researcher at the Center for Working Families.

Berkeley Center for Working Families Working Paper No. 37

Berkeley Center for Working Families Working Paper

No. 37

Use of this resource is governed by the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons "Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States" (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/)

wfn_bwpaper_46.pdf

MChB English eng

MChB

English eng

English

eng