Gender and resources' role in parents' time with children in South Korea and the United States

Abstract

Objective

Parental time with children varies across cultures but has mostly been studied in a European context. In this paper we estimate whether the association of work and gender with parental allocation of time is different in South Korea and the United States.

Background

We suggest that household level characteristics are associated with the time parents spend with their children, but that these associations are more gendered in South Korea than in the United States.

Method

We used data from the 2003–2018 American Time Use Survey (n = 38,562) and 2004–2014 Korean Time Use Survey (n = 12,828). Using ordinary least squares, we estimated the association of the intersection of gender and work in predicting parental time with children.

Results

Gender is an important factor in time allocation in South Korea, where education was positively associated and working hours were negatively associated with mothers', but not fathers', time spent with their children. In the United States, resources and work have a dominant role, as both parents tend to spend more time with their children if they have higher education and income and work fewer hours.

Conclusion

In South Korea, a gendered regime is associated with the allocation of parental time only; mothers are influenced by their spouses' time allocation and resources. The United States follows a trade-off regime, where resources are associated with time spent with children, whereas gender plays a smaller role in parental time allocation.

Implications

Studying parental time allocation should account for the intertwined relationship of culture, resources, and gender.