Time Working Families Spend Together

-An Investigation of Time Use in an Urban New Town-

Abstract

In this report, the authors analyzed the time spent by fathers and mothers who work long hours, with their elementary school children. The data are drawn from an investigation of time use of employed parents living in Tama New Town, conducted in 1985.
The results of the analysis can be summarized as follows :
1) During week days, the average time fathers spent with their children was about 1 hr, while that of mothers was considerably longer.
2) On weekends, the time fathers spent with their children was longer and the variety of activities increased. When a Saturday was free, the time fathers spent with their children increased markedly.
3) Looking into the way fathers relate with their children, one could see that when a father is with the children, the mother also stays with them.
4) When comparing the mothers, non-, part-time, and full-time employed, it becomes clear that the fathers with full-time working wives act with their children more independently from their wives.