Time for Each Other: Work and Family Constraints among Couples

Sarah Flood, University of Minnesota
Katie Genadek, University of Minnesota

Our project investigates the time married couples spend together in the United States. Though time together is a premium among couples in our work-centered American society, we know little about amount and nature of the time couples spend together and sources of variation. Specifically, we focus specifically on heterogeneity in couples' time together by life stage and couple-level employment status. We draw on data from the American Time Use Survey (2003-2008) and use multivariate techniques to address two specific issues: 1) the effects of single vs. dual-earner status on the time couples spend together, and 2) the effects of life stage (i.e. the age of the youngest child) on couples' time allocation.