Re-examining How Partner Co-presence and Multitasking Affect Parents’ Enjoyment of Childcare and Housework

Dunatchik, Allison; Speight, Svetlana

doi:10.15195/v7.a11

Cited by 12 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…This result held for both genders, and regardless of the nature of the activity performed (i.e., whether it was routine or recreational care). Thus, whereas prior studies showed a negative effect of multitasking on individual well-being for mothers only (Offer and Schneider 2011;Craig and Brown 2017;Dunatchik and Speight 2020), our results indicate that multitasking in the domestic sphere negatively affects the momentary well-being of fathers as well.…”

Section: Model Resultscontrasting

confidence: 89%

“…However, in their analysis of the relationship between multitasking and momentary well-being, the authors focused on where the simultaneous activities were performed (e.g., at home, at work), without taking into consideration the specific nature (or typology) of the activities that were carried out simultaneously. In a more recent study, Dunatchik and Speight (2020) used data from the UK Time Use Survey to investigate whether for parents, simultaneously performing two unpaid work tasks or combining an unpaid work task with a secondary leisure activity was associated with higher or lower levels of enjoyment of the time spent on unpaid work. Their results indicated that the parents enjoyed performing housework and childcare tasks more when they combined these activities with a secondary leisure activity.…”

Section: Multitasking and Well-beingmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Fathers’ and mothers’ enjoyment of childcare: the role of multitasking

Zannella¹,

Rose²

2021

Populationyearbook

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Using data from the latest edition of the Italian Time Use Survey (ITUS, 2013–2014), we analyse 31,309 childcare episodes to investigate the relationship betweenmultitasking (i.e., the combination of childcare with housework tasks) and parents’enjoyment of the time they spent on childcare, with a gender perspective. To this end,we rely on information from the episode enjoyment scores the respondents used toevaluate the degree of (un)pleasantness associated with the different activities theyrecorded in a daily diary. These episode enjoyment scores are a novelty in the ITUS,and provide a unique measure of the respondents’ momentary assessments of theirsubjective well-being. Our results highlight the existence of a negative relationshipbetween multitasking and parental well-being when spending time on childcare forboth mothers and fathers, regardless of the nature of the childcare activity theywere performing (i.e., routine or recreational childcare). Our findings add to priorresearch by shedding new light on the role of multitasking as a relevant contextualcharacteristic of care that affects the well-being of fathers, as well as of mothers.

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Section: Model Resultscontrasting

confidence: 89%

Section: Multitasking and Well-beingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fathers’ and mothers’ enjoyment of childcare: the role of multitasking

Zannella¹,

Rose²

2021

Populationyearbook

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“…The full experiences of parents' time with children more broadly should be an important priority for scholars to get a more complete picture of changes in family life and well-being. Past scholarship suggests that time in the company of children is associated with higher subjective well-being for parents (Musick, Meier, and Flood 2016), although this may vary depending on parenting stage (Negraia and Augustine 2020) or the presence of others such as a partner (Dunatchik and Speight 2020). There is also a need for future research on how more time together impacts well-being from the perspective of children as well (Milkie, Wray, and Boeckmann 2020).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Beyond Childcare: Changes in the Amount and Types of Parent-Child Time over Three Decades

Wray¹,

Ingenfeld²,

Milkie³

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Parents’ time with children has increased over the past several decades, according to many scholars. Yet, research predominantly focuses on childcare activities, overlooking the majority of time parents spend with children. Using time diaries from the 1986-2015 Canadian General Social Survey, we examine trends in the quantity and distribution of parents’ childcare time and total contact time in the company of children, as well as the behavioral or compositional drivers of these trends. Contact time with children increased sharply since the mid-1980s, by 1 hour per day for fathers and 1.5 hours for mothers. This rise was driven not only by childcare activities but also parents’ time in housework and mothers’ time in leisure with children present. Decomposition analyses indicate that changes in parenting behavior primarily explain these increases in contact time. This study expands knowledge on intensive parenting through a more comprehensive understanding of parents’ daily lives with children.

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“…In an early study of enjoyment of activities within couples, Sullivan shows that leisure shared with a partner is the most enjoyed activity and that, thereby, couples try to coordinate their time to maximise shared leisure ( Sullivan, 1996a ). She also found that other activities, such as domestic chores, were more enjoyed when shared with others (see also Dunatchik and Speight, 2020 ).…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 92%

From Me to You: Time Together and Subjective Well-Being in the UK

Vagni

2021

Sociology

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Time together as a family is a crucial dimension of family life. However, its impact on personal happiness is not well understood. I use the United Kingdom Time Use Survey 2014–2015 to study how time spent with partners and children affects daily subjective well-being. Overall, I find that family time, couple time, and time alone with children contributes significantly to mothers’ and fathers’ well-being. I show that the activities that families share together mediate an important part of the enjoyment of time together but do not entirely explain this association. This suggests that beyond what families do together, families enjoy being together. I find that fathers enjoy family time more than mothers do. I demonstrate that the unequal division of labour during family time explains this discrepancy. I conclude by discussing the recent transformations of intimate relationships.

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Re-examining How Partner Co-presence and Multitasking Affect Parents’ Enjoyment of Childcare and Housework

Cited by 12 publications

References 36 publications

Fathers’ and mothers’ enjoyment of childcare: the role of multitasking

Fathers’ and mothers’ enjoyment of childcare: the role of multitasking

Beyond Childcare: Changes in the Amount and Types of Parent-Child Time over Three Decades

From Me to You: Time Together and Subjective Well-Being in the UK

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