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The incremental time costs of children: An analysis of children's impact on adult time use in Australia

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  • Lyn Craig
  • Michael Bittman

Abstract

Raising children takes both time and money. Scholars have sought convincing ways to capture the costs of children, but even when these estimates include indirect costs, such as mothers' foregone earnings, they fall short of the true time costs involved. This paper uses data from the 1997 Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Time Use Survey to study how the allocation of time differs across households with varying numbers and ages of children and how households with children differ from those without children. It also examines the intra household division of time resources, showing how childcare, related unpaid work, and the total market and non-market workloads compare for a couple in the same household. It includes secondary activity in an analysis of total parental time commitments to give a more accurate picture of the time cost of children than is possible on the basis of analyzing “primary” activities alone.

Suggested Citation

  • Lyn Craig & Michael Bittman, 2008. "The incremental time costs of children: An analysis of children's impact on adult time use in Australia," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 14(2), pages 59-88.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:femeco:v:14:y:2008:i:2:p:59-88
    DOI: 10.1080/13545700701880999
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Gershuny, Jonathan, 2000. "Changing Times: Work and Leisure in Postindustrial Society," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198287872.
    2. Bruce Bradbury, 2003. "The welfare interpretation of consumer equivalence scales," International Journal of Social Economics, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 30(7), pages 770-787, July.
    3. Apps, Patricia & Rees, Ray, 2001. "Household production, full consumption and the costs of children," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 8(6), pages 621-648, December.
    4. Peter Saunders, 1998. "Household Budgets and Income Distribution over the Longer Term: Evidence for Australia," Discussion Papers 0089, University of New South Wales, Social Policy Research Centre.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Children; time use; motherhood; gender equity; secondary activity; JEL Codes: J16; J22; J13;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply
    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth

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