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Time or money: impact of parental employment on time that 4 to 5 year olds spend in language building activities

Jude Brown () and Michael Bittman
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Jude Brown: The University of New England
Michael Bittman: The University of New England

Australian Journal of Labour Economics (AJLE), 2007, vol. 10, issue 3, 149-165

Abstract: Early childhood is a critical time for establishing the communication and literacy skills that shape children’s subsequent academic, social and employment opportunities. Debates around the family environments that support children’s optimal development, have focused on mothers’ workforce participation, neglecting the effects fathers’ working hours, and socioeconomic differences. This study examined time use diary data collected for a large sample of Australian four to five year-old children. It considered the relationships between parental employment and the amount of daily time that children spent in language-related activities by income group. For low and middle income families the combined effect of fathers working long hours and mothers working, resulted in children spending significantly less time in language-related activities. In contrast, for high income families, parental employment hours had no impact on children’s time use. These findings suggest that for children at greatest risk of poor developmental outcomes, developmental opportunities may be enhanced by strategies that reduce levels of long work hours by fathers.

Keywords: Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth; Time Allocation and Labour Supply; Economic Development; Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration; Analysis of Education (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I21 J13 J22 O15 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2007
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