Table 4.
Differences in predicted hours on weekday workdays for mothers and fathers in dual-earner couples with children under age 13 during the COVID-19 pandemic by couple’s joint work location
| Paid Work | Total Childcare | Primary Childcare | Secondary Childcare | Face time with Children | Household Production | Total Work | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A. Full-time wage and salary workers | |||||||
| One parent WFH | |||||||
| Fathers | −0.57 (0.68) | 4.48*** (1.61) | 0.81* (0.46) | 3.67** (1.47) | 2.48** (1.06) | 0.48 (0.41) | 0.76 (0.53) |
| Mothers | −1.54*** (0.51) | 6.59*** (1.11) | 0.97** (0.44) | 5.61*** (1.11) | 2.64*** (0.81) | 0.47 (0.34) | 0.62 (0.52) |
| Mothers – Fathers | −0.97 (0.81) | 2.11 (1.80) | 0.17 (0.65) | 1.94 (1.68) | 0.16 (1.16) | −0.01 (0.49) | −0.14 (0.68) |
| Both parents WFH | |||||||
| Fathers | −0.23 (0.45) | 2.30** (1.16) | 0.68** (0.34) | 1.63 (1.16) | 1.42** (0.69) | −0.33 (0.36) | 0.31 (0.57) |
| Mothers | −0.14 (0.62) | 3.11** (1.32) | 0.95** (0.46) | 2.16* (1.26) | 1.29 (0.97) | 0.07 (0.45) | 0.63 (0.67) |
| Mothers – Fathers | 0.09 (0.65) | 0.81 (1.35) | 0.27 (0.44) | 0.54 (1.34) | −0.13 (0.93) | 0.4 (0.44) | 0.32 (0.67) |
| Both – One WFH | |||||||
| Fathers | 0.33 (0.70) | −2.17 (1.63) | −0.13 (0.50) | −2.04 (1.56) | −1.06 (1.11) | −0.81* (0.48) | −0.45 (0.56) |
| Mothers | 1.40** (0.64) | −3.47** (1.61) | −0.02 (0.50) | −3.45** (1.59) | −1.35 (1.15) | −0.40 (0.51) | 0.01 (0.68) |
| B. School-year diaries | |||||||
| One parent WFH | |||||||
| Fathers | −0.90 (0.77) | 3.67** (1.51) | 0.43 (0.42) | 3.25** (1.41) | 2.06** (0.94) | 1.45*** (0.47) | 0.86 (0.68) |
| Mothers | −0.62 (0.55) | 4.50*** (1.02) | 0.86* (0.49) | 3.64*** (0.99) | 1.95** (0.90) | 0.32 (0.34) | 0.55 (0.49) |
| Mothers – Fathers | 0.27 (0.89) | 0.83 (1.65) | 0.43 (0.64) | 0.39 (1.54) | −0.12 (1.25) | −1.13** (0.54) | −0.31 (0.75) |
| Both parents WFH | |||||||
| Fathers | −0.34 (0.70) | 1.57 (1.05) | 0.29 (0.38) | 1.28 (1.01) | 0.66 (0.75) | 0.37 (0.36) | 0.28 (0.65) |
| Mothers | 0.92 (0.79) | 3.00** (1.34) | 0.32 (0.61) | 2.67** (1.26) | −0.11 (1.03) | 0.40 (0.48) | 1.01 (0.73) |
| Mothers – Fathers | 1.25* (0.67) | 1.42 (1.20) | 0.03 (0.54) | 1.39 (1.23) | −0.77 (0.94) | 0.02 (0.45) | 0.72 (0.59) |
| Both – One WFH | |||||||
| Fathers | 0.56 (0.79) | −2.10 (1.57) | −0.14 (0.52) | −1.96 (1.44) | −1.41 (1.03) | −1.07** (0.46) | −0.57 (0.73) |
| Mothers | 1.54** (0.75) | −1.50 (1.59) | −0.54 (0.67) | −0.97 (1.52) | −2.06 (1.28) | 0.08 (0.51) | 0.46 (0.69) |
Differences for one parent WFH and both parents WFH are relative to both parents working away from home. N = 482 for full-time wage and salary workers (excludes self-employed and part-time workers for both respondents and partners). N = 490 for school year diaries (excludes June, July, and August diaries). The COVID-19 sample includes diaries between May 10, 2020 and December 2021. ATUS final weights reweighted separately for equal-day-of-the-week representation by gender for our sample are used. Standard errors are generated using ATUS replicate weights. WFH is defined as working from home at least 1 h on the diary day for the respondent. Partner WFH is based on the predicted probability of working from home. Time-use predictions are based on setting partner WFH = 0.75 for WFH and = 0 for WAFH. We include indicators for each month of the pandemic. See Table 2 for other control variables. Significance levels: *p < 0.10, **p < 0.05, ***p < 0.01. Source: Authors’ calculations based on the American Time Use Survey and Current Population Survey COVID-19 data