Table 5.
Differences in predicted hours on weekday work-from-home days during the COVID-19 pandemic by child-at-home status and couple’s joint work location
| Paid Work | All Time with Children | Primary Childcare | Secondary Childcare | Face Time with Children | Household Production | Total Work | Share of Work Doing Secondary Childcare | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| One parent WFH | ||||||||
| Fathers: Child home – Child not home | −0.65 (0.92) | 7.76*** (1.58) | 0.65 (0.56) | 7.11*** (1.45) | 2.25* (1.26) | −0.51 (0.64) | −0.32 (0.80) | 0.78*** (0.11) |
| Mothers: Child home – Child not home | −0.98 (0.95) | 6.85*** (1.37) | 0.84 (0.59) | 6.01*** (1.38) | 3.33*** (1.11) | 0.66 (0.60) | 1.50** (0.75) | 0.70*** (0.12) |
| Mothers – Fathers | −0.33 (1.37) | −0.91 (2.26) | 0.19 (0.82) | −1.10 (2.16) | 1.08 (1.75) | 1.16 (0.90) | 1.82 (1.11) | −0.08 (0.16) |
| Both parents WFH | ||||||||
| Fathers: Child home – Child not home | −0.81 (0.51) | 5.78*** (0.73) | 0.19 (0.45) | 5.60*** (0.81) | 1.74*** (0.61) | 0.50* (0.28) | 1.29*** (0.45) | 0.51*** (0.07) |
| Mothers: Child home – Child not home | 0.39 (0.85) | 7.12*** (0.91) | 0.03 (0.49) | 7.09*** (0.94) | 3.47*** (0.94) | −0.12 (0.56) | 1.11* (0.58) | 0.67*** (0.09) |
| Mothers – Fathers | 1.20 (0.97) | 1.34 (1.09) | −0.16 (0.62) | 1.50 (1.19) | 1.73 (1.10) | −0.62 (0.66) | −0.18 (0.72) | 0.17 (0.11) |
| Both minus one WFH | ||||||||
| Fathers: Child home – Child not home | −0.16 (1.02) | −1.98 (1.72) | −0.47 (0.80) | −1.51 (1.73) | −0.51 (1.30) | 1.01 (0.72) | 1.60 (1.02) | −0.28** (0.13) |
| Mothers: Child home – Child not home | 1.37 (1.53) | 0.28 (1.79) | −0.81 (0.89) | 1.09 (1.85) | 0.14 (1.68) | −0.78 (0.96) | −0.39 (1.11) | −0.03 (0.16) |
N = 280. 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. Child-at-home status is defined as child was present in the room or they were doing secondary childcare for at least five min during the core work/school hours of 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. 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