Layout 1

Time, Energy, and Money: Managing Family Resources

parenting responsibilities (Daly, 2001).
Doherty (2001) suggests this competition
for parental time takes precedence over
their marital relationship. He stresses the
need for couples to communicate their
feelings about work, children, and the
household, exerting the effort necessary to
do something they mutually enjoy. While
most parents already realize this, putting
principles into practice can be very
challenging.
The amount of time considered to be
“family time”has remained the same over
the course of several years. In 2002, parents
with children under the age of 18 averaged
44 hours per week of paid work, with fathers
averaging 48.3 hours, and mothers averaging
39.6 hours (Galinsky, Bond, & Hill, 2002). If

parents are working

more hours than in

the past, how can

they still have the

same amount of

family time? The

answer is found in

what parents and

children are

sacrificing in other

areas, as well as in

how they are

defining“family

time.”Much of

family time today is

filled with

structured child

activities and

household chores.

Figure 10.1 illustrates how leisure time is

spent by a typical individual.

In the previous chapter, we noted that, in

2004, a wife with no children averaged 28.2

hours per week in household chores, while a

husband with no children averaged 18.5

hours per week.With two children in the

home, the woman averaged 51.2 hours per

week to the man’s 23.8 hours (Parkman,

2004).

Figure 10.2 demonstrates the change in

children’s weekly time expenditures

between 1981 and 1997 and between1997

and 2002.

Children’s activities add greatly to the

whirlwind pace that family’s experience.

According to research supported by the

Figure 10.1

Leisure Time on an Average Day:

About Half is Spent Watching TV

Source:Leisure time on

an average day, 2007.

Bureau of Labor

Statistics

Total leisure time and sports = 5.1 hours

Numbers are in minutes. Data are annual

averages for all days of the week in 2006

and includes ages 15 and older.

Other leisure

activities

41 31

22

20

20

17 156

Socializing & talking

Watching TV

2.6 hours

Reading

Sports, exercise

Relaxing

& thinking

Playing games; using

computer for leisure