Children’s Time Use And Parental Involvement In Low-Income Families.

January 2007

W. Jean Yeung, New York University and Rebecca Glauber, New York University.

Download 'working_paper07-03.pdf'.

Abstract

Despite evidence of a small decline in child poverty during the second half of the 1990s, recent reports from the United States Census Bureau have shown that the number of children living in poverty increased by nearly one-half million in one year. In 2002, 16.7% of children lived in households where total household income was below the official federal poverty line. Children under age six and living in female-headed households are particularly vulnerable to poverty. In 2002, 48.6% of these children lived in households where total household income was below the official federal poverty line. This is five times the rate of poverty for children under age six living in households with two married parents (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 2003). Another recent trend that has significant policy implications is the steady increase in the percentage of poor children who live with working parents (Child Trends Databank, 2003). Twenty-seven million American children live in families in which their parents make less than twice the official federal poverty line, and more than 85% of these children have at least one working parent (National Center for Children in Poverty, 2004).
Recent welfare reform policies which have increased the work requirements of welfare recipients raise important and new questions regarding parents’ work-family tradeoffs and the effects of these tradeoffs on children’s well-being. While some researchers and policymakers argue that children will benefit from the regularity and routine provided by working parents, others express concern over the likely negative consequences of employment policies which could potentially lead to a reduction in the amount of time that parents spend with their children (Huston, 2002).

Keywords:
Child Well-being and Child Development, Employment, Unemployment, and the Labor Market