Parent-Child Quality Time: Does Birth Order Matter?

Keywords

quality time, bith order, child outcomes

Abstract

Using data from the American Time Use Survey, I find that a first-born child receives 20-30 more minutes of quality time each day with his or her parent than a second-born child of the same age from a similar family. The birth-order difference results from parents giving roughly equal time to each child at any point in time while the amount of parent-child quality time decreases as children get older. These results provide a plausible explanation for recent research showing a very significant effect of birth order on child outcomes.

Original Publication Citation

Price, Joseph. “Parent-Child Quality Time: Does Birth Order Matter?” Journal of Human Resources 43(1): 240–265, 2008

Document Type

Peer-Reviewed Article

Publication Date

2008

Publisher

University of Wisconsin Press

Language

English

College

Family, Home, and Social Sciences

Department

Economics

University Standing at Time of Publication

Associate Professor

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