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Parents now spend twice as much time with their children as 50 years ago

economist.com

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Re: Parents now spend twice as much time with their children as 50 years ago

#71

Post by dragonwriter »

TheAdamAndChe wrote: post #47
dragonwriter wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fathers can be around without being married to the mother.

Yes. Do you really think most unmarried families have both mother and father in the household, though? Regular contact with the father would be a lot more difficult if he's not around except on weekends.

No, but I do think an increasing share of full-time two-parent families are unmarried (and married families aren't necessarily living together), and people can get married or begin cohabitation after a child is born, so comparing rates of unwed motherhood is misleading on the magnitude (though consistent with the direction, so far) of any change in the share of children living in single-parent families.

There's no reason for an indirect proxy when the actual figure of interest is available:

https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2016/cb16-192...

Re: Parents now spend twice as much time with their children as 50 years ago

#72

Post by callmeed »

Here's a few random guesses at causation:

1. Kindergarten redshirting

2. Most Kindergartens in the US now are half-day (EDIT: this is false)

3. Helicopter parenting

4. Family & Medical Leave Act ('93) + Longer maternity/paternity leave allowances by employees

5. An increase in single-parent households on some sort of welfare/assistance program (i.e. the single parent is at home and cannot work)

6. Increase in the number of parents allowed to work remotely from home

Really wish they'd give more details on how these statistics were gathered, what age range we're talking about, etc.

Re: Parents now spend twice as much time with their children as 50 years ago

#73

Post by btilly »

dougmccune wrote: post #63
Pulcinella wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You won’t have CPS called on you for letting your children wander and play in the neighbor. Please don’t spread nonsense. Edited with my response to everyone depositing articles about the Meitivs: Nobody “called CPS on” the Meitivs. Somebody called the polic because they saw the children wandering around a parking garage (not a park like in many of the news stories. See [1].) The police officer then called CPS severa…

Everyone is pointing out various news articles that show that people do indeed call CPS when you let your kids play by themselves at a playground. I won't dispute that it happens, but to me this is similar to how we view other low-probability events. If I let my kids walk to school or the playground by themselves there's also a chance they can get hit by a car crossing the street. I can teach them safety rules and ar…

Many are sharing personal experiences as well.

I have not had CPS called on me. But I do have friends who dealt with that. In fact I know more people whose had CPS called on them than I do people who have been in car accidents. So it doesn't seem to be a super low probability event.

What also has me concerned is that my kids are heading towards puberty. Over 1/4 of all registered sex offenders committed their crime while minors. The single year of your life that you are most likely to become a registered sex offender is 14. It is massively more likely that they will have their lives destroyed that way than by an accident.

Re: Parents now spend twice as much time with their children as 50 years ago

#74

Post by strictnein »

kelukelugames wrote: post #66
aidos wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Who am I to judge, but it's paternity leave for a reason - and not so your "stupid newborn" can get in the way of learning a new hobby. EDIT it was a lot less like a joke originally. Apologies for the offense caused by missing that.

I'm making a joke. :) Thanks for the feedback. I made the list more outrageous so it's more obvious. A lot of male comedians transition to family jokes after having children. This could be the catalyst for my stand up career!

From personal experience, you will soon transition to making dad jokes.

I do it daily. I'm hilarious (to no one but myself).

Re: Parents now spend twice as much time with their children as 50 years ago

#75

Post by taeric »

Larrikin wrote: post #69
ringaroundthetx wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Man that meme really went wild huh Yes, CPS in one state did something ambiguous and alarming to self-proclaimed "free range" parents. No, you probably don't have the full story that a guy who had never seen the children before was concerned about their safety in that part of town, he decided to call 911 instead of talking to the kids and coming off as a creep. Yes, that one town's police department did get the CPS'…

It sick in its own right that society has demonized talking to any children that aren't your own or in your care. Police should not have been called in that situation and just asking if the kids are ok or lost should not be viewed as a creepy action.

I'm torn. I fully agree with you. I also think quickly calling the cops to check on them as you go do something else shouldn't be that big of a deal. Because, to my mind, police should be part of the community. Ideally, not strangers in uniform.

No, I don't think that is the case most (any?) place. :(

I'm also afraid to look at the statistics, as I fear I'll see that this is another slant in class/race standings. :(

Re: Parents now spend twice as much time with their children as 50 years ago

#76

Post by NDizzle »

junkscience2017 wrote: post #22
tomc1985 wrote: post #2

Probably because helicopter parenting is in vogue (at least in the US). It is seriously messed up that you can have CPS called on you for letting your kid wander freely in the neighborhood

I can't get my kids out of the house. I try. All of their friends are on SnapChat and/or Steam games. No one leaves their rooms. It is really depressing. Kids are not getting fresh air anymore.

Sign them up for sports! Start with signing them up for everything as the season hits. Try everything once. Let them pick which things they continue with.

Go to the park to practice said sports as a family. Take breaks to play on the play structures. Repeat as needed.

Re: Parents now spend twice as much time with their children as 50 years ago

#77

Post by IncRnd »

Troyboy wrote: post #19

How is this even possible when nearly all households requiring dual incomes?

It's possible, because people don't work 24 hours a day and might choose to give up things like television or tablet use in order to spend time with their kids.

Re: Parents now spend twice as much time with their children as 50 years ago

#78

Post by horsecaptin »

junkscience2017 wrote: post #22
tomc1985 wrote: post #2

Probably because helicopter parenting is in vogue (at least in the US). It is seriously messed up that you can have CPS called on you for letting your kid wander freely in the neighborhood

I can't get my kids out of the house. I try. All of their friends are on SnapChat and/or Steam games. No one leaves their rooms. It is really depressing. Kids are not getting fresh air anymore.

What happens if you want to go somewhere cool like a National Park? Do they not want to come along? Is there anything you can trade? Maybe an hour more of game time?

Re: Parents now spend twice as much time with their children as 50 years ago

#79

Post by Pulcinella »

metalliqaz wrote: post #32
Pulcinella wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You won’t have CPS called on you for letting your children wander and play in the neighbor. Please don’t spread nonsense. Edited with my response to everyone depositing articles about the Meitivs: Nobody “called CPS on” the Meitivs. Somebody called the polic because they saw the children wandering around a parking garage (not a park like in many of the news stories. See [1].) The police officer then called CPS severa…

I agree with the spirit of your argument, but I am pretty sure that this actually has happened. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/04/13/parent...

Nobody “called CPS on” the Meitivs. Somebody called the polic because they saw the children wandering around a parking garage (not a park like in many of the news stories. See [1].) The police officer then called CPS several times wondering what to do with children before finally driving over to CPS when they were dragging their heels[2].

[1] https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/free-range-family-again...

[2] Not that I think CPS is great. As a teacher, it’s basically impossible to get CPS to do anything unless the parents are abusing the children right in front of you on school property. Part of that is CPS being overworked and underfunded/understaffed. Part of that is that is it still usually better to keep the kids with their parents instead of foster care. And part of it is CPS not having the resources to have more options besides arrest parents or do nothing (like offering social services to the parents). Also I would argue there is a difference between letting your children play in the neighborhood outside your house and just leaving your children at the park for hours. I have had students who haven been abandoned at the park with their younger siblings.

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