Family Time: The Social Organization of Care

by Bittman; Michael

• ISBN13: 9780415310093
• ISBN10: 0415310091
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2004-04-08
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

Time is not money! If anything, it is MORE important than money. The time we have to care for one another, especially for our children and our elderly, is more precious to us than anything else in the world. Yet we have more experience accounting for money than we do for time. In this volume, leading experts in analysis of time use from across the globe explore the interface between time use and family policy. They show how social institutions limit the choices that individuals can make about how to divide their time between paid and unpaid work. They challenge conventional surveys that offer simplistic measure of time spent in childcare or elder care. They summarize empirical evidence concerning trends in time devoted to the care of family members and debate ways of assigning a monetary value to this time. This important book is well researched, well thought through, and well written. It will be highly regarded amongst those interested in the sociology and economics of the family, as well asthose with a general interest in gender studies.

Table of Contents

List of figures	vii
List of tables	viii
List of contributors	x
Acknowledgments	xi
Introduction	1	(4)
Michael Bittman
Nancy Folbre
PART I The big picture	5	(44)
A theory of the misallocation of time	7	(18)
Nancy Folbre
Family time and public policy in the United States	25	(24)
Timothy M. Smeeding
Joseph T. Marchand
PART II Using the yardstick of time to capture care	49	(42)
Activity, proximity, or responsibility? Measuring parental childcare time	51	(18)
Michelle J. Budig
Nancy Folbre
Making the invisible visible: the life and time(s) of informal caregivers	69	(22)
Michael Bittman
Janet E. Fast
Kimberly Fisher
Cathy Thomson
PART III Valuing childcare and elder care	91	(40)
Bringing up Bobby and Betty: the inputs and outputs of childcare time	93	(17)
Duncan Ironmonger
Valuing informal elder care	110	(21)
Douglas A. Wolf
PART IV Parenting, employment, and the pressures of care	131	(64)
Packaging care: what happens when children receive nonparental care?	133	(19)
Michael Bittman
Lyn Craig
Nancy Folbre
Parenting and employment: what time-use surveys show	152	(19)
Michael Bittman
The rush hour: the quality of leisure time and gender equity	171	(24)
Michael Bittman
Judy Wajcman
PART V International comparisons	195	(43)
A tale of dual-earner families in four countries	197	(27)
Shelley Pacholok
Anne H. Gauthier
Parenthood without penalty: time-use and public policy in Australia and Finland	224	(14)
Michael Bittman
Note: details of Australian time-use surveys	238	(2)
Index	240