Same-Sex Couples' Shared Time in the United States.

This study examines and compares shared time for same-sex and different-sex coresident couples using large, nationally representative data from the 2003-2016 American Time Use Survey (ATUS). We compare the total time that same-sex couples and different-sex couples spend together; for parents, the time they spend together with children; and for both parents and nonparents, the time they spend together with no one else present and the time they spend with others (excluding children). After we control for demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of the couples, women in same-sex couples spend more time together, both alone and in total, than individuals in different-sex arrangements and men in same-sex couples, regardless of parenthood status. Women in same-sex relationships also spend a larger percentage of their total available time together than other couples, and the difference in time is not limited to any specific activity.

Parents' time with a partner in a cross-national context: A comparison of the United States, Spain, and France.

BACKGROUND: Time shared with a partner is an indicator of marital well-being and couples want to spend time together. However, time with a partner depends on work and family arrangements as well as the policies, norms, and values that prevail in society. Contrary to time spent with children, couples' shared time in cross-national context is relatively unstudied. Previous studies from specific countries show that dual-earner couples spend less time together and that parents spend less time alone together. OBJECTIVE: The aim of our study is to investigate partnered parents' shared time across countries to understand how social conditions, cultural norms, and policy contexts are related to the amount and nature of couples' shared time. Specifically, we compare time with a partner in the US, France, and Spain. METHODS: We use data from national time use surveys conducted in the US, France, and Spain. We leverage information about with whom activities are done to examine three types of time shared with a partner for parents with children under age 10: total time with a partner indicates the minutes per day spent in the presence of a partner; exclusive time corresponds to the minutes per day spent alone with a partner when no one else is present; and family time indicates the minutes per day spent with a partner and a child at the same time. RESULTS: Our results show that American couples spend the least time together, and Spanish couples spend the most time together. Parents in France spend the most time alone together. The most striking difference across countries is in time with a partner and children, which is much higher among Spanish families. CONCLUSION: Paid work constraints explain a small part of the differences in couples' shared time that we observe between countries. Differences in couples' shared time across countries seem to be related to social norms surrounding family and general time use.

Trends in Spouses' Shared Time in the United States, 1965-2012.

Despite major demographic changes over the past 50 years and strong evidence that time spent with a spouse is important for marriages, we know very little about how time with a spouse has changed-or not-in the United States. Using time diary data from 1965-2012, we examine trends in couples' shared time in the United States during a period of major changes in American marriages and families. We find that couples without children spent more total time together and time alone together in 2012 than they did in 1965, with total time and time alone together both peaking in 1975. For parents, time spent together increased between 1965 and 2012, most dramatically for time spent with a spouse and children. Decomposition analyses show that changes in behavior rather than changing demographics explain these trends, and we find that the increases in couples' shared time are primarily concentrated in leisure activities.

Anthropometric geography applied to the analysis of socioeconomic disparities: cohort trends and spatial patterns of height and robustness in 20th-century Spain.

Anthropometrics have been widely used to study the influence of environmental factors on health and nutritional status. In contrast, anthropometric geography has not often been employed to approximate the dynamics of spatial disparities associated with socioeconomic and demographic changes. Spain exhibited intense disparity and change during the middle decades of the 20th century, with the result that the life courses of the corresponding cohorts were associated with diverse environmental conditions. This was also true of the Spanish territories. This paper presents insights concerning the relationship between socioeconomic changes and living conditions by combining the analysis of cohort trends and the anthropometric cartography of height and physical build. This analysis is conducted for Spanish male cohorts born 1934-1973 that were recorded in the Spanish military statistics. This information is interpreted in light of region-level data on GDP and infant mortality. Our results show an anthropometric convergence across regions that, nevertheless, did not substantially modify the spatial patterns of robustness, featuring primarily robust northeastern regions and weak Central-Southern regions. These patterns persisted until the 1990s (cohorts born during the 1970s). For the most part, anthropometric disparities were associated with socioeconomic disparities, although the former lessened over time to a greater extent than the latter. Interestingly, the various anthropometric indicators utilized here do not point to the same conclusions. Some discrepancies between height and robustness patterns have been found that moderate the statements from the analysis of cohort height alone regarding the level and evolution of living conditions across Spanish regions.

Correction: Gender differences in time use across age groups: A study of ten industrialized countries, 2005-2015.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0264411.].

Family time of couples with children: Shortening gender differences in parenting?

In the context of dramatic changes in family organization, this research analyzes time shared with the family (partner and children) among couples with young children in Spain. The main purpose of the paper is to analyze the differences in the roles of mothers and fathers in dual-earner and male-breadwinner couples. For this purpose, we use information derived from the question "with whom the activity is done," which is included in the enumeration form of the Spanish Time Use Survey 2009-2010. The availability of time-use diaries for all the members of a household allows the use of the couple as a unit of analysis. The descriptive and multivariate results show that mothers spend more time with children than fathers do and that the employment-status variables are the most determining factors. Gender-balanced couples have lower differences in the time that fathers and mothers spend on activities with their children. However, the differences remain high, and mothers are still the main caregivers in the household. These findings apply to a specific context characterized by weak policies related to balancing family and work and by the persistence of a division of roles in the couple with some resemblances to the traditional model, especially in the role that considers mothers the main caregivers.