Families, Time and Well-Being in Canada

Families, Time and Well-Being in CanadaPeter Burton and Shelley PhippsDepartment of EconomicsDalhousie University

MotivationTime crunch of general public interest and studied by scholars outside economics (e.g., Duxbury and Higgins, 2009)

Economic theories of family (e.g., Becker, 1991) argue that both time and money are resources that can increase well-being

More attention to money as proxy for well-being (e.g., GDP, poverty and income inequality) Economics of HappinessHas also focused on association between income and well-being (e.g., Easterlin, 2001; Barrington-Leigh and Helliwell, 2009)

Less attention to time though another major theme is that social interactions are key to well-being (e.g., Helliwell and Putnam, 2004)Paper OverviewDocument changes in participation in paid work for Canadian families with children (1971-2006)Over-all, across the income distributionLook at time/money resource packages available

Study associations between parental time and parental well-being, given income Look at mothers and fathers separately

Has inequality of well-being increased more than inequality of income?Changes in Family Income and Time, 1971-2006DataTo span longest period of time, use 2 sources Survey of Consumer Finance, or SCF (1971, 1975, 1987 and 1991, as available from Luxembourg Income Study)Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics, or SLID for recent years (accessed through the ARDC)SLID replaced SCF, similar sampling frames, but different surveysCalculating Family Income PositionFor each year, use full sample population to calculate decile cut points

Comparing Canadian families with children to general population (less likely to be at very bottom or very top)Analysis SampleHouseholds with children under 18

Only 2 adults (elderly parents may be source of help or additional care-giving responsibility)

Drop households in which either parent experienced unemployment (to avoid saying they are rich in time)

Family Paid Work HoursConsider total family paid hours (mother + father)

Usual hours per week (most relevant for experience of time crunch)Time and Money PackagesIllustrate for 1971 and for 2006

Curves show average combinations of paid work time and family income for each decile in given yearTime/Money TrajectoriesCurves trace paid-hour/disposable income combinations across time for selected decilesGender Differences in Paid Work HoursTime, Money and the Well-being of Canadian ParentsData = Canadian time-use data from 1992 and 2005 (Statistics Canada General Social Survey)

Time Crunch IndexConstructed from yes / no answers to ten questions, such as:When you need more time, do you tend to cut back on your sleep?Do you feel that youre constantly under stress trying to accomplish more than you can handle?Do you feel that you just dont have time for fun anymore?

Index ranges from 0 to 10 (maximum time stress).

Quintile 1Quintile 2Quintile 3Quintile 4Quintile 5Parents19923.904.194.174.304.1320054.944.824.464.484.49Mothers19924.294.124.224.774.6920055.165.094.675.014.91Fathers19923.374.264.133.953.7120054.744.534.284.114.18Table 1. Time Crunch by QuintileMultivariate AnalysesEstimate ordered probit models for parental well-being

Key explanatory variables = family income and dummies for total paid work time (given spikes in hours data)

Other controls reflect major changes over last decadesParentsMothersFathersMother0.189***(0.032)Family income (log)-0.059*(0.034)-0.026(0.050)-0.077(0.048)Total paid hours less than 35-0.141*(0.077)-0.260**(0.102)-0.027(0.115)Total paid hours 35 to 60-0.104***(0.039)-0.230***(0.056)0.011(0.056)Total paid hours greater than 800.237***(0.043)0.286***(0.058)0.201***(0.064)20050.075**(0.032)0.085*(0.044)0.057(0.046)Table 1. Ordered probit models for time crunchAdditional controls: age, education, family size, presence of pre-school aged child, immigrant status, region, urban/rural status.Life SatisfactionSatisfaction with life as a whole right now, from 1 (very dissatisfied) to 10 (very satisfied)

Only available for 2005

ParentsMothersMother0.035(0.048)Family income (log)0.172***(0.058)0.299***(0.071)Paid hours less than 35-0.063(0.124)-0.029(0.149)Paid hours 35 to 600.080(0.059)0.121(0.084)Paid hours more than 80-0.113*(0.061)-0.153*(0.083)Table 2. Ordered probit models for parental life satisfaction.

ImplicationsOrdered probit coefficients indicate that, all else equal, an increase from 2 full-time jobs to 2 high-hours jobs would require a family income 2/3 higher to off-set negative implications for mother life satisfactionGrowing Inequality of Well-being?Between 1994 and 2006, families in 4th decile working 80+ hours increased from 13 to 21%, average real income growth was only 18%

Over same period, no change in number of 9th or 10th decile families working 80+ hours, yet real incomes increased by 28% and 40%, respectively

ConclusionsTotal paid hours supplied by parents have increased across the income distribution

Largest increases in paid hours for modest income families; no matching increases in real income

Relative growth in time stress for lower-income parents

Inequality of well-being may have increased even more than inequality of income?

Mothers particularly affected