Programme of Work and Main Achievements (Completed)
The PARENTIME project was organised around three interconnected research projects, each linked to a clearly defined objective. All objectives have been fully achieved. The project has produced a substantial body of peer-reviewed academic publications, policy-relevant evidence, and methodological advances on parental time investments, contributing to understanding how family time allocation relates to the intergenerational transmission of inequality.
Project 1. A Family-Centred Approach to Parental Time Investments
Objective.
To move beyond measures of the quantity of parental time and develop a multidimensional framework capturing context, sequencing, and intra-household coordination.
Achievements.
This objective was achieved through peer-reviewed publications and policy outputs based on high-resolution time-diary data. The project developed and applied multidimensional measures of parental time investments, incorporating simultaneity, interruptions, enjoyment, and coordination across household members.
The findings show that school closures and income shocks led to substantial increases in parental time demands, disproportionately borne by mothers, both in total hours and through more fragmented schedules. Children from disadvantaged households experienced shorter and more disrupted learning time, contributing to increased inequalities.
Representative outputs include:
Baby Steps: The Gender Division of Childcare during the COVID-19 Pandemic
Family Time Use and Home Learning during the COVID-19 Lockdown
Borra et al. (in press), Journal of Labor Economics
Sullivan et al. (2021), Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Andrew et al. (2020), Fiscal Studies
Cuevas Ruiz et al. (in press), Oxford Review of Economic Policy
Schenck-Fontaine et al. (in press), Children and Youth Services Review
These outputs fulfil the objectives of Project 1.
Project 2. Understanding the Long-Run Effects of Parental Time Investments
Objective.
To examine associations between parental time investments and children’s socio-economic and demographic outcomes across the life course.
Achievements.
This objective was achieved by linking diary-based measures of parental time to long-run administrative outcomes. The analyses show that different types of parental time are associated with distinct long-run outcomes, with maternal time in basic care linked to educational attainment and paternal time in structured activities linked to adult earnings.
Key outputs include:
Borra, Iacovou and Sevilla (2023), European Economic Review
Gørtz, Sander and Sevilla (2024), European Economic Review
These results fulfil the objectives of Project 2.
Project 3. A Macro-Level Approach to Parental Time Investments
Objective.
To situate parental time investments within broader institutional, cultural, and normative contexts using long-run, cross-national time-use data.
Achievements.
Project 3 combined micro-level time-diary evidence with macro-level indicators of institutions and social norms, drawing primarily on the Multinational Time Use Study (MTUS). The analyses show how parental time investments interact with gender norms and institutional settings to shape behavioural choices and the reproduction of inequality.
Representative output:
Marcén, Morales and Sevilla, Gender Stereotyping in Sports, IZA WP
Overall Contribution
The PARENTIME project has delivered a coherent, multi-level body of evidence advancing theory, measurement, and empirical analysis of parental time investments. The findings demonstrate that the structure, sequencing, and coordination of family time are as important as total time spent, with implications extending from early childhood into adulthood and interacting with institutional contexts and social norms.
