BAD JOBS, BAD PARENTS? HOW JOB CHARACTERISTICS RELATE TO TIME WITH CHILDREN AND SELF-EVALUATIONS OF PARENTS

Abstract

Using a data set of employed parents in the United States, the 2008 National Study of the Changing Workforce, this paper examines work characteristics, the amount of time parents spend with their children, and how parents evaluate themselves in their parenting role (their “self-evaluations as parents”). The results indicate that although work hours correlate with time spent with children, they do not correlate with parents’ self-evaluations. Autonomy is critical to both parenting outcomes, even after controlling for time spent with children. Family structure is also correlated with time spent with children, but not with self-evaluations. These findings indicate that for working parents, some of the characteristics of their work influence both the amount of time spent with children and the degree to which they feel they are good parents. Authors’ note: A previous version of this paper was presented at the 2015 Annual Meeting of the Southern Sociological Society in New Orleans, Louisiana.