Gender Gaps in Child and Adolescent Daily Activities: A Cross-National Comparison

Joan Garcia Roman , Center for Demographic Studies (Barcelona)
Pablo Gracia, Trinity College Dublin
Tomi Oinas, University of Jyväskylä
Timo Anttilla, University of Jyväskylä

The study of how national contexts influence boys’ and girls’ daily activities has been largely omitted from previous research. This study uses 2009-2015 time-diary data to examine gender gaps in child and adolescent time use across three countries capturing distinct policy and gender regimes: Finland, Spain and the UK (N = 3,491). Results show that boys spend more time in screen-based activities and exercising, while girls are more active in domestic work, personal care and educational activities. Yet, gender gaps in child time use are strongest in the UK, followed by Finland, and are –interestingly– less salient in Spain. Additional analyses show that family structure and age influence gender variations in child time use in different ways across national contexts. The study implications are considered by discussing the relative importance of the national contexts in shaping gendered time-use patterns from childhood to later stages of the life course.

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 Presented in Session P1. Poster Session Fertility, Family and the Life Course