In fact, quite the opposite has occurred across many nations: we’re both working more and parenting more.
This trend is even more extraordinary, the economists write in a recent paper for the German-based Institute of Labor Economics, when you factor in that the average number of children per family has also declined during the period.
That is, the average mother today is spending dramatically more time rearing each child than her mother or grandmother did. “In the US, these changes add up to an additional hour and 45 minutes of parent–child interaction every day on top of what was the norm in the 1970s.”
But it’s not all fun and tummy-tickles. Time spent on “education-oriented” activities, like helping with the homework, has increased 3.5-fold in the United States since the mid-1970s, they find.
Similar trends were found in other Anglosphere nations – although the authors did not look at Australia specifically.
“Today’s parents supervise their children more closely, spend more time interacting with them, help much more with homework, and place more emphasis on educational achievement,” the authors conclude.
A combination of rising inequality and rising returns to college-level education are behind the trend towards more intensive parenting styles, the authors argue. Australia has not been immune to those trends.
The World Values Survey asks parents around the world to select from a series of “qualities” those which they think are most important for children to learn at home.
In countries where income inequality is highest, like China, Russia and the United States, parents are more likely to nominate “hard work” as a top value.
In more equal societies, like Norway, Sweden and Finland, parents are more likely to praise other qualities, like creativity or independence. In Sweden, around 60 per cent of parents nominate “imagination” as among the top qualities to cultivate at home, while less than a third of American parents do the same.
So does it work? Does pushing kids to achieve academically lead them to do so? Yes, the authors say. The children of parents who devote more time to their academic development do go on to achieve higher test scores and higher education completion rates.
But are they happier? The jury is out. The authors note an increase in anxiety and mood disorders among teens amid frequent media reporting of frazzled parents.
And while parents’ efforts to help their children get ahead at school may make sense at the individual level, the authors warn they might be counterproductive at the social level.
“If parenting turns into an arms race with parents working harder and harder to make sure their family stays ahead of others, everyone may end up worse off,” they argue. Why? “In the economic jargon, intensive parenting can cause externalities by creating a more competitive environment for everybody.”
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Policymakers could help take some heat out of the parenting arms race by investing in getting more kids into high quality early learning and also reshaping the curriculum to put more emphasis on creativity, social skills and teamwork, the authors conclude.
“The bottom line is that the parenting gap creates unequal starting conditions for today’s children. It all adds up to a vicious cycle where inequality leads to competitive parenting, which further exacerbates inequality for the next generation. There is substantial evidence that social mobility today is already considerably lower than a few generations ago, and the parenting gap is likely to accelerate this trend.”
So, fellow parents, let us lay down our arms and our calculators, for the summer at least. You’re not being lazy. You’re engaging in a noble act to encourage greater social cohesion and equality.
It seems a better excuse, at any rate, than the dog ate my son’s homework. And I’m sticking with it.
