Class Inequality in Parental Activities with Children: Evidence from the 2022 German Time Use Survey

Tabea Naujoks , University of Rostock
Heike Trappe, University of Rostock
Michaela Kreyenfeld, Hertie School

Using data from the German Time Use Survey 2022, this study examines how social class influences parental time investments in childcare. Parental time spent with children has increased in recent decades, with a particular increase in activities that support children's education and development. Such trends, often referred to as the "intensification of parenthood," are shaped by growing societal pressures and unequal capacities across social classes to meet these demands. We categorize parents into four social classes based on four-digit occupational codes. Based on Oesch's framework we distinguish unskilled workers, skilled workers, business owners, lower service class, and higher service class. A separate category includes persons who did not work in the past week. We employ class as an individual characteristic, but also account for the partner’s social class for individuals in couple households. Time spent with children is analyzed in two dimensions: routine care (e.g., physical care, supervision) and interactional activities (e.g., reading, playing). Our descriptive analysis shows that parents from higher social classes, especially those in the higher service class, spend more time with their children on interactional activities than parents from lower social classes. These patterns are observed for weekdays and weekends, although the differences are smaller on weekends. The multiple regression analyses further examine how social class and gender interact while controlling for other standard confounders (e.g., age of children, age, citizenship, region).

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 Presented in Session P2. Families, Fertility, and the Life Course 2