The Developmental Course of Parental Time Investments in Children from Infancy to Late Adolescence

This study evaluated parent-child time from a child’s infancy to age 18 for mothers and fathers. Parent-child remains key input in child development. The theory on intergenerational transfers parents children posits that mother-child father-child may adjust as grow. used the nationally representative American Time Use Survey (2003–2019; N = 148,576) ages 0–18 pooled cross-sectional sample. Using least squares regression, traced out contact, playing time, quality one-on-one tested differences between Mothers fathers have provided substantial investments of all ages. When were young, spent more with compared fathers, highlighting need nuanced discussions about parenting One-on-one remained stable through late childhood adolescence prioritized focused interactions aged.