The research piece “Household Composition and Gender Differences in Parental Time Investments” by Andrew J. Bibler focuses on empirical evidence that parental time investments differ significantly by child gender in a situation when the transition to a single-mother household occurs. In such cases, male adolescents experience 30% fewer parental attention and time investment weekly. The state of affairs results in the gender gap in noncognitive skills. The article mentions that the situation worsens with age; boys receive less attention and parental time in leisure activities. In the current paper, the summary of the research article “Household Composition and Gender Differences in Parental Time Investments” by Andrew J. Bibler published in 2020 will be provided.
The article aims at demonstrating the empirical evidence that parental time investments differ depending on gender (favoring girls) when a transition from a two-parent family to a single-mother household occurs. In order to measure parental time investments, the author used the two following tools: the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) and Child Development Supplement (CDS). While obtaining the data, it was assumed that different genders do not imply differing outputs from parental time (Bibler, 2020). It was detected that all children, including boys and girls, receive lower parental time investments in single-mother households. However, in the case of male adolescents, the reduction is more significant and accounts for 3.8 hours per week compared to female teenagers (Bibler, 2020). Bibler (2020) highlights that the gender gap’s reasons are not yet profoundly studied and discovered. Overall, the study demonstrates the negative impact of a single household transition in terms of parental time investments, especially for male adolescents.
In summary, the article “Household Composition and Gender Differences in Parental Time Investments” by Andrew J. Bibler suggests that after the transition from a two-parent family to a single-mother household, children lose a specific part of parental time. It is especially true for boys who receive 30% less parental attention in time spent in leisure and other activities. Even though the exact reasons behind the observation is not yet researched, the study advances a field for further explanations of the noncognitive skill gender gap.
Reference
Bibler, A. J. (2020). Household composition and gender differences in parental time investments. Demography, 57, 1415–1435. Web.