Speaker: Barbara Schneider

Co-chair, Chicago Center on Working Families

Today's Working Families: The Importance of Quality Time

A mere fifty years ago, the typical American family was a "nuclear" family: mom was a homemaker, dad was the breadwinner, and the children went to the neighborhood school, coming home for lunch. This lifestyle that once characterized our impressions of the American family has changed dramatically. In most households both parents work outside the home for long hours, and children travel many miles to schools outside their neighborhoods, often not seeing a parent until dinner time. Family life is changing and we are only now beginning to understand how these changes are affecting the well-being of parents and their children.

To investigate how dual-career couples and their children are coping with changes in the organization of work and family life, we recently conducted a study of 500 families across the U.S. Using interviews, surveys, and time diaries, we have been examining the complex dynamics of today's families and the strategies they use to balance the demands of work and family. This talk will describe some of our preliminary findings, focusing on some of the emotional benefits mothers and fathers derive by spending time with their families. We find, for example, that the majority of mothers and fathers feel happier, more relaxed, and more caring when spending time with each other and their children. This is especially the case for women who are in high stress jobs and work long hours. We expect to undercover those factors that promote positive well being in families as they cope with their changing roles.

Barbara Schneider is the co director of the Alfred P. Sloan on Parents, Children and Work at The University of Chicago and is a recognized expert on families and school. Her latest publication, co-authored with David Stevenson is titled The Ambitious Generation: America's Teenagers, Motivated but Directionless. She is a Professor of Sociology at The University of Chicago and Senior Social Scientist at the National Opinion Research Center (NORC). Dr. Schneider has published numerous articles, chapters, and books on families, adolescent development, and educational policy including, Parents, Their Children, and Schools; Transforming Schools, Redesigning American Education; and Adolescent Years: Social Influences and Educational Challenges.