Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Time or Money: The Relationship Between Educational Attainment, Income Contribution, and Time with Children Among Korean Fathers

  • Published:
Social Indicators Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Korean parents’ enthusiasm for and financial investment in children’s education are well known. However, parental time with children, particularly fathers’ time, and how it differs by parental education and income are not fully explored. Using the 2009 Korean Time Use Survey data, this paper examines how much time Korean fathers spend with children, how it differs by their education and income contribution to household, and which aspect Korean fathers choose to prioritize: time or money. In order to investigate a cross-couple effect, this paper also considers mothers’ time with children and their level of education. The sample is limited to married couples with the youngest child aged between 0 and 12. The stepwise multivariate regression analysis indicates that fathers’ education consistently shows a positive relationship with childcare time. Although fathers’ income contribution to household income has a negative effect on childcare time, positive effects of fathers’ education remain. Both mother’s education and childcare time increase fathers’ time with children. Korean fathers seem to juggle dual demands for money and time contribution and highly educated fathers tend to prioritize time over money. Given that time has become an important resource, different time investment in children by parental socioeconomic status may exacerbate social inequality.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. The equation of multivariate regression analysis is as follows. Y = α + βiXi + control + ε (Y = father's childcare time, α = constant, βi = coefficient, Xi = independent variables (father's education, FIC, mother’s education, mother’s childcare time), control variables (father's age, numbers of children in the household, lifecycle, weekends, and father’s weekly work hours), ε = error term).

References

  • Baxter, J. (1992). Power attitudes and time: The domestic division of labor. Journal of Comparative Family Studies, 23(2), 165–182.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beblo, M. (2001). Bargaining over time allocation: Economic modelling and econometric investigation of time use within families. London: Springer Science & Business Media.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Bittman, M., England, P., Sayer, L., Folbre, N., & Matheson, G. (2003). When does gender trump money? Bargaining and time in household work. American Journal of Sociology, 109(1), 186–214.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bonke, J., & Esping-Andersen, G. (2011). Family investments in children—productivities, preferences, and parental child care. European Sociological Review, 27(1), 43–55.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cha, S.-E. (2010a). Who is the busiest in Korea? A study on gender difference in time pressure. Korean Journal of Population Studies, 33(1), 27–49.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cha, Y. (2010b). Reinforcing separate spheres: The effect of spousal overwork on men’s and women’s employment in dual-earner households. American Sociological Review, 75(2), 303–329.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cha, S.-E. (2011). A study on perceived time pressure and time use: Focusing on the employed men and women in Korea by using 1999 and 2009 time diary data. Korean Journal of Family Resource Management, 15(3), 131–151.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cha, Y. (2013). Overwork and the persistence of gender segregation in occupations. Gender & Society, 27(2), 158–184.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cha, S.-E., & Eun, K. S. (2014). Gender difference in sleep problems: Focused on time use in daily life of Korea. Social Indicators Research, 119(3), 1447–1465.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chang, S.-S. (2001). Social mobility in Korea. Seoul: Seoul National University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cho, J. E. (2013). Managed families. Seoul: Seo-hae Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Coleman, J. (1988). Social capital in the creation of human capital. American Journal of Sociology, 94, S95–S120.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cooke, L. P. (2004). The gendered division of labor and family outcomes in Germany. Journal of Marriage and Family, 66(5), 1246–1259.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Craig, L. (2006a). Does father care mean fathers share? A comparison of how mothers and fathers in intact families spend time with children. Gender & Society, 20(2), 259–281.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Craig, L. (2006b). Parental education, time in paid work and time with children: An Australian time-diary analysis. The British Journal of Sociology, 57(4), 553–575.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Craig, L. (2007). Contemporary motherhood. New York: Ashgate Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Craig, L., & Mullan, K. (2011). How mothers and fathers share childcare A cross-national time-use comparison. American Sociological Review, 76(6), 834–861.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Deding, M., & Lausten, M. (2006). Choosing between his time and her time? Paid and unpaid work of Danish couples. Electronic International Journal of Time Use Research, 3(1), 28–48.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Deutsch, F. M., Servis, L. J., & Payne, J. D. (2001). Paternal participation in child care and its effects on children’s self-esteem and attitudes toward gendered roles. Journal of Family Issues, 22(8), 1000–1024.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eggebeen, D. J., & Knoester, C. (2001). Does fatherhood matter for men? Journal of Marriage and Family, 63(2), 381–393.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • England, P., & Srivastava, A. (2013). Educational differences in US parents’ time spent in child care: The role of culture and cross-spouse influence. Social Science Research, 42(4), 971–988.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eun, K. S. (2009). Household division of labor for married men and women in Korea. Korean Journal of Population Studies, 32(3), 145–171.

    Google Scholar 

  • Folbre, N. (2008). Valuing children: Rethinking the economics of the family. Boston: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gimenez-Nadal, J. I., & Molina, J. A. (2013). Parents’ education as a determinant of educational childcare time. Journal of Population Economics, 26(2), 719–749.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goldscheider, F. K., & Waite, L. J. (1993). New families, no families? The transformation of the American home (Vol. 6). Los Angeles: University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Greenstein, T. N. (2000). Economic dependence, gender, and the division of labor in the home: A replication and extension. Journal of Marriage and Family, 62(2), 322–335.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guryan, J., Hurst, E., & Kearney, M. S. (2008). Parental education and parental time with children. Washington: National Bureau of Economic Research.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Hango, D. (2007). Parental investment in childhood and educational qualifications: Can greater parental involvement mediate the effects of socioeconomic disadvantages? Social Science Research, 36(4), 1371–1390.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hays, S. (1996). The cultural contradictions of motherhood. New York: Yale University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Huh, K. O. (1994). Determinants of fathers’ childcare time. Family and Environment Research, 32(3), 63–70.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kalil, A., Ryan, R., & Corey, M. (2012). Diverging destinies: Maternal education and the developmental gradient in time with children. Demography, 49(4), 1361–1383.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kim, S. J., & Kim, E. J. (2007). Housework and economic dependency among dual-earner couples in Korea: economic exchange or gender compensation? Korean Journal of Sociology, 41(2), 147–174.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kim, J. H., & Lee, S. (2014). The ideals and practices of fatherhood among highly educated and married males in their 30s. Family and Culture, 26(3), 71–104.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kostat. (2010). Report of 2009 time use survey. Deachun: Korea Statistical Office.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kostat. (2014a). Private Education Survey. Deachun: Korea Statistical Office.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kostat. (2014b). Report of 2013 dual-income couples. Deachun: Korea Statistical Office.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kostat. (2015). Report of 2014 Employment. Deachun: Korea Statistical Office.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kwon, Y.-I., & Lee, S.-H. (2009). The mediating effect of work-family conflict on the relationship between family-friendly workplace culture and paternal involvement. Family and Culture, 21(1), 1–28.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lamb, M. E. (1987). The father’s role: Cross cultural perspectives. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lareau, A. (2011). Unequal childhoods: class, race, and family life. Los Angeles: University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lee, S.-H. (2001). Professional men’s fathering: Korean professors and medical doctors. Family and Culture, 13(1), 31–50.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lundberg, S., & Pollak, R. A. (1996). Bargaining and distribution in marriage. The Journal of Economic Perspectives, 10(4), 139–158.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mullan, K. (2010). Valuing parental childcare in the United Kingdom. Feminist Economics, 16(3), 113–139.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • OECD (2007). Education at a glance 2007: OECD indicators. OECD Publications.

  • OECD (2015a). OECD labor force statistics 2014. OECD Publication.

  • OECD (2015b). Education at a glance 2014. OECD Publication.

  • Ramey, G., & Ramey, V. A. (2009). The rug rat race. New York: National Bureau of Economic Research.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Reay, D. (2000). A useful extension of Bourdieu’s conceptual framework? Emotional capital as a way of understanding mothers’ involvement in their children’s education? The Sociological Review, 48(4), 568–585.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sarkadi, A., Kristiansson, R., Oberklaid, F., & Bremberg, S. (2008). Fathers’ involvement and children’s developmental outcomes: a systematic review of longitudinal studies. Acta Pediatrica, 97(2), 153–158.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sayer, L. C., Gauthier, A. H., & Furstenberg, F. F. (2004). Educational differences in parents’ time with children: Cross-national variations. Journal of Marriage and Family, 66(5), 1152–1169.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Seth, Michael. J. (2002). Education fever: Society, politics, and the pursuit of schooling in South Korea. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Snarey, J. R. (1993). How fathers care for the next generation: A four-decade study. Boston: Harvard University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Song, Y.-J. (2005). Gender roles and childcare: a comparative analysis of Chinese and Korean families. Korean Journal of Sociology, 39(1), 111–136.

    Google Scholar 

  • Song, Y.-J. (2011). Changes in parental time spent with children. Korean Journal of Population Studies, 34(2), 45–64.

    Google Scholar 

  • Townsend, N. (2010). Package deal: Marriage, work and fatherhood in men’s lives. New York: Temple University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vincent, C., & Ball, S. J. (2007). Making up the middle-class child: Families, activities and class dispositions. Sociology, 41(6), 1061–1077.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yeo, E. (2008). A study of the influence of education on social mobility. Health and Social Welfare Review, 28(2), 53–80.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

Research for this article has been carried out with support from Dong-A University.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Child and Family Welfare, The University of Suwon, 17 Wau-ri, Bongdam-up, Hwasung-si, Gyounggi Province, Korea

    Seung-Eun Cha

  2. Department of Sociology, Dong-A University, 225 Gu-Deok Ro, Seo-gu, Busan, Korea

    Yoo-Jean Song

Authors
  1. Seung-Eun Cha
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Yoo-Jean Song
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yoo-Jean Song.

Appendix

Appendix

See the Table 6.

Table 6 Correlation matrix for variables
Full size table

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Cha, SE., Song, YJ. Time or Money: The Relationship Between Educational Attainment, Income Contribution, and Time with Children Among Korean Fathers. Soc Indic Res 134, 195–218 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-016-1414-2

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-016-1414-2

Keywords

Search

Navigation