Abstract
We provided evidence of the time dedicated to family by undergraduate students, in the context of their particular work–family conflict, and we then evaluated their level of satisfaction. We did so by differentiating four academic areas: Economics, Arts and Philosophy, Science and Engineering, and Health. We compared our evidence to that obtained for the dedication of students to society and to friends. Our results indicated that Arts and Philosophy students exhibited a greater probability of contributing time to the family. Regarding satisfaction, we found no differences in the contribution to family by field of study, although students of Health contributed more of their time and income to NGOs, and students of Arts and Philosophy contributed more of their time to society, relative to students of Economics. Furthermore, we found that students in Arts and Philosophy contributed less of their time to helping friends, relative to students of Economics, and that students in other branches of knowledge obtained higher satisfaction regarding their contribution to family, society, and friends, than did students of Economics.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
See Dolan et al. (2008) for a review of the main factors affecting subjective well-being of individuals.
In a previous version of the paper, we estimated a probit model to analyze the decision to contribute or not in each field. However, given that results of this probit model add little to the analysis, we do not include these results in the paper, although they are available on request.
References
Akin, J. S., & Stewart, J. F. (1982). The time allocation decision and achievement patterns of young children. Economics of Education Review, 2(4), 307–330. doi:10.1016/0272-7757(82)90022-X.
Arends-Kuenning, M., & Duryea, S. (2006). The effect of parental presence, parents’ education, and household headship on adolescents’ schooling and work in Latin America. Journal of Family and Economic Issues, 27(2), 263–286. doi:10.1007/s10834-006-9011-1.
Bauman, Y., & Rose, E. (2011). Selection or indoctrination: Why do economics students donate less than the rest? Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 79(3), 318–327. doi:10.1016/j.jebo.2011.02.010.
Becker, G. S. (1981). A treatise on the family. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674906990.
Bianchi, S. M. (2006). Mothers and daughters “do,” fathers “don’t do” family: Gender and generational bonds. Journal of Marriage and Family, 68(4), 812–816. doi:10.1111/j.1741-3737.2006.00296.x.
Blanchflower, D. G. (2009). International evidence on well-being. In Measuring the subjective well-being of nations: National accounts of time use and well-being. NBER chapters (pp. 155–226). National Bureau of Economic Research. http://papers.nber.org/books/krue08-1.
Blanchflower, D. G., & Oswald, A. J. (2004). Money, sex and happiness: An empirical study. Scandinavian Journal of Economics, 106(3), 393–415. doi:10.1111/j.0347-0520.2004.00369.x.
Bruno, J. (1996). Time perceptions and time allocation preferences among adolescent boys and girls. Adolescence, 31(121), 109–126. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9173777.
Carter, J. R., & Irons, M. D. (1991). Are economists different, and if so, why? Journal of Economic Perspectives, 5(2), 171–177. doi:10.1257/jep.5.2.171.
Clark, A. E. (2011). Happiness, habits and high rank: Comparisons in economic and social life. IZA Discussion Paper number 5966. http://www.iza.org/en/webcontent/publications/papers/viewAbstract?dp_id=5966.
Cox, D. (1990). Intergenerational transfers and liquidity constraints. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 105(1), 187–217. doi:10.2307/2937825.
Cox, D., & Rank, M. (1992). Inter-Vivos transfers and intergenerational exchange. Review of Economics and Statistics, 74(2), 305–314. www.jstor.org/stable/2937825.
Crouter, A. C., & McHale, S. M. (2005). Work, family, and children’s time: Implications for youth. In S. M. Bianchi, L. M. Casper & R. B. King (Eds.), Work, family, health, and well-being (pp. 49–66). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum and Associates. http://books.google.es/books/about/Work_Family_Health_and_Well_being.html?id=G8qoYUK9eP0C&redir_esc=y.
Dohmen, T., Falk, A., Huffman, D., & Sunde, U. (2009). Home reciprocans: Survey evidence on behavioural outcomes. Economic Journal, 119(536), 592–612. doi:10.1111/j.1468-0297.2008.02242.x.
Dolan, P., Peasgood, T., & White, M. (2008). Do we really know what makes us happy? A review of the economic literature on the factors associated with subjective well-being. Journal of Economic Psychology, 29(1), 94–122. doi:10.1016/j.joep.2007.09.001.
Duffy, R. D., Allan, B. A., & Bott, E. M. (2012). Calling and life satisfaction among undergraduate students: Investigating mediators and moderators. Journal of Happiness Studies, 13(3), 469–479. doi:10.1007/s10902-011-9274-6.
Easterlin, R. A. (2013). Happiness and economic growth: The evidence. IZA Discussion Paper number 7187. http://www.iza.org/en/webcontent/publications/papers/searchResults.
Frank, R. H., Gilovich, T., & Regan, D. T. (1993). Does studying economics inhibit cooperation? Journal of Economic Perspectives, 7(2), 159–171. doi:10.1257/jep.7.2.159.
Frank, B., & Schulze, G. G. (2000). Does economics make citizens corrupt? Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 43(1), 101–113. doi:10.1016/S0167-2681(00)00111-6.
Frey, B. S., & Meier, S. (2004). Pro-social behavior in a natural setting. Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 5(1), 65–88. doi:10.1016/j.jebo.2003.10.001.
Frey, B. S., & Pommerehne, W. W. (1993). On the fairness of pricing—An empirical survey among the general population. Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 20, 295–307. doi:10.1016/0167-2681(93)90027-M.
Gabrielsen, L. E., Ulleberg, P., & Watten, R. G. (2012). The adolescent life goal profile scale: Development of a new scale for measurements of life goals among young people. Journal of Happiness Studies, 13, 1053–1072. doi:10.1007/s10902-011-9306-2.
Garcia, I., Molina, J. A., & Navarro, M. (2007). How satisfied are spouses with their leisure time? Evidence from Europe. Journal of Family and Economic Issues, 28(4), 546–565. doi:10.1007/s10834-007-9082-7.
Gimenez-Nadal, J. I., Molina, J. A., & Ortega, R. (2011). Self-employed mothers and the work–family conflict. Applied Economics, 44(17), 2133–2148. doi:10.1080/00036846.2011.558486.
Gimenez-Nadal, J. I., & Sevilla, A. (2012). Trends in time allocation: A cross-country analysis. European Economic Review, 56, 1338–1359. doi:10.1016/j.euroecorev.2012.02.011.
Gutter, M., & Copur, Z. (2011). Financial behaviors and financial well-being of college students: Evidence from a national survey. Journal of Family and Economic Issues, 32(4), 699–714. doi:10.1007/s10834-011-9255-2.
Hagell, A., Peck, S., Zarrett, N., Gimenez-Nadal, J. I., & Symonds, J. (2011). Time trends in adolescent time use in the UK. In A. Hagell (Ed.), Changing adolescence: Social change and its role in adolescent mental health. Bristol: The Policy Press. http://www.policypress.co.uk/display.asp?K=9781447301035&.
Haucap, J., & Just, T. (2010). Not guilty? Another look at the nature and of economics students. European Journal of Law and Economics, 29(2), 239–254. doi:10.1007/s10657-009-9119-5.
Herbst, C. M. (2013). Welfare reform and the subjective well-being of single mothers. Journal of Population Economics, 26(1), 203–238. doi:10.1007/s00148-012-0406-z.
Kalenkoski, C., Ribar, D., & Stratton, L. (2011). How do adolescents spell time use? An alternative methodological approach for analyzing time-diary data. Research in Labor Economics, 33, 1–44. doi:10.1108/S0147-9121(2011)0000033004.
Konow, J., & Early, J. (2008). The hedonistic paradox: Is homo economics happier? Journal of Public Economics, 92(1), 1–33. doi:10.1016/j.jpubeco.2007.04.006.
Kulic, N. (2013). The type and duration of family unions and income sharing: The implications for women’s economic well-being. Journal of Socio-Economics, 44, 7–15. doi:10.1016/j.socec.2013.02.005.
Lalive, R., & Stutzer, A. (2010). Approval of equal rights and gender differences in well-being. Journal of Population Economics, 23(3), 933–962. doi:10.1007/s00148-009-0257-4.
Larson, R., & Verma, S. (1999). How children and adolescents spend time across the world: Work, play, and developmental opportunities. Psychological Bulletin, 125(6), 701–736. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.125.6.701.
Marwell, G., & Ames, R. E. (1981). Economists free ride, does anyone else? Journal of Public Economics, 15(3), 295–310. doi:10.1016/0047-2727(81)90013-X.
Mietus-Sanik, M., & Stafford, K. (1996). Children’s time in household work: Estimation issues. Journal of Family and Economic Issues, 17(3), 313–325. doi:10.1007/BF02265023.
Molina, J. A. (2013). Altruism in the household: In-kind transfers in the context of kin selection. Review of Economics of the Household, 11(3), 309–312. doi:10.1007/s11150-013-9214-9.
Molina, J. A., García, I., & Montuenga, V. M. (2011). Gender differences in childcare: Time allocation in five European countries. Feminist Economics, 17(1), 119–150. doi:10.1080/13545701.2010.542004.
Oswald, A. J., & Wu, S. (2010). Objective confirmation of subjective measures of human well-being: Evidence from the U.S.A. Science, 327(5965), 576–579. doi:10.1126/science.1180606.
Oswald, A. J., & Wu, S. (2011). Well-being across America. Review of Economics and Statistics, 93(4), 1118–1134. doi:10.1162/REST_a_00133.
Perry-Jenkins, M., & Gillman, S. (2000). Parental job experiences and children’s well-being: The case of two-parent and single-mother working-class families. Journal of Family and Economic Issues, 21(2), 123–147. doi:10.1023/A:1009473918629.
Rapkin, B. D., & Schwartz, C. E. (2004). Toward a theoretical model of quality-of-life appraisal: Implication of findings from studies of response shift. Health and Quality of Life Outcomes, 2(14), 1–12. doi:10.1186/1477-7525-2-14.
Reynolds, J. (2005). In the face of conflict: Work–life conflict and desired work hour adjustments. Journal of Marriage and Family, 67(5), 1313–1331. doi:10.1111/j.1741-3737.2005.00219.x.
Sacks, D. W., Stevenson, B., & Wolfers, J. (2012). The new stylized facts about income and subjective well-being. Emotion, 12(6), 1181–1187. doi:10.1037/a0029873.
Schwartz, C. E., Keyl, P. M., Marcum, J. P., & Bode, R. (2009). Helping others shows differential benefits on health and well-being for male and female teens. Journal of Happiness Studies, 10(4), 431–448. doi:10.1007/s10902-008-9098-1.
Schwartz, C. E., & Sendor, M. (1999). Helping others helps oneself: Response shift effects in peer support. Social Science and Medicine, 48(11), 1563–1575. doi:10.1016/S0277-9536(99)00049-0.
Schwarze, J. (2008). Subjective measures of economic well-being and the influence of income uncertainty. IZA Discussion Paper number 3720. http://www.iza.org/en/webcontent/publications/papers/searchResults.
Selten, R., & Ockenfels, A. (1998). An experimental solidarity game. Journal of Economic Behaviour and Organization, 34(4), 517–539. doi:10.1016/S0167-2681(97)00107-8.
Shoshani, A., & Slone, M. (2013). Middle school transition from the strengths perspective: Young adolescents’ character strengths, subjective well-being, and school adjustment. Journal of Happiness Studies, 14(4), 1163–1181. doi:10.1007/s10902-012-9374-y.
Sprangers, M. A., & Schwartz, C. E. (1999). Integrating response shift into health-related quality of life research: A theoretical model. Social Science and Medicine, 48(11), 1507–1515. doi:10.1016/S0277-9536(99)00045-3.
Stevenson, B., & Wolfers, J. (2013). Subjective well-being and income: Is there any evidence of satiation? American Economic Review, Papers and Proceedings, 103(3), 598–604. doi:10.1257/aer.103.3.598.
Stutzer, A., & Frey, B. S. (2013). Recent developments in the economics of happiness: A selective overview. In B. S. Frey & A. Stutzer (Eds.), Recent developments in the economics of happiness. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar. http://www.e-elgar.co.uk/bookentry_main.lasso?id=15134.
Van Praag, B. M. S. (2007). Perspectives from the happiness literature and the role of new instruments for policy analysis. CESifo Economic Studies, 53(1), 42–68. doi:10.1093/cesifo/ifm002.
Acknowledgments
This paper was partially written while Raquel Ortega was Visiting Fellow at the Department of Management and Organization of the Boston College (US), to which she would like to express her thanks for the hospitality and facilities provided. The authors express their thanks to the Editor and two anonymous referees for his helpful comments, and for the financial support provided by the Spanish Ministry of Economics (Project ECO2012-34828).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Giménez-Nadal, J.I., Ortega, R. Time Dedicated to Family by University Students: Differences by Academic Area in a Case Study. J Fam Econ Iss 36, 132–142 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10834-014-9399-y
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10834-014-9399-y