Daily Activities and Couples’ Relationship Quality.

Abstract

This three-paper dissertation examines how daily family life has changed since 1975 and how these changes are associated with the relationship quality of married and cohabiting couples. In the first paper, I examine changes in shared family time since 1975 by analyzing data from two U.S. datasets: Time Use in Economic and Social Accounts (1975-1976) and the American Time Use Survey (2009-2012). For married individuals, time spent with a family member increased from 406 minutes in 1975 to 440 minutes in 2009-2012. Among singles, the amount of time spent with family on a typical day averaged 340 minutes in 2009-2012, up from 291 minutes in 1975. Despite increases in time spent together, participation in family meals declined modestly over the time period. Sixty-six percent of married adults shared evening meals with family in 1975 compared with 63 percent in 2009 to 2012. The second paper examines how family routines are related to the quality of parents’ relationships. I analyze data from a sample of married and cohabiting primary caregivers in the Los Angeles Family and Neighborhood Survey (L.A.FANS). Findings suggest that eating family dinners together is associated with higher-quality relationships along a number of dimensions, including willingness to compromise, expression of affection and encouragement. I find that an additional family meal per week is associated 1.14 higher odds of being “extremely happy” with one’s relationship versus the cumulative odds of poorer relationship assessments. In the third paper, I examine how distances regularly travelled by adults in married and cohabiting relationships are associated with the quality of their partnerships. Analysis of the L.A.FANS provides modest support for associations between long commutes to work and low-quality relationships. However, travelling greater distances to some locations is positively associated with a number of relationship outcomes including willingness to compromise, expression of affection, and a global assessment of relationship quality. Compared to respondents travelling less than .5 miles to the place they spend the most time, individuals travelling 1-2 miles have 2.49 times the odds of reporting that they are “extremely happy” with their relationship versus the odds of lower relationship assessments.