Statistic:

"The combined time that spouses in dual-earner couples spend caring for and doing things with children on workdays actually, and perhaps surprisingly, appears to have increased over the past 25 years- from 5.2 hours in 1977 to 6.2 hours in 2002" (p. 20).

Source: Families and Work Institute (2002). Highlights of the National Study of the Changing Workforce. No.3. New York, NY: Families and Work Institute.

Description of Sample:

“The NSCW surveys representative samples of the nation’s workforce once every five years (1992, 1997, 2002).  Sample sizes average 3,500, including both wage and salaried employees and self-employed workers” (Highlights of the National Study of the Changing Workforce, 2002, p. v).

Several of the questions in the National Study of the Changing Workforce were taken from or based upon questions in the Quality of Employment Survey (QES) conducted three times by the Department of Labor from 1969 to 1977.  Although the NSCW is more comprehensive than the QES in addressing issues related to both work and personal life and has a stronger business perspective, having comparable data from over a 25 year period has provided a unique opportunity to look at trends over time.  The 2002 NCSW uses 25 years of trend data to examine five topics in depth: women in the workforce; dual earner couples, the role of technology in employees' lives on and off the job, work-life supports on the job, and working for oneself versus someone else (Highlights of the National Study of the Changing Workforce, 2002).

To read the Executive Summary or the press release, and to purchase the full report as a PDF E-product, please visit http://www.familiesandwork.org/announce/2002NSCW.html.

Scope of Study: