The day-to-day changes a lot when you have kids. Responsibilities change. You have a little person who is dependent on your choices. However, the everyday seems to change more for women than it does for men, as women tend to assume more of the new responsibilities in both frequency and time.

Using data from the American Time Use Survey, the chart below shows the percentage of mothers who said they did a child-care activity compared against fathers (on a non-holiday, weekday). Activities are sorted by the size of the percentage difference.



Who Takes Care of the Kids

A higher percentage of women parents take the responsibility for all activities.

MEN WOMEN Physical care Picking up/dropping off Homework Talking with/listening to Looking after (as a primary activity) Waiting for/with Reading to/with Organization and planning Obtaining medical care Attending events Providing medical care Meetings and school conferences Waiting for children’s health Home schooling Arts and crafts Education, misc. Playing sports Caring for and helping, misc. Playing, not sports Waiting for children’s education 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% MEN WOMEN Physical care Picking up/dropoff Homework Talking with Looking after Waiting Reading Organization Getting med. care Events Provide med. care Meetings Waiting for health Home schooling Arts and crafts Education, misc. Playing sports Caring for, misc. Playing, not sports Waiting for edu. 0% 20% 40% 60%

This makes sense, right?

The above doesn’t answer my main curiosity though: Knowing that life changes after kids, how much does it change for men and women? The chart below shows the change in the percentage of people (vertical position) who did an activity and the change in median time spent (circle size and color), before and after kids. Orange is more. Green is less.

Differences After Kids for Men and Women

Circle size shows time difference with daily activity after kids. Position and color show percentage difference.

At the extremes, you see women working at a main job less and take care of kids more. For men, you see the changes, but they’re lower in magnitude.

Notes