Ties that Bind: Children, Marital Status and Time with Non-Residential Persons

Vincent Louis, University of Minnesota
Sarah Flood, University of Minnesota

Increasing numbers of children born to cohabiting parents underscores the need for continued consideration of the place of cohabitation in the kinship system. We use data from the American Time Use Survey (2003-2007) to examine how the presence of children affects the time married and cohabiting individuals ages 25 to 59 spend with non-residential family members. We find that the presence of children moderates the relationship between marital status and spending time with non-residential family members. Cohabiters with children are more likely than those married with children to interact with non-residential family members, though the amount of time is not substantially different. The results demonstrate greater similarities between married and cohabiting couples with children than without children and underscore the complexity of relationships between individuals and their non-residential family members.