Analyzing Time Use by Occupation Area between Weekdays and Weekends by Gender of Parents in Single-Parent Families.
Woo-Hyuk Jang, Jin-Hyuk Bang
PMID 37822783WHAT IT FOUND
Single parents spent 197.65 more minutes on work weekdays than weekends.
Weekends brought more sleep, leisure, and home care. Women used weekends for media and relationships. Men chose outdoor activities. These patterns show where time deficits occur for this group.
Key findings
01Work time dropped by 197.65 minutes on weekends compared to weekdays, while leisure and rest increased by 97.74 and 65.62 minutes respectively.
02Men spent significantly more weekend time on cultural, tourism, and sports activities, whereas women only increased time on media-based leisure.
03Weekend home management time increased by 36.9 minutes, driven by the need for single parents to combine cooking and paid labor.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTsWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study analyzed secondary data, so the sample sizes for weekdays (243) and weekends (161) were not balanced or randomly assigned. Time diaries could not capture simultaneous behaviors, such as eating while watching TV, which may distort leisure and daily living time estimates. The analysis did not compare single-parent families to ordinary families, so it is unclear if these time-use patterns are unique to single parents or common to all parents. The study did not measure the quality of life or stress levels associated with these time allocations, only the duration.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest. The study used public data from the National Statistical Office.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret the 197.65-minute drop in work time as increased free time. The data shows this time was largely reallocated to home management and media leisure, not necessarily restorative rest or social participation.