Scott Alexander

The first is titled total time, then there's one-on-one time, then there's reading time, and then there's playing time.

And there are lines for fathers and mothers.

Once again, mothers are above fathers, although these lines get closer together as the child gets older.

The biggest divergence in terms of reading time seems to be between the ages of three and nine.

In terms of one-on-one time, mothers start very divergent from fathers and then they get much closer by the age of about six.

In terms of playing time, the lines seem to move in parallel and they approach each other and get closer after the age of about six.

Scott writes, But where D, S and T seem too low, these numbers seem too high.

When a child is one year old, mothers spend 7.5 hours a day and fathers 5 hours?

Don't some of these mothers and fathers have to work?

Don't some people put their kids in daycare?

Even at age 9, W and C say both parents are spending a combined 9 hours per day every day.

Why are these two sources so different?

Zick and Bryant point out that a large portion of childcare time is secondary childcare, in quotes, or doing something else.

This could be anything from you're sneaking a peek at your phone in the middle of babysitting to you're napping but your teenager is downstairs and can wake you if he needs you.

Maybe C and W count secondary childcare and D, S and T don't?

Z and B's own surveys find that this category only takes up an hour or so a day, not enough to close our gap.

But this Bureau of Labor Statistics report linked here is more promising.

Quote

Adults living in households with children under age 6 spent an average of 2.3 hours per day providing primary childcare to household children.

Primary childcare is childcare that is done as a main activity, such as providing physical care or reading to children.