Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The Changing Nature of Family Time in
Western Society
Family time is now a central part of the Western discourse when referring to
the day-to-day experiences of families. In response to the fast pace of tech-
nology and the dramatic increase of women in the paid labour force, family
time has been idealised as the private still point in an otherwise frenzied
pattern (Daly, 1996a). One of the repercussions of this is the emergence of a
discourse in the popular and academic press that emphasises a 'growing
time
famine
in families' (Daly, 2004: 9, original emphasis). In spite of this percep-
tion that parents are spending less time with their children, national time
studies indicate that parents are actually spending more time with their
children (e.g. Gauthier
et al
., 2004; Sandberg & Hofferth, 2001; Zuzanek,
2001). In fact, parents report spending more time with their children today
than in the 1960s, particularly fathers (Sayer
et al
., 2004). One explanation
is that the time that families spend together has become more goal oriented,
structured and saturated with activity (Daly, 2004), and there is increased
emphasis on the 'consumption' of experiences and the phenomenon of 'time
deepening' (doing more things, more quickly) (Robinson & Godbey, 1997).
Paradoxically, it is the very abundance of family time that is contributing
to the sense that there is not enough time for family. The proliferation of
family 'occasions' and the high standard expected of them have added to
the effort and sense of busyness that characterises family life today (Gillis,
2001). It is important here to discuss how contemporary families perceive
their time together and the cultural changes accompanying this. The time
families live
by
, as captured by quantitative studies, might not be the same
as the quality of time they live
with
, which is grounded in experience.
The ideals of quality family time and child-centredness are important
guiding principles for modern Western families. Although family time is
subject to serious competition from changing work and societal structures,
ideas on family time seem resistant to change (Mestdag & Vandeweyer,
2005). There is discordance between the traditional ideal of family to-
getherness and the reality of everyday experiences. Parents today may feel
increased cultural pressure to provide large amounts of time to children
in order to be considered 'good parents' (Sayer
et al.
, 2004; Snyder, 2007).
According to Giddens (1984) time has both lived, inter-subjective aspects
and a structured, normative dimension. With regard to family life, it is the
normative dimension that directs families to act in certain ways (Daly,
2001). Everyone has two different families that live in a state of tension,
'one that they live
with,
and another that they live
by
' (Gillis, 1996: xv). The
strong cultural standards that families 'live by' play an important role not
only in preserving continuity with traditional values but also in leading to
dissatisfaction with family time, which is usually expressed as guilt (Daly,
2001). Instead of changing ideals about family time and being more realistic
