How do children affect parents' allocation of time?

There is an extensive literature examining the relationship between elder care, child care and labour market activities, although these studies have largely overlooked their simultaneity. This article explores the relationship between these three activities, accounting for the influence that children have on parental allocation of time, using the 2002-2003 Spanish Time Use Survey (STUS). We find that the presence of children has quantitatively significant positive effects on the extent of dependent care-giving activities, with this increase in care-giving being compensated for by a decrease in the time devoted to the labour market.