Maternal child socialization values and children’s time in unstructured play and studying

Using time diary data from the 1997 PSID CDS-I, the present study assesses the association between mother’s values concerning qualities they see as good for their children to possess for their future lives and the amount of time children spend in unstructured play and studying. The importance of everyday activity of parents in shaping these child socialization values has long been established. Previous research however has largely been unable to establish a clear association between these parental values and the structure of children’s lives. This research demonstrates such a linkage, independent of measures of socioeconomic status, family and child characteristics.