Record Details
The use of time by homemakers with children
ScholarsArchive at Oregon State University
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Title | The use of time by homemakers with children |
| Names |
Meyer, Bonnie Martin
(creator) Plonk, Martha (advisor) |
| Date Issued | 1963-05-03 (iso8601) |
| Note | Graduation date: 1963 |
| Abstract | The purpose of the study was to find out how a group of faculty wives with children used their time and to investigate some factors in housing and equipment which might influence how they used their time. A comparison was made between homemakers with two pre-school age children and homemakers with two school age children in the way they used their time. Following a letter of explanation of the study, the writer contacted the homemakers by phone to make an appointment to visit them. During this visit the writer obtained the information for the questionnaire and explained the time sheets. Twenty-four homemakers, 12 with pre-school children, and 12 with school-age children kept usable records for this study. The homemakers ranged in age from 21 to 62 years of age. All of the homemakers had attended college with 42 percent graduating and an additional 16.5 percent earning their master's degree. Two were registered nurses. Both groups averaged four years of work before marriage. The homemakers with pre-school children had been married an average of eight years while the homemakers with school age children had been married an average of 18 years. The children ranged in age from four months to 18 years old. The 12.5 percent of the families that did not own their own homes were all from the group with pre-school children. Although all of the homes were well equipped, the families that had been established the longest time had slightly more equipment. Half of the total group used time plans; the majority of the homemakers using time plans were homemakers with pre-school children. Homemakers in this study as well as previous studies most often listed food preparation as the homemaking activity they most enjoyed. Again, cleaning house was most often listed as the activity least enjoyed, followed by ironing. Improved housing, equipment, and methods have failed to change these attitudes in over a quarter of a century. The homemakers with pre-school children spent the greatest percentage of their time caring for children followed by meal preparation and clean-up; the homemakers with school age children spent the greatest percentage of their time on food preparation and clean-up. Both groups spent a little over two and a half hours on meal preparation and clean-up. Homemakers with school age children averaged 48 minutes a day on laundry, whereas homemakers with pre-school children averaged 70 minutes a day. Cleaning house averaged 63 minutes a day for homemakers with school age children and 45 minutes a day for homemakers with pre-school children. Homemakers with school age children averaged 39 minutes for shopping, whereas homemakers with pre-school children averaged 23 minutes. The homemakers with school age children averaged 8 hours and 45 minutes of rest per day, whereas the homemakers with pre-school children averaged 8 hours and 8 minutes. Homemakers with school age children spent more time eating meals, on personal care, and on entertaining and social activities, whereas homemakers with pre-school children derived much of their leisure time from unplanned coffee breaks and chatting with neighbors. Other than the great difference in the amount of time the two groups spent in caring for their children, (the homemakers with pre-school children spent 3 hours and 38 minutes while the homemakers with school age children spent 39 minutes), there was great similarity in the way the two groups used their time. Another finding is that there is little difference in the amount of time the homemaker spent on different homemaking activities at the time of this study in comparison to studies done during the past quarter of a century. |
| Genre | Thesis/Dissertation |
| Topic | Time study |
| Identifier | http://hdl.handle.net/1957/49170 |
