Girls spend more nights than boys in their mothers' households. Sixty-five percent of the families with girls have de facto mother residence. Fathers with relatively more income and education have the most contact with their children. The impact of the father's sociodemographic status is most pronounced at Time 2, however. At this point, maternal residence declines to 47 percent among families in which the fathers are employed and 45 percent among those families with fathers earning relatively high incomes.
Cultural norms have a bearing on time allocation.
The rate is 61 percent of families in which the mother belongs to an ethnic minority. Mother residence is also more likely when the father is born outside the U.S. or is a member of an ethnic minority. In each case the rate rises to 63 percent. There is no statistically significant association between de facto time allocation and the quality of the relationship between parents. The rate of mother residence is not influenced by the level of interparental supportiveness, disagreement, or comfort with visitation.