Who takes the child to the doctor? Mom, pretty much all of the time. Issue 17 (7th October 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Daly, Moira; Groes, Fane
• Is Part Of: Applied economics letters. Volume 24:Issue 17(2017)
• Page Start: 1267
• Page End: 1276
• Publication Date: 2017-10-07
• Subjects: Child medical care -- child care -- household time allocation -- family gap; J1 -- J2 -- I1 -- D1; Economics -- Periodicals; Economics, Mathematical -- Periodicals; 330
• DOI: 10.1080/13504851.2016.1270410
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1350-4851

Abstract

ABSTRACT: We document the degree to which Danish mothers are responsible for handling their children's medical services. Using unique administration data on detailed medical services that were performed on all Danish children from 1992 to 1995, we find that, on average, more than 90% of all children's medical services were handled by their mothers rather than their fathers. To our knowledge, this is the first study to use medical register data to quantify domestic time use. As these services are mainly performed during work hours, this finding provides one mechanism by which absenteeism increases as a consequence of motherhood. Furthermore, the economic variables that should affect a household's assignment of a task like taking the child to the doctor are shown to explain very little, suggesting that other factors, such as societal norms, are at play.