Amount of time parents spend in conversation with children per week?

[Lynn Santelmann]

Does anyone have figures or references as to a rough amount of time that
parents spend in conversation with preschool and school age children?

I have read numerous places (mostly parenting type publications or web
sites) that "the average American parent spends 38.5 minutes a week with
their child in meaningful conversation". Having read this EXACT same figure
over and over again, I became suspicious and began to search for the
source. If they give a source, it's always "American Family Research
Council. "Parents Fight 'Time Famine'as Economic Pressures Increase." 1990."

I cannot, however, track down the original article (nor can I seem to find
the American Family Research Council, though it may be part of a
conservative political group of some sort).

Does anyone have any reliable references/data on how much parents do
converse with children (leaving aside the "meaningful" issue, which is, at
best, difficult to operationalize)?

I remember the work in differences in communication for different
socioecomonic levels (though I couldn't cite it or find it off hand), and
somewhere I remember seeing a figure comparing Philadelphia (Jewish?)
families with Pennsylvania Dutch families, but can't find the reference.

Exact citations or directions to look in would be appreciated.

Thanks

Lynn




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Lynn Santelmann, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Department of Applied Linguistics
Portland State University
P.O. Box 751
Portland, OR 97207-0751
Phone: 503-725-4140  Fax: 503-725-4139
email: santelmannl at pdx.edu
web: www.web.pdx.edu/~dbls
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