SPENDING TIME WITH HIS KIDS - EFFECTS OF FAMILY-STRUCTURE ON FATHERS AND CHILDRENS LIVES

Using data from the National Survey of Families and Households, we inv estigate how fathers spend time with their children, what encourages t hem to no this, and the effects of fathers' time on children's academi c achievement. We pay particular attention to the type of family struc ture that resident fathers and children share, and we find this to hav e an influence on both the activities that fathers engage in with thei r children and on children's grades. Both family structure and shared activities between fathers and their children are associated with chil dren's academic achievement, but father's time does not appear to medi ate the effects of family structure on children's grades.