150555 20251017144647.0 doi 10.1111/sjpe.12402 sideral 142643 ART-2025-142643 eng Bosworth, Steven J. Parental time investments and instantaneous well-being in the United States 2025 Access copy available to the general public Unrestricted This study investigates the relationship between maternal education, child‐care time, and well‐being in the United States, with a particular focus on the role of societal norms. Highly educated mothers spend more time on childcare compared to their less educated counterparts. Drawing on data from the American Time Use Survey's Well‐Being Modules (2012, 2013, 2021), this research provides a comprehensive examination of maternal activities and well‐being. Notably, educated mothers consistently experience reduced instantaneous happiness during childcare, across various caregiving tasks, despite investing greater time in them. To better understand this pattern, we introduce an identity economics model whose predictions are consonant with the empirical findings. Our model illustrates how societal gender roles differentially influence patterns of time allocation by mothers' education and impact their instantaneous and overall well‐being. info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/DGA/S32-20R info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess by https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.es info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion Gimenez-Nadal, José Ignacio Universidad de Zaragoza (orcid)0000-0002-1610-5451 Sevilla, Almudena 4000 415 Universidad de Zaragoza Dpto. Análisis Económico Área Fund. Análisis Económico 72, 1 (2025), e12402 [21 pp.] Scott. j. polit. econ. SCOTTISH JOURNAL OF POLITICAL ECONOMY 0036-9292 749330 http://zaguan.unizar.es/record/150555/files/texto_completo.pdf Versión publicada 1405633 http://zaguan.unizar.es/record/150555/files/texto_completo.jpg?subformat=icon icon Versión publicada oai:zaguan.unizar.es:150555 articulos driver 2025-10-17-14:34:38 ARTICLE