Understanding Family Travel Demands As a Critical Component in Work Family Research, Transportation

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Understanding Family Travel Demands As aCritical
Component in Work Family Research, Transportation
Land Use Planning
Ellin Reisner, Ph.D., Rosalind Chait Barnett,
Ph.D. Community, Families Work Program Womens
Studies Research Center Brandeis University
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Research Questions

• The commuting experiences of employed mothers
  and fathers in dual-earner families with
  children age 14 and under
• The ways in which decisions are made about
  commuting, transporting children, and
  trip-chaining on the journey between work and
  home
• The adequacy with which travel needs are met
• Gender differences in the journey between work
  and home, trip chaining and coordination
  of family travel
• The feelings associated with commuting-related
  issues and the ability of families to meet
  their work and family demands

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Situating Family Travel in the Work, Family
Community System
Family Microsystem
Work Microsystem
Family Travel Demands
Community Microsystem
Source Voydanoff (2001)
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Background of the study

• Two-earner families now constitute 70.3 of
  married couples in the U.S. labor force, and
  91.6 of these families have young children
  (Table 4, 1999-2000 BLS-FamStats.htm).
• Previous geographic research has considered the
  journey to work" as the prime link between
  housing markets and labor markets (Hanson
  Pratt,1988 Hanson Pratt, 1995, McGuckin
  Murakami, 1999 Pratt Hanson, 1990).
• Assumptions about where families choose to
  reside have historically been based on the mans
  workplace (Pratt Hanson, 1990 Singell
  Lillydahl, 1986.
• Transportation planners assume that women
  working reduced hours do so out of choice,
  however, it is highly probable that many women
  reduced work hours for other reasons.

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Methodology Qualitative

• Sampling Approach Snowball Sample
• Procedures
• Completion by both parents of a travel
  diary
• for 7 days prior to interview
• Semi-structured interviews with each
  parent
• (individually), taped and transcribed
• Completion of a brief questionnaire prior
  to the
• interview

• Analysis Grounded Theory Methodology
• Content Analysis using constant comparison
  and
• theoretical sampling, (Glaser and
  Strauss, 1967, Strauss, 1987, Strauss
  Corbin, 1990).
• Identify major themes, patterns and trends

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Community Demographics

• Winchester
• Population 20,267
• Land Area 6.04 sq. mi.
• Density 3,355 sq mil
• Residential Tax Rate 13.11/1000
• Median Annual Wages 37,812
• Schools 5 Elementary, 1 Middle
• School, 1 High School

• Brookline
• Population 54,718
• Land Area 6.79 sq. mi/
• Density 8,059 sq. mi.
• Residential Tax Rate 13.46/1000
• Median Annual Wages 36,409
• Schools 8 Elementary (K-8) 1
  High School

Source MA DHCD
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Safety Concerns about children play a major role
in how parents manage family travel Brookline
Heavy traffic restricts childrens mobility
(walking and
bicycling)
Parents generally walk children to and
from school or school bus stop
Winchester Most parents drive children to
school, unless
they live within visual distance of the school
Some streets have
no sidewalks, making walking dangerous
Parental concern about children riding bus to
after-school program Parents
acknowledge that perceptions of fear increase
childrens dependence on parents to meet travel
needs and reduce physical activity
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The Role of Gender
Mothers are the coordinators managing family
travel demands Variations - same sex couple,
egalitarian coordination - divorced
mother coordinates with step-father and father
with joint custody
- fathers who work more at home
share coordinating tasks - fathers
arrange and do carpools for sports activities.
- some fathers participate in
carpools for after-school activities
that mothers organize All parents
participate in meeting travel needs Some
fathers and half of the mothers rely on
flexibility to reduce hours, compress
schedules, work alternate schedules More
mothers reduce work hours (9 out of 11). I of
10 fathers reduced work hours (in the
office)
?

• Why do more mothers reduce work hours, choice or
  necessity?
• How do community resources help or hinder the
  choices made by
• working mothers?

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Community Comparisons relevant to managing
familytravel needs
Brookline is a communitarian community...
Communitarianism seeks to enhance member
participation responsiveness of government to
its constituents (The Responsive Communitarian
Platform, 2002) Examples town provides
free transportation to speech therapy for
children enrolled in private childcare center
and after-school programs provided at all of the
public schools Non-profit after-school programs
in all elementary schools with parent Boards The
town provides extensive, constantly updated
information on community resources to families
on its web site
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Winchester is a libertarian community where
everyone should be free to do as they choose
and most importantly that government should play
a limited role in a peoples lives
(www.liberterian.org). Examples
Incompatible scheduling of pre-school program and
regular school at the same elementary
school Only 1 full day childcare center in the
town 2 after-school programs children need to
be bused at the end of their school day
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Residential Choice, N 25
Reason Brookline Winchester All Schools 7 1
0 17 Public Transportation 4
7 11 Convenience of Location (get to
work) 7 6 13 Walk to places 7
3 10 Close to family 0 3 3 Grew up in
the town 2 3 5 Like community
itself 7 2 9 Affordable housing 0
4 4
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What the parents said about flexibility

• Father, an Employee Benefits Consultant We are
  in a unique situation because of flexibility
  with my job
• Mother, toxicologist I can create my own
  schedulein the summer months I can notify them
  that I am working two 8 hour days and one 4 hour
  day
• Father, IT Manager General flexibility, nothing
  official, -- if used too regularly could be a
  problem
• Mother, a medical research scientist My boss
  has young children, she understands when I need
  to leave early or bring my daughter to work

Flexibility is valuable to parents, to children
and to employers It gives parents more time
with their children which they want and need
Flexible work hours reduces commuting during
peak hours Builds loyalty to employers,
most employees report making up the time over
and above what their regular work hours

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Blue Brookline Yellow Winchester
Purple Female Green Reduced
Hours