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Lone mothers have been found to report lower average mental health than partnered mothers. Following the 'stress process model', disparities in women's mental health by family structure could be explained by lone mothers' higher exposure to multiple forms of stressors, compared to partnered mothers. Yet, this hypothesis has not been tested in previous studies. This study analysed four waves of longitudinal data from the Growing Up in Ireland study, spanning between the year when women gave birth (2008) to 9 years later (2017) (N = 5,654 women), to examine how family stressors (i.e., financial strain, caregiving strain, work-related strain, and parental conflict) influence mothers' depressive symptoms by family structure. Analyses applied random-effects models and Karlson-Holm-Breen (KHB) decomposition techniques, combined with different model specifications as robustness checks (i.e., fixed-effects). Results indicate that: (1) net of sociodemographic factors, lone mothers experience higher levels of depressive symptoms than partnered mothers, with additional analyses confirming that transitioning from partnered to lone mother is associated with higher depressive symptoms, and from lone to partnered mother with reduced depressive symptoms; (2) although 41% of the observed statistical association between family structure and mothers' depressive symptoms is direct, a larger 59% of this mental health gap is mediated by inequalities between lone and partnered mothers in their exposure to family stressors; and (3) the largest share of the observed mediation by family stressors is explained by lone mothers' higher risks of current and past caregiving strain and parental conflict, but also by their current higher financial strain. Overall, this study suggests that lone mothers' lower mental health, compared to partnered mothers, is largely explained by disparities in exposure to family stressors, pointing to how accumulated caregiving and parental stressors, as well as poverty risks, are key explanatory factors behind the mental well-being disadvantage that lone mothers face.

Lone mothers have been found to report lower average mental health than partnered mothers. Following the 'stress process model', disparities in women's mental health by family structure could be explained by lone mothers' higher exposure to multiple forms of stressors, compared to partnered mothers. Yet, this hypothesis has not been tested in previous studies. This study analysed four waves of longitudinal data from the Growing Up in Ireland study, spanning between the year when women gave birth (2008) to nine years later (2017) (N = 5,654 women), to examine how family stressors (i.e., financial strain, caregiving strain, work-related strain, and parental conflict) influence women's depressive symptoms by family structure. Analyses applied random-effects models and Karlson-Holm-Breen (KHB) decomposition techniques, combined with different model specifications as robustness checks (i.e., fixed-effects). Results indicate that: (1) net of sociodemographic factors, lone mothers experience higher levels of depressive symptoms than partnered mothers, with additional analyses confirming that transitioning from partnered to lone mother is associated with higher depressive symptoms, and from lone to partnered mother with reduced depressive symptoms; (2) although 41% of the observed statistical association between family structure and mothers' depressive symptoms is direct, a larger 59% of this mental health gap is mediated by inequalities between lone and partnered mothers in their exposure to family stressors; and (3) the largest share of the observed mediation by family stressors is explained by lone mothers' higher risks of current and past caregiving strain and parental conflict, but also by their current higher financial strain. Overall, this study suggests that lone mothers' lower mental health, compared to partnered mothers, is largely explained by disparities in exposure to family stressors, pointing to how accumulated caregiving and parental stressors, as well as poverty risks, are key explanatory factors behind the mental well-being disadvantage that lone mothers face.

The expansion of internet is likely to influence adolescents' academic outcomes. Yet, how internet coverage impacts students' educational performance remains poorly understood. To addresses this major knowledge gap, this study uses a quasi-experimental approach with Norwegian data to causally examine how the gradual introduction of home broadband internet across municipalities impacted the academic outcomes of lower-secondary school graduates (N = 103,796). Analyses apply sibling fixed-effects models with micro-level registry data from adolescents aged 15 to 16, and compare differences in effects by gender, social background, migrant status, and academic achievement levels. Findings show that the introduction of broadband internet across municipalities brought moderate grade improvements concentrated among boys in the subject areas of Mathematics, Arts and Crafts, Social Sciences, and Norwegian. The positive effect of broadband internet coverage on academic performance was three times larger for boys than for girls. For boys, broadband internet coverage led to strong grade improvements among the lower-achieving and socioeconomically disadvantaged, and to moderate grade benefits among those of Norwegian background, while boys from higher-achieving and socioeconomically privileged groups reduced their grades moderately. By contrast, for girls, broadband internet coverage worsened substantially the academic performance of those from disadvantaged socioeconomic backgrounds, whereas girls of migrant background obtained higher grades with this expansion of internet. The study findings reveal how the growth of internet coverage impacts adolescent educational performance, but differently across groups, showing a complex intersection across gender, social background, migrant status, and academic achievement levels.

This study uses high-quality longitudinal data from the Growing Up in Ireland to examine how home learning environment (HLE) and early childhood education (ECE) influence children's early skills development across socioeconomic status (SES). Results from random-effects linear regression models indicate that: (1) higher SES is associated with higher cognitive and socioemotional outcomes before entry into compulsory school; (2) having a supportive HLE improves children's cognitive and socioemotional skills, whereas ECE quality fosters critically their socioemotional skills; (3) responsive and consistent parenting behaviours among low-SES families are important compensatory tools to improve children's socioemotional outcomes; (4) attending a high-quality ECE cancels children's behavioural problems in less responsive parenting environments, but literacy stimulation at home is necessary for obtaining cognitive skills returns from high-quality ECE attendance. Overall, this study shows that examining the interplay between HLE and ECE provides key understandings of unequal skills development processes during early childhood

This study uses high-quality longitudinal data from the Growing Up in Ireland (GUI) study to examine how digital engagement shapes socioemotional and educational outcomes from middle childhood to late adolescence across socioeconomic status (SES). Descriptive results show that digital screen-time increases markedly from mid-childhood to late adolescence, but to a higher extent among low-SES versus high-SES groups. Fixed-effects regressions indicate that heavy levels of digital screen time (i.e., 3+ hours daily) are associated with declines in well-being, particularly for external and prosocial functioning. By contrast, engagement in learning-oriented digital activities and gaming is associated with better adolescent outcomes. Low-SES adolescents are generally more harmed by their digital engagement, while high-SES adolescents benefit more from moderate levels of digital use and engaging in learning-oriented digital activities. Overall, the study suggests that digital engagement is associated with socioeconomic inequalities in adolescents' socioemotional well-being and, to a lesser extent, educational outcomes.

Previous studies have omitted a dynamic analysis to examine systematically how the transition into parenthood shapes gendered mental health trajectories. This paper adopts a life-course approach to study gender differences in how the transition into parenthood affects multiple indicators of parents' mental health over time, using high-quality panel data from the 'UK Household Longitudinal Study' (2009-2020). Results from fixed effects models with discrete-time trends show that: (1) mothers' mental health is more largely affected –both positively and negatively– by the transition to parenthood than fathers'; (2) mothers' overall mental health shows a distinctive positive anticipation and adaptation around childbirth, while fathers show insignificant changes in this transition; (3) becoming a parent decreases the risks of depressive moods for both genders, with long-lasting effects for mothers; (4) stress and energy levels show a deterioration during care-intensive years for both parents, particularly among women; (5) mothers from higher socioeconomic backgrounds experience lower mental health outcomes during care-intensive years. Overall, this study demonstrates the relevance of parenthood transitions in shaping gendered effects on specific mental health outcomes, with distinct implications for women and men over time, as well as across socioeconomic groups.

Despite the growing body of literature on how digital technologies impact child well-being, previous research has provided little evidence on recent digital trends. This paper examines the patterns and effects of digital use on child socioemotional well-being across two cohorts of children grown up ten years apart during the 'digital age': the 1998 cohort (interviewed in 2007/08) and the 2008 cohort (interviewed in 2017/18). Multivariate linear regression models were conducted for these two cohorts from the Growing Up in Ireland (GUI) study, a multi-cohort longitudinal study with rich comparable data on a large sample of 9-year olds (N = 13,203). Results show that (i) in 2017/18 children were more active in digital devices and social media, while in 2007/2008 children spent more time watching TV and adopted less diversified forms of media engagement; (ii) spending more than 3 daily hours on TV/digital activities was associated with significant declines in child socioemotional well-being, while such effects were stronger in 2017/18 than in 2007/08; (iii) media engagement (but not other forms of digital engagement) was associated with moderate declines in socioemotional well-being, both in 2007/08 and in 2017/18; (iv) while children's media and digital engagement differed by the child gender and socioeconomic background, none of these variables moderated the effects of digital use on children's socioemotional well-being, neither in 2007/08 nor in 2017/18. Overall, the study reveals persistence, but also some important changes, in recent trends on children's digital use and its impact on socioemotional well-being in Ireland.

Parental separation has negative consequences for child development, parental well-being, and gender equality, partially due to changes in time use. However, there is a lack of longitudinal studies on how parental separation affects parents' and children's time use. Using unique Australian longitudinal time-diary data across six waves, this study examines how parental separation affects parent-child time and children's time across activity types. Results show that separation does not alter parent-child total time, but it leads to a massive increase of gender inequality: mother-child time doubles, two-parent time declines by three, and father-child time remains low. After separation, children reduce time in educational activities (e.g., studying, reading) and sharply increase their time in unstructured activities (e.g., TV, videogames, mobile phones). Yet, separation effects on children's time use are twice as large for boys than for girls, with gender gaps in unstructured time increasing with years since separation. Mother-child time returns to similar pre-separation levels, but only four years after separation. Results are robust to different panel regression modelling strategies.

This study used data on couples from the 2003 Spanish Time Use Survey (N = 1,416) to analyze how work schedules are associated with family, couple, parent–child, and non‐family leisure activities. Spain is clearly an interesting case for the institutionalized split‐shift schedule, a long lunch break rooted in the traditional siesta that splits the workday between morning and evening. Results showed strong negative associations between the split shift and both family and parent–child activities. The evening shift was negatively associated with couple and family time, but not with parent–child time. Women spent much more time than men in parent–child activities for all work categories, and they were more responsive to the spouse's work hours. Men were substantially more active than women in non‐family leisure, considering both individuals' and their spouses' work schedules. Altogether, this study has important implications for scientific and public policy debates.

This study uses large-scale cross-national time-diary data from the Multinational Time Use Study (MTUS) (N = 201,972) covering the period from 2005 to 2015 to examine gender differences in time use by age groups. The study compares ten industrialized countries across Asia, Europe, and North America. In all ten countries, gender differences in time use are smaller in personal care, sleeping and meals, followed by leisure time (including screen-based leisure and active leisure), and largest in housework, care work and paid work activities. Gender disparities in time use are higher in South Korea, Hungary, and Italy, followed closely by Spain, with moderate gender gaps in Western European countries like France and Netherlands, and lowest differences in Finland and Anglo-Saxon countries, including Canada, US, and the UK. Gender differences in housework and caring time increase from adolescence (10-17 years) to early adulthood (18-29 years), showing strong gender gaps in early/middle adulthood (30-44 years), but narrow again during late adulthood (65 years or older). However, the age gradient in care work and housework is most pronounced in Italy and South Korea, being less prominent in Canada and Finland. Gender gaps in paid work are larger in early/middle adulthood (30-44) and middle/late adulthood (45-64), with strongest age gradients observed in the Netherlands and weaker gradients for the US. Gender differences in active leisure increase by age, especially in Southern European countries, while screen-based leisure shows more stable gender gaps by age groups across different countries. Overall, this study shows that age and gender intersect strongly in affecting time-use patterns, but also that the national context plays an important role in shaping gender-age interactions in time use allocation.