The CELF study investigated how families spend time in their homes. The study found that parents were in one room without their children for less than 10% of the observed time (Graesch, 2013, p. 39). During these periods, spouses engaged in a shared activity for 7.6% of the observed time (Graesch, 2013, p. 39). Moreover, parents were simultaneously at home for 15.2% of the observed time on weekdays (Graesch, 2013, p. 39). These findings indicate that when both spouses are at home, they spend more time separately than together.
Regarding the socio-cultural context, these findings can be connected to the fact that contemporary families often have two working parents. The job-related stress experienced by both spouses can lead to social withdrawal (Graesch, 2013, p. 39). Furthermore, parents have begun to pay great attention to the quality of time spent with their children. For example, they often enroll their children in after-school activities, which contributes to their perception of time shortage (Graesch, 2013, p. 27). Consequently, married couples have little time for one-on-one interactions.
In the household where I was growing up, it was a rare occasion when the entire family was at the table. My father came from work late, so I often had dinner with my mother. She usually cooked meals herself without using readymade food. When I refused to eat, she used to say that I could not leave the table until my plate was empty.
One finding from the study was that although 73% of families had home-cooked dinners, only 22% of them did not use convenience food (Ochs & Beck, 2013, p. 56). If my family were part of this study, we would be among this 22% because my mother rarely used convenience food. Another finding from the article was that 77% of families ate dinner together at least once during the study, and of 58 observed dinners, 59% were eaten as a family (Ochs & Beck, 2013, p. 58). Furthermore, when some family members were not at home, the remaining family members ate dinner together in 67% of cases (Ochs & Beck, 2013, p. 58). These findings reflect the dinners I experienced because we used to have dinners together as a family quite often, but since my father was busy working, we had dinner together with my mother. However, sometimes, she fed me and had dinner later, meaning that not all of my dinners were eaten together with my family.
References
Graesch, A. P. (2013). At home. In E. Ochs & T. Kremer-Sadlik (Eds.), Fast-forward family: Home, work, and relationships in middle-class America (pp. 27-47). University of California Press.
Ochs, E., & Beck, M. (2013). Dinner. In E. Ochs & T. Kremer-Sadlik (Eds.), Fast-forward family: Home, work, and relationships in middle-class America (pp. 48-66). University of California Press.