Do summer time-use gaps vary by socioeconomic status?

Several scholars have suggested that differential rates of summer learning loss contribute to the persistence of achievement gaps between students of different socioeconomic status (SES). The current study tests the hypothesis that differences by SES in both children’s and parents’ time spent in activities related to children’s cognitive and social development widen during the summer vacation using data from two time-diary surveys: the Activity Pattern Survey of California Children and the American Time Use Study. Estimates of Tobit and linear time-use regressions for a variety of activities known to influence children’s cognitive and social development provide evidence of statistically and practically significant summer-SES time-use gaps, most notably in children’s television viewing.