How Do Mothers with Disabilities Thrive as Parents and Homemakers? A Comparison to Mothers without Disabilities Using the American Time Use Survey

Dennis Hogan, Brown University
Carrie E. Spearin, Brown University
Carrie L. Shandra, Stony Brook University, State University of New York (SUNY)

Women with disabilities have ideal family sizes similar to those of other women, and are nearly as likely to become mothers. Mothers with disabilities do equally well on measures of family functioning and child rearing. This paper uses the 2008-2012 American Time Use Survey to see how mothers with disabilities that may require extra time for personal care, medical care, and rehabilitation services allocate their time use to cover other activities involved in successful parenting. Self-care, physical and mobility, sensory, and cognitive limitations are considered. Mothers with serious and multiple disabilities spend more time than other women on health care at home and in medical and care services outside of the home. These mothers also report somewhat more sleep than mothers without disabilities, and they spend less time on grooming and leisure, exercise, and social activities.