Trends in Free Time with a Partner: A Transformation of Intimacy?

This article discusses research into time shared between marital partners as it relates to satisfaction in marriage. The authors use data from the American Heritage Time Use Study for research into whether changes in marital relationships have led to an increasing focus on time spent together. The authors compared data on the amount of leisure time that marital partners shared in 1965 and 2003. The authors note a divergence in the proportion of shared leisure time for men and women in dual income families. The authors relate their findings regarding shared leisure time to the hypothesis that ideas about intimacy changed between 1963 and 2003.