Book excerpt: This book is based on two rounds of new data collection, reanalysis of all the existing U.S. time use data collections dating back to 1965, and a comparison of U.S. trends to several other nations. Changing Rhythms of American Family Life is the best and most authoritative study of trends in parents' use of time over the past several decades. Its conclusion that parents today are not spending few hours with their children, despite the increase in wives working outside the home, goes against conventional wisdom.