London, Oct 19 (IANS): Children raised by same-sex couples receive more parental attention than their peers raised by heterosexual couples, new research has found.

The researchers found that on an average, same sex couples daily spend an hour more with their children than straight couples.

"Our study suggests that ... children with two-parents-of-the-same-sex families received more focused time from their parents - 3.5 hours a day, compared with 2.5 hours by children with different-sex parents," study author Kate Prickett from University of Texas at Austin in the US was quoted as saying by The Independent.

In families with two mothers, where parents spend on average 40 percent more time on child-focused activities than straight couples, the difference is most pronounced.

This could be because both mothers generally offer as much child-focused activity as mothers in heterosexual partnerships.

Men with female partners spent only around half as much time with their kids.

But fathers in same-sex relationships spend roughly the same time as the mothers, doubling the time typically provided by heterosexual dads.

"Our findings support the argument that parental investment in children is at least as great - and possibly greater - in same-sex couples as for different-sex couples," Prickett said.

For their analysis, the researchers how US parents spend their time.took into account tasks such as reading, playing, helping with homework, bath time, and doctor’s appointments, while avoiding passive activities such as watching television, or doing housework while a child was around, the report said.

The study used the American Time Use Surveys, a nationally representative time-diary survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau, pooling 11 years of data from 2003 through 2013, with a sample of over 40,000 parents, which included 55 parents in same-sex relationships.