New York, Apr 11 (IANS): Working parents need not to feel guilty as a new study finds that mothers and fathers are doing a better job than they think, spending far more time with their families than parents of earlier generations did.

The study by two economists at the University of California, San Diego, analyses a dozen of surveys during the time period from 1965 to 2007, to see how much time has been spent on child care by parents of all income groups, reports nytimes.com.

The findings by the husband-and-wife economist team of Garey Ramey and Valerie A revealed that before 1995, mothers spent an average of about 12 hours a week attending to the needs of their children.

By 2007, that number had risen to 21.2 hours a week for college-educated women and 15.9 hours for those with less education.

Although mothers still do most of the parenting, fathers also registered striking gains to 9.6 hours a week for college-educated men.

Family researchers say the news should offer relief to guilt-stricken working parents.

"Parents are feeling like they don't have enough time with their children," said Ellen Galinsky, president of the Families and Work Institute in New York, which conducts research on the work force.

"It's a function of people working so hard, and they are worried they're shortchanging their children. I've never found a group of parents who believe they are spending enough time with their kids," he added.

So where is the extra time coming from? Women, in particular, are spending less time cooking and cleaning their homes, while men are putting in fewer hours at the office.