This paper addresses the perceived shortage of time experienced by families today. Following an introduction about the hurried pace of family life, the paper discusses: (1) forces that have shaped the accelerated pace of change (changed families, effects of technology, intensification of work); (2) broadening the conceptualization of time (cyclical patterns, linear patterns, time as an organizational tool, time as values, the politics of time, time as a changing and evolving concept); (3) trends in time use (overall increase in time stress, children's impact on time use, family type effects on time use, gender disparities in time use associated with parenting, importance of employment status for understanding time crunch); and (4) implications of these time trends for understanding family dynamics (gender politics of time in families, children versus parents in the controlling of time, the politics of finding and preserving family time--ideals, reality, and discordance). Contains 29 references. (EV)