Today’s married couples use a variety of tools—landline phones, cell phones, instant messaging, and email—to manage their schedules and stay connected with each other throughout the day. The adoption of cell phones is a particularly important component of the way today’s families stay in touch and coordinate their lives together.

Couples communicate frequently just to say hello and chat (28% of couples do this several times a day, and an additional 36% do so at least once a day) and also  to coordinate daily schedules (20% do this several times a day, and 39% do so at least once a day). However, many also communicate regularly for weightier reasons: discussing important matters and planning future events.

Given the time and scheduling demands of raising a child, it is not surprising that parents communicate more frequently throughout the day than non-parents. Three-quarters of parents (74%) contact their spouse or partner once a day or more to say hello and chat (compared with 58% of non-parents), 70% do so to coordinate daily schedules (compared with 51% of non-parents) and 42% do so to discuss important matters (compared with 34% of non-parents). Parents (20%) and non-parents (17%) are equally likely to contact their spouse daily to plan future events with friends and relatives.