Lack of time is a major factor.
When I grew up, my mom was a homemaker and got dinner on the table by 5:30. My Dad would be home by then. My brother and I got home at 3:30 and did our homework and chores, so after dinner, we had a few hours of quality time to kill before bedtime!
Now I have a family of my own: one child, two working parents...actually except for the number of kids, a demographic norm.
My wife and I have high-demand occupations. Fortunately, we work in the same building, so the commute is not as taxing as it could be. Nevertheless, we get our daughter from daycare sometime after 6PM. She has to get what's left of her routines completed before bedtime around 9PM...that leaves a three-hour window for unfinished homework or class projects, soccer practice or piano lessons, or whatever. I have to get whatever yard work, MB maintenance, house honeydos done in that same time frame. Bottom line is little or no quality time whatsoever, pushed to the weekends (also a busy deal)!
I am culinarily-challenged, so that leaves my wife to tend to that aspect. We are dining by 7:30 if she decides to prepare a meal. But if we do takeout or "nuke" our meals, we have finished eating and are on track for other activities by 6:30.
So cooking has to be a forced activity in our household...our daughter couldn't care less and would be happy eating fast food junk if we let her!
Fortunately, we've taken to eating healthier, so we eat a home-cooked meal pretty often in our household...and learned to work more efficiently in other areas to free up more quality time...
