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Flexible working in the UK and its impact on couples’ time coordination

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  • Mark L. Bryan

    (University of Sheffield)

  • Almudena Sevilla

    (Queen Mary University of London)

Abstract

The ability to combine work with quality time together as a family is at the heart of the concept of work-life balance. Using previously unexploited data on couples’ work schedules we investigate the effect of flexible working on couples’ coordination of their daily work schedules in the UK. We consider three distinct dimensions of flexible working: flexibility of daily start and finish times (flexitime), flexibility of work times over the year (annualized hours), and generalized control of working hours. We show that having flexitime at work increases a couple’s amount of coordination of their daily work schedules by a half to 1 h, which is double the margin of adjustment enjoyed by couples with no flexitime. The impact is driven by couples with children. In contrast to flexitime, the other two forms of flexible working do not seem to increase synchronous time. Our results suggest that having flexitime plays an important role in relaxing the work scheduling constraints faced by families with young children, and that effective flexible working time arrangements are those that increase the worker’s and not the employer’s flexibility.

Suggested Citation

  • Mark L. Bryan & Almudena Sevilla, 2017. "Flexible working in the UK and its impact on couples’ time coordination," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 15(4), pages 1415-1437, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:reveho:v:15:y:2017:i:4:d:10.1007_s11150-017-9389-6
    DOI: 10.1007/s11150-017-9389-6
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    8. Begoña Álvarez & Daniel Miles-Touya, 2019. "Gender imbalance in housework allocation: a question of time?," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 17(4), pages 1257-1287, December.
    9. Yanhua Wu & Lingyun Tong & Yingying Yi, 2024. "Does Having More Children Affect Women’s Informal Employment Choices? Evidence from China," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 45(3), pages 562-578, September.

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