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Non-standard work schedules, work-family balance and the gendered division of childcare

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  • Lyn Craig

    (University of New South Wales, Australia  lcraig@unsw.edu.au)

  • Abigail Powell

    (University of New South Wales, AustraliaÂ)

Abstract

What effect do non-standard work schedules have on how parents of young children can meet the combined and growing demands of work and family? This article uses the Australian Bureau of Statistics Time Use Survey 2006 to explore the relationship between parents’ non-standard work hours, and the time they and their spouse spend in paid work, housework, childcare (subdivided into routine tasks and talk-based interaction) and in their children’s company. Parents who work non-standard hours spend significantly longer in paid work and less time on housework and childcare than those who work standard hours. Spouses’ schedules impact much more on mothers’ than on fathers’ time. When fathers work non-standard hours, mothers do more housework and routine childcare, so the gendered division of household labour intensifies. Mothers’ non-standard hours allow them to schedule their own paid work and family responsibilities around each other, with little effect upon fathers’ unpaid work.

Suggested Citation

  • Lyn Craig & Abigail Powell, 2011. "Non-standard work schedules, work-family balance and the gendered division of childcare," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 25(2), pages 274-291, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:woemps:v:25:y:2011:i:2:p:274-291
    DOI: 10.1177/0950017011398894
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Daniel Hallberg & Anders Klevmarken, 2003. "Time for children: A study of parent's time allocation," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 16(2), pages 205-226, May.
    2. Lyn Craig, 2007. "How Employed Mothers in Australia Find Time for Both Market Work and Childcare," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 28(1), pages 69-87, March.
    3. Benoît Rapoport & Céline Bourdais, 2008. "Parental time and working schedules," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 21(4), pages 903-932, October.
    4. Strazdins, Lyndall & Korda, Rosemary J. & Lim, Lynette L-Y. & Broom, Dorothy H. & D'Souza, Rennie M., 2004. "Around-the-clock: parent work schedules and children's well-being in a 24-h economy," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 59(7), pages 1517-1527, October.
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Mackenzie, Catherine Ruth, 2014. "‘It is hard for mums to put themselves first’: How mothers diagnosed with breast cancer manage the sociological boundaries between paid work, family and caring for the self," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 96-106.
    2. George Argyrous & Sara Rahman, 2017. "How does paid work affect who does the childcare? An analysis of the time use of Australian couples," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 15(2), pages 383-398, June.
    3. Süß, Stefan & Sayah, Shiva, 2013. "Balance between work and life: A qualitative study of German contract workers," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 31(3), pages 250-262.
    4. Zoe Adams & Simon Deakin, 2014. "Institutional Solutions to Precariousness & Inequality in Labour Markets," Working Papers wp463, Centre for Business Research, University of Cambridge.
    5. Scott Schieman & Marisa Young, 2015. "Who Engages in Work–Family Multitasking? A Study of Canadian and American Workers," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 120(3), pages 741-767, February.
    6. Lott, Yvonne, 2014. "Working time flexibility and autonomy: Facilitating time adequacy? A European perspective," WSI Working Papers 190, The Institute of Economic and Social Research (WSI), Hans Böckler Foundation.
    7. Boyd-Swan, Casey H., 2019. "Nonparental child care during nonstandard hours: Does participation influence child well-being?," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 85-101.
    8. Paul W. Miller & Anh T. Le, 2012. "The Impact of Age of Children on Decision Making Over Time Use in Couple Families," Australian Journal of Labour Economics (AJLE), Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre (BCEC), Curtin Business School, vol. 15(2), pages 77-100.
    9. Mariona Lozano & Dana Hamplová & Céline Le Bourdais, 2016. "Non-standard work schedules, gender, and parental stress," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 34(9), pages 259-284.
    10. Sarah M. Flood & Rachelle Hill & Katie R. Genadek, 2018. "Daily Temporal Pathways: A Latent Class Approach to Time Diary Data," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 135(1), pages 117-142, January.
    11. Zoe Adams & Simon Deakin, 2014. "Institutional Solutions to Precariousness and Inequality in Labour Markets," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 52(4), pages 779-809, December.
    12. Anh Le & Paul Miller, 2013. "Satisfaction with Time Allocations Within the Family: The Role of Family Type," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 14(4), pages 1273-1289, August.

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