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Flexible Working and Unpaid Overtime in the UK: The Role of Gender, Parental and Occupational Status

Author

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  • Heejung Chung

    (University of Kent)

  • Mariska van der Horst

    (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam)

Abstract

Recent studies have shown that flexible boundaries between work and family may make employees work harder and longer. Yet most studies were not able to show whether there are differences across different types of flexible working arrangements, and whether this relationship may only hold for certain groups of workers. We examine how three different types of flexible working arrangements, that is schedule control, flexitime, and teleworking, are associated with an increase in unpaid overtime hours of workers in the UK using the Understanding Society data from 2010 to 2015 and fixed effects panel regression models. Results show that the flexible arrangements that were introduced primarily for work-life balance purposes, i.e., flexitime and teleworking, do not necessarily increase unpaid overtime hours significantly. On the other hand, workers’ control over their schedule, mainly introduced as a part of high-performance strategies, leads to increased unpaid overtime hours. This is especially true for professional men, and women without children, especially those working full-time, and surprisingly part-time working mothers. The results of this study point to the importance of distinguishing between different groups of workers as well as between different types of arrangements when examining outcomes of flexible working. Furthermore, the results of the study contribute to the argument that performance enhancing flexible working arrangements can potentially exacerbate gender inequalities in the labour market by enabling men to commit more time to their jobs, while for women, especially full-time working mothers, this may be less possible.

Suggested Citation

  • Heejung Chung & Mariska van der Horst, 2020. "Flexible Working and Unpaid Overtime in the UK: The Role of Gender, Parental and Occupational Status," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 151(2), pages 495-520, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:soinre:v:151:y:2020:i:2:d:10.1007_s11205-018-2028-7
    DOI: 10.1007/s11205-018-2028-7
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Zhuofei Lu & Wei Zhuang, 2023. "Can Teleworking Improve Workers’ Job Satisfaction? Exploring the Roles of Gender and Emotional Well-Being," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 18(3), pages 1433-1452, June.
    2. Marie Boltz & Bart Cockx & Ana Maria Diaz & Luz Magdalena Salas, 2023. "How does working‐time flexibility affect workers' productivity in a routine job? Evidence from a field experiment," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 61(1), pages 159-187, March.
    3. Amina Amari & Mohamed Mousa & Walid Chaouali & Zohra Ghali-Zinoubi & Narjess Aloui, 2023. "Dr. Jekyll or Mr. Hyde? Unpacking the Effects of Flexitime and Flexiplace: a Study on MENA Region," Public Organization Review, Springer, vol. 23(4), pages 1333-1352, December.
    4. ArÅ«nas Žiedelis & Jurgita LazauskaitÄ—-ZabielskÄ— & Ieva UrbanaviÄ iÅ«tÄ—, 2024. "The gendered effect of an overwork climate and high personal standards for work–home conflict during the pandemic," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 45(2), pages 470-488, May.
    5. Zhuofei Lu & Shuo Yan & Jeff Jones & Yucheng He & Qigen She, 2023. "From Housewives to Employees, the Mental Benefits of Employment across Women with Different Gender Role Attitudes and Parenthood Status," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(5), pages 1-13, February.
    6. Emma Brulin & Sofie Bjärntoft & Gunnar Bergström & David M. Hallman, 2023. "Gendered Associations of Flexible Work Arrangement and Perceived Flexibility with Work–Life Interference: A Cross-Sectional Mediation Analysis on Office Workers in Sweden," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 167(1), pages 571-588, June.
    7. Yvonne Lott & Clare Kelliher & Heejung Chung, 2022. "Reflecting the changing world of work? A critique of existing survey measures and a proposal for capturing new ways of working," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 28(4), pages 457-473, November.
    8. Heejung Chung & Hyojin Seo, 2024. "Flexibility Stigma Across Europe: How National Contexts can Shift the Extent to which Flexible Workers are Stigmatised," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 174(3), pages 945-965, September.
    9. Filippos Maraziotis, 2024. "Flexibility for equality: Examining the impact of flexible working time arrangements on women's convergence in working hours," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 62(2), pages 410-445, June.
    10. Zhuofei Lu & Senhu Wang & Yaojun Li & Xiyuan Liu & Wendy Olsen, 2023. "Who Gains Mental Health Benefits from Work Autonomy? The Roles of Gender and Occupational Class," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 18(4), pages 1761-1783, August.
    11. Heejung Chung & Cara Booker, 2023. "Flexible Working and the Division of Housework and Childcare: Examining Divisions across Arrangement and Occupational Lines," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 37(1), pages 236-256, February.
    12. Zhuofei Lu & Senhu Wang & Wendy Olsen, 2023. "Revisiting the ‘flexibility paradox’: degree of work schedule flexibility and time use patterns across gender and occupational groups," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-10, December.
    13. Charlotte K. Marx & Mareike Reimann & Martin Diewald, 2021. "Do Work–Life Measures Really Matter? The Impact of Flexible Working Hours and Home-Based Teleworking in Preventing Voluntary Employee Exits," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 10(1), pages 1-22, January.
    14. Senhu Wang & Lambert Zixin Li & Zhuofei Lu & Shuanglong Li & David Rehkopf, 2022. "Work Schedule Control and Allostatic Load Biomarkers: Disparities Between and Within Gender," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 163(3), pages 1249-1267, October.
    15. Beata Osiewalska & Anna Matysiak & Anna Kurowska, 2022. "When are women who work from home more likely to have children?," Working Papers 2022-13, Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Warsaw.
    16. Ashley Parry, 2025. "The flexibility paradox and spatial‐temporal dimensions of COVID‐19 remote work adaptation among dual‐earner mothers and fathers," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(1), pages 15-36, January.
    17. Adriana Ana Maria Davidescu & Simona-Andreea Apostu & Vasile Alecsandru Strat & Adrian Istrate Scradeanu & Ion Daniel Zgura & Maria Gabriela Horga, 2021. "The Impact of Teleworking on the Romanians Employees’ Job Satisfaction. An Empirical Evidence Based on Multiple Correspondence Analysis (MCA) and Logistic Regression," The AMFITEATRU ECONOMIC journal, Academy of Economic Studies - Bucharest, Romania, vol. 23(58), pages 637-637, August.

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