Work Schedules: Shift Work and Long Work Hours

Extended Abstracts from Conference:
Long Working Hours, Safety, And Health: Toward A National Research Agenda
University of Maryland, Baltimore, Maryland
April 29 - 30, 2004
Using a multi-disciplinary approach, this conference explored the sociological, economic, and health dimensions of long work hours.

Harriet B. Presser
University of Maryland , College Park, MD and
Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, Stanford, CA

Introduction

An economy that operates 24/7—as ours now does—is generally welcomed by consumers. We typically like stores open evenings and nights, find it easier to make travel reservations or order goods with a live voice on the phone at any time of the day or week, and we expect medical care and other services to be available to us at all times. But what does around-the-clock economic activity mean for workers who provide their labor in the evenings, nights, and weekends? And what does it mean for families? The pervasiveness of late shifts and weekend employment among Americans calls for answers to these questions. Nonstandard work schedules are a significant, albeit often neglected, social phenomenon, with important implications for the health and well-being of workers and their families.

This presentation draws from findings of my recent book (Presser, 2003), and shows in some detail the high prevalence of nonstandard work schedules, particularly among two-earner and single-mother families, and what this implies for family functioning.

Methods

The data presented are based on two major national data sources. One is the May 1997 Current Population Survey (CPS), a nationally representative sample of about 50,000 households. The supplement for this CPS includes questions on work schedules for all employed individuals in the household. The second data source is the National Survey of Families and Households (NSFH), a nationally representative longitudinal survey of about 13,000 respondents in the first interview (1986-1987) of whom about 10,000 were followed up in the second interview (1992-1994). The samples include part-time as well as full-time workers, and those who are self-employed as well as wage and salary earners.

The definition of work shifts refers to when employed persons work most of their hours. It is a modification of the definition used by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (Hedges and Sekscenski, 1979; U.S. Department of Labor, 1981), to allow for the “hours vary” category used in 1997. The sample includes part-time as well as full-time workers, and those who are self-employed as well as wage and salary earners. Those in agricultural occupations are excluded.

The particular shifts are defined as follows:

• Fixed day: At least half the hours worked most days in the prior week fall between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m.
• Fixed evening: At least half the hours worked most days in the prior week fall between 4 p.m. and midnight.
• Fixed night: At least half the hours worked most days in the prior week fall between midnight and 8 a.m.
• Rotating: Schedules change periodically from days to evenings or nights.
• Hours vary: An irregular schedule that cannot be classified in any of the above categories.

Weekend employment refers to employment Saturday and/or Sunday.

Nonstandard work schedules include late and rotating shifts, variable hours, and weekend employment.

Findings: Prevalence

About one-fifth of employed Americans work most of their hours in the evening or night, or have a rotating or highly variable schedule. Many more work some of their hours, but not most, in the evenings or at night. About one third of employed Americans work Saturday, Sunday, or both weekend days. Together, about two-fifths of employed Americans work nonstandard schedules. Men are somewhat more likely than women to work nonstandard schedules, and minorities—particularly blacks—are more likely than non-Hispanic whites.

Dual-earner couples are remarkably likely to have at least one spouse working late or rotating shifts. The ratio was about one in four for all dual-earner American couples, and one in three for those with children. Having children increased the likelihood that at least one spouse worked other than a daytime schedule, especially likely for dual-earner couples whose children were under age 5: 34.7 percent of all such couples in the United States had this work pattern. (Rarely did both spouses work non-day schedules.) Moreover, the percentages increase when we look only at low-income couples—the families most likely to be under financial stress while coping with complex work schedules.

Weekend work among dual-earner couples is also very common. More than two-thirds of all dual-earner couples included at least one spouse working Saturday or Sunday. The ratio was closer to one-half of all dual-earners with children under five. And again, the low-income couples showed especially high percentages.

Single mothers are more likely than married mothers to work at nonstandard times. (They also work longer hours.) About one-fourth of single mothers with children worked nonstandard hours and more than one-third worked weekends. For single mothers with children under age five, these ratios were higher: one-fourth and two-fifths, respectively. The ratios were even higher for low-income single mothers.

Findings: Family Functioning

Couples with a spouse working late shifts have substantially less quality time together and more marital unhappiness, and those with children also are more likely to separate or divorce. Neither the evening shift nor weekend employment seemed to affect the stability of marriages; this problem is evident only with night work. While it might be that spouses who work night shifts choose them because they have bad marriages, rather than night shifts affecting the quality of marriages, the NSFH data do not support this interpretation. Spouses who moved into night work between the two interviews did not score lower on marital happiness at the first interview than other employed spouses.

The family dinner is typically the only daily event that allows for meaningful family togetherness. Therefore, we can regard the unavailability of parents at dinnertime hours as a negative consequence of their working evening shifts. Among dual-earner couples with children ages 5 to 13, more than two-fifths of the mothers who worked evenings, and three-fifths of the fathers with such schedules, had dinner with their children fewer than five days a week. For many of these children, the other parent was available at dinnertime. But for single mothers, the situation is quite different. When they worked evenings, more than two-thirds did not eat with their children at least five days a week. Their children may have been eating with other adults, with siblings, or alone—we don’t know. Parents who miss out on dinner with their children because they work the evening shift do not appear to make up for their absence by having breakfast with them more often than other parents.

The child care arrangements when parents work nonstandard times is especially complex, relying heavily on shared parental care (“tag team”) when spouses work different shifts, and grandparent care. More than four-fifths of employed married fathers with children under age 5 provided care while their wives were employed and they were not. Single mothers, most of whom do not live with the child’s father, are especially likely to rely on grandparents, particularly grandmothers. Like married fathers, these grandmothers often have other jobs, at hours different from their daughters, allowing them to care for their grandchildren in their “off time.”

These relatives are not the only caregivers. More than half of employed mothers with children under age five who work late shifts rely on two or more caregivers. Multiple child care arrangements offer the possibility of multiple breakdowns, potentially adding considerable stress to the difficult juggle of work and family life. Single mothers working rotating schedules are especially vulnerable to such problems, and given their typically low earnings, they have few child care options.

Discussion

Clearly, employment in a 24/7 economy challenges American families. The research to date is very limited but hints at many difficulties. We have much more to learn and need studies specifically designed to assess these challenges. Suggested research topics for which we have little or no rigorous knowledge include the following:

• Focused studies on the perceived costs and benefits of working nonstandard schedules, including why people make certain tradeoffs and work such schedules when not preferred.
• The extent to which there is movement of employees in and out of different work schedules and reasons why.
• The effects of nonstandard work schedules on the physical and emotional health of individuals and how these effects on individuals interact with the functioning of family life.
• How married fathers care for their children during the hours that mothers are employed.
• The extent to which parents suffer from chronic sleep deprivation because of their work schedules and the consequences for family functioning (as well as job performance).
• The effects of nonstandard work schedules on children, including their development and school achievement.

Future research needs to precisely measure work shifts, and to distinguish these shifts when assessing the consequences of nonstandard work schedules on family life.

Job growth projections suggest that nonstandard schedules will be on the rise in the decade ahead, especially among women and minorities. The types of occupations that generate this growth are in the service sector and are mostly low paying. We need more public discourse on the role of employers and the government in helping workers on late shifts. How can we enhance the options or at least ease the constraints for those late and rotating shift workers who would prefer standard daytime schedules, and for parents who cannot afford child care costs and have to rely on split-shift parenting between spouses or relatives while preferring not to do so? Low-income parents merit special attention.

References

Hedges , J.N. & Sekscenski, E.S. (1979). Workers on late shifts in a changing economy. Monthly Labor Review, 102: 14-22.

Presser, H.B. (2003). Working in a 24/7 Economy: Challenges for American Families. New York : Russell Sage Foundation.

U.S. Department of Labor. (1981). Workers on late shifts. Summary 81-13 [September]. Washington : U.S. Government Printing Office.