Around-the-clock: parent work schedules and children's well-being in a 24-h economy.
Family life in developed economies has undergone a fundamental change--shifting from single-breadwinner households (typical of the post war decades) to families where both parents are employed. Equally dramatic has been the emergence of around-the-clock economies, altering the way work is organised, especially working time. Many more children now live in households where one or both parents work non-standard hours (evenings, nights or on weekends). Are there any implications for children's well-being when parents work non-standard schedules? There has been virtually no investigation of how children are faring in these around-the-clock households, despite evidence that non-standard work times affect family functioning and are stressful for parents. Using data from a representative sample of 4433 dual-earner Canadian families and their 2--11-year-old children (N children=6361), we compared families where both parents worked standard hours, with families where one or both worked non-standard times (evenings, nights or weekends). In nearly three-quarters of the families one or both parents regularly worked non-standard times. We found associations between children's well-being and parent work schedules, with higher odds ratios for child difficulties when parents worked non-standard times. These associations persisted after adjusting for several confounding factors including socio-economic status, parent part-time or full-time work, and childcare use, and were evident whether mothers, fathers or both parents worked non-standard times. The findings raise questions about the implications for children of the 24-h economy.
Strazdins
Lyndall
L
National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia. lyndall.strazdins@anu.edu.au
Korda
Rosemary J
RJ
Lim
Lynette L-Y
LL
Broom
Dorothy H
DH
D'Souza
Rennie M
RM
D000328:Adult; D002170:Canada / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D002653:Child Behavior Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology; D002669:Child Welfare; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004651:Employment; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology; D008603:Mental Health; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009679:Nuclear Family / Q000523:psychology; D010561:Personnel Staffing and Scheduling; D012922:Social Change; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors