scholarly journals More Time with the Family? Workplace Flexibility Policies and Fathers’ Time with Children

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dana Wray

How can workplaces ease the “time squeeze” faced by families struggling to balance paid work and family caregiving responsibilities? According to scholars, employers, and policymakers, workplace flexibility policies are a potential solution that may allow parents to spend more time with children. These policies may be particularly salient for fathers’ involvement in family life, as fathers do not feel they spend enough time with children, and as there is persistent gender inequality in the division of care work. Using the 2017-2018 American Time Use Survey Leave Module, this paper examines the association between flextime (control over start and end times) and flexplace (working from home) policies and different-sex partnered fathers’ time with children. Extending prior research, I distinguish between different types of father-child time and between solo parenting and time co-present with the mother. Flexibility policies are associated with increases in fathers’ family time with children – when the mother is also present. Fathers with frequent flextime access report more family time, yet those with less frequent access report less family time. Fathers who use flexplace report more family time, especially if they frequently work from home. Ultimately, this study complicates understanding of the implications of increasingly popular policies for fathers’ involvement, gender inequality, and family well-being.

2019 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 184-206 ◽  
Author(s):  
José Ignacio Giménez-Nadal ◽  
José Alberto Molina ◽  
Jorge Velilla

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyze the time-allocation decisions of individuals who work from home (i.e. teleworkers), and compare them with their commuter counterparts. Design/methodology/approach Using data from the American Time Use Survey for the years 2003–2015, the authors analyze the time spent working, and the timing of work, of both commuters and teleworkers. Findings Results show that teleworkers devote 40 percent less time to market work activities than do commuters, and less than 60 percent of teleworkers work at “regular hours,” vs around 80 percent of their commuter counterparts. Using information from the Well-being Module for the years 2012 and 2013, the authors find that male teleworkers experience lower levels of negative feelings while working than do commuters. Originality/value This paper addresses the timing of work of workers working from home; and the instant well-being experienced, exploiting information at diary level.


2014 ◽  
Vol 43 (3) ◽  
pp. 401-418 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susanna Maria Krisor ◽  
Jens Rowold

Purpose – Previous research on the work-family nexus has tended to concentrate on childcare responsibilities. This neglects consideration of an increasing population of employees who care for dependents such as elders, impaired partners or disabled children. Therefore, the aim of this study is to investigate organizational and personal resources as antecedents of work-family conflict (WFC) and irritation in a sample of employed family caregivers. Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected from 508 employees within one organization who had informal family caregiving responsibilities. Findings – The results indicate that a supportive work-family culture was an important resource for reducing WFC and health-related self-efficacy reduced irritation. In sum, when a company fosters a family-friendly culture that includes working in a constructive and understanding manner with employees who have informal family caregiver responsibilities, it becomes easier for the employees to integrate the demands of work and family demands. Moreover, health-related self-efficacy is an important resource that can improve stress and future researchers should give it greater consideration. Originality/value – This study contributes to existing literature by the identification of personal and organizational resources of informal family caregivers with the aim to reduce their stress experiences.


2020 ◽  
pp. 107755872093013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ulrike Muench ◽  
Matthew Jura ◽  
Joanne Spetz ◽  
Rachel Mathison ◽  
Charlene Herrington

Over 1.5 million new jobs need to be filled by 2026 for medical assistants, nursing aides, and home care aides, many of which will work in the long-term services and supports (LTSS) sector. Using 16 years of data from the American Time Use Survey, we examined the financial vulnerability of high-skill and low-skill LTSS workers in comparison with other health care workers, while providing insight into their well-being by measuring time spent on work and nonwork activities. We found that, regardless of skill status, working in LTSS was associated with lower wages and an increased likelihood of experiencing poverty compared with other health care workers. Results from time diary data indicated that the LTSS workforce spent a greater share of their time working and commuting to work. Low-skill LTSS workers were hardest hit, spending more time on paid and unpaid activities, such as household and child care responsibilities.


2015 ◽  
Vol 126 (3) ◽  
pp. 1355-1373 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yoonjoo Lee ◽  
Sandra L. Hofferth ◽  
Sarah M. Flood ◽  
Kimberly Fisher

Sociology ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 003803852110331
Author(s):  
Giacomo Vagni

Time together as a family is a crucial dimension of family life. However, its impact on personal happiness is not well understood. I use the United Kingdom Time Use Survey 2014–2015 to study how time spent with partners and children affects daily subjective well-being. Overall, I find that family time, couple time, and time alone with children contributes significantly to mothers’ and fathers’ well-being. I show that the activities that families share together mediate an important part of the enjoyment of time together but do not entirely explain this association. This suggests that beyond what families do together, families enjoy being together. I find that fathers enjoy family time more than mothers do. I demonstrate that the unequal division of labour during family time explains this discrepancy. I conclude by discussing the recent transformations of intimate relationships.


2020 ◽  
Vol 83 (3) ◽  
pp. 207-228 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniela Veronica Negraia ◽  
Jennifer March Augustine

Although public debate ensues over whether parents or nonparents have higher levels of emotional well-being, scholars suggest that being a parent is associated with a mixed bag of emotions. Drawing on the American Time Use Survey for the years 2010, 2012, and 2013 and unique measures of subjective well-being that capture positive and negative emotions linked to daily activities, we “unpack” this mixed bag. We do so by examining contextual variation in the parenting emotions gap based on activity type, whether parents’ children were present, parenting stage, and respondent’s gender. We found that parenting was associated with more positive emotions than nonparenting, but also more negative emotions. This pattern existed only during housework and leisure, not during paid work. Moreover, patterns in positive emotions existed only when parents’ children were present; patterns in negative emotions were primarily observed during earlier stages of parenting. Results were similar for men and women.


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