Dataset Information

Work Schedule Unpredictability: Daily Occurrence and Effects on Working Parents' Well-Being.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

To investigate the pervasiveness and frequency of work schedule unpredictability among workers in low-wage hourly jobs and the effects of work schedule unpredictability on worker and family well-being.

Background

Family science has long considered the ways in which parents' experiences in the workplace can affect families. Although unpredictability in work schedules has increased over time, especially for low-wage workers, the effects of schedule unpredictability on worker and family well-being have been understudied.

Method

Ninety-two workers with children aged 2-7, recruited using a new venue-time sampling technique, were asked to complete once-a-day surveys for 30 consecutive days (N = 2,221 person-days for analysis). Descriptive analyses and regression models with family fixed effects were utilized.

Results

Work schedule unpredictability was common in the context of families' lives: over the 30 days, parents experienced an unanticipated work schedule change on 13.3% of days, and 87% of parents experienced at least one unanticipated work schedule change. Within families, unpredictable work schedule changes on a given day were associated with worse outcomes that day for parents, including increased negative mood and decreased perceived sleep quality.

Conclusion

Work schedule unpredictability is ubiquitous in the lives of low-wage hourly workers and is negatively related to working parents' well-being.

Implications

These results provide evidence that unscheduled and canceled shifts typical of low-wage service jobs may harm parents' well-being, which could ultimately affect their children's development and well-being.

SUBMITTER: Ananat EO

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8651235 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:Due to the COVID- 19 outbreak in the Netherlands (March 2020) and the associated social distancing measures, families were enforced to stay at home as much as possible. Adolescents and their families may be particularly affected by this enforced proximity, as adolescents strive to become more independent. Yet, whether these measures impact emotional well-being in families with adolescents has not been examined. In this ecological momentary assessment study, we investigated if the COVID-19 pandemic affected positive and negative affect of parents and adolescents and parenting behaviors (warmth and criticism). Additionally, we examined possible explanations for the hypothesized changes in affect and parenting. To do so, we compared daily reports on affect and parenting that were gathered during two periods of 14 consecutive days, once before the COVID-19 pandemic (2018-2019) and once during the COVID-19 pandemic. Multilevel analyses showed that only parents' negative affect increased as compared to the period before the pandemic, whereas this was not the case for adolescents' negative affect, positive affect and parenting behaviors (from both the adolescent and parent perspective). In general, intolerance of uncertainty was linked to adolescents' and parents' negative affect and adolescents' positive affect. However, Intolerance of uncertainty, nor any pandemic related characteristics (i.e. living surface, income, relatives with COVID-19, hours of working at home, helping children with school and contact with COVID-19 patients at work) were linked to the increase of parents' negative affect during COVID-19. It can be concluded that on average, our sample (consisting of relatively healthy parents and adolescents) seems to deal fairly well with the circumstances. The substantial heterogeneity in the data however, also suggest that whether or not parents and adolescents experience (emotional) problems can vary from household to household. Implications for researchers, mental health care professionals and policy makers are discussed.