Motivation for Night Work and Parents’ Work-to-Family Conflict and Life Satisfaction

Abstract

Purpose - I test the hypothesis that the effects of evening and night employment on working parents’ work-to-family conflict and life satisfaction depend on the reasons that individuals name for their schedules. Methodology/approach - Regression models are fitted to data from an original sample of 589 employed U.S. parents.Findings –Partnered (married and cohabiting) fathers who work partially in the evening or night experience less work-to-family conflict if they report personal motives, but schedule motivation does not affect work-to-family conflict among partnered or single mothers. Partnered mothers who work primarily in the evening or at night report higher life satisfaction if they do so for personal reasons, but this effect is not found for single mothers or partnered fathers. Specifically seeing their schedules as facilitating family care matters for partnered mothers, but not fathers. Originality/value – Although nonstandard employment schedules have been linked to poor well-being among working parents, this is the first quantitative study to assess the role of worker motivation to the author’s knowledge. Research limitations/implications – The results are suggestive because they are based on a non-probability sample of modest size. However, they demonstrate the need for future studies of employment scheduling to collect information on worker motivations.Social implications – Most night workers in the U.S. do not select their shifts for personal reasons, putting them at risk for work-to-family conflict and reduced life satisfaction. They deserve extra support in exchange for laboring while others sleep or spend time with family.