Shifted out: The well-being and justice implications of evening and night commuting

The impact of night and evening shift work on social exclusion, family travel, and mobilities of care

“…The first draws on a 56-day travel diary of 67 individuals in Sweden, finding that shift workers engage in "less day-to-day leisure activities than other worker types" across multiple seasons (Ahmad Termida et al, 2016). The second study, an analysis of Canada's time use survey, finds these workers take just as many trips as those who work during the daytime (Palm et al, 2023). However, through interaction effects, Palm et al also found that NESWs have lower subjective well-being that is ameliorated to some degree by vehicle access (Palm et al, 2023, p. 12).…”

“…The demographics of shift work make these questions more pertinent to the study of social exclusion. In North America, for example, shift workers are significantly more likely to be immigrants, people of color, and people with lower incomes (Hawkins & Aleno Hernandez, 2022;Palm et al, 2023;Saenz, 2008). Each of these communities or elements of the traveler's identity has received attention in the TRSE and equity literature.…”

“…Night and evening shift workers (NESWs) make up 10-20% of the workforce in European (Eurostat, 2023a(Eurostat, , 2023b, North American (APTA, 2020;Palm et al, 2023), and East Asian countries (Jang, 2023;Kubo, 2014). Shift workers include employees in the nightlife industry along with workers in healthcare, transportation, education, construction, and utilities.…”

“…Shift workers include employees in the nightlife industry along with workers in healthcare, transportation, education, construction, and utilities. In North America, many of these shift workers belong to communities that governments' have failed to treat equitably in transportation planning: immigrants, and people from Black, Latine or Latin American, and Filipino communities (Palm et al, 2023;Presser, 2003). Despite their crucial role in the economy and essential functioning of cities, NESWs have not been the focus of much research in transportation studies.…”

“…This could adversely impact mental health, which is linked to social participation among some demographic groups (Takagi et al, 2013). Studies on how this affects participation in daily activities show mixed results, however (Ahmad Termida et al, 2016;Palm et al, 2023). Additionally, shift work can disrupt household dynamics, often deepening gender imbalances in domestic responsibilities (Presser, 1994).…”