Relieving the Time Squeeze? Effects of a White-Collar Workplace Change on Parents

• Published in: Journal of marriage and family Vol. 75; no. 4; pp. 1014 - 1029
• Main Authors: Hill, Rachelle, Tranby, Eric, Kelly, Erin, Moen, Phyllis
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hoboken, USA Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01.08.2013; Wiley Subscription Services; Wiley; Blackwell Publishing Ltd
• Subjects: Causality; Child Rearing; Children; Children & youth; Dinners; Employed Parents; Employment Level; Expenditures; Family Characteristics; Family Needs; Family relations; Fathers; Gender; Gender Differences; Health Behavior; interventions; Meals; Mothers; Of General Interest; Organizational Culture; Parent Child Relationship; Parent Participation; Parent School Relationship; parent-child relationships; parenting; Parents; Parents & parenting; Personal relationships; Sexuality. Marriage. Family relations; Sociology; Sociology of the family. Age groups; Sociology of work; Sociology of work and sociology of organizations; Spouses; Telecommuting; Teleworking; White collar workers; work; Work Environment; Work environments; Work hours; Working conditions; Working Hours; Working population. Employment. Women's work; Working time; Workplaces; Working time; Cross-section analysis; Statistical analysis; Parent; Gender difference; Work conditions; Workplace; Flexibility; Parent-Child Relationship; White collar; Role Conflict; Time-Table; Perception; interventions; parent – child relationships; gender; work; parenting
• ISSN: 0022-2445; 1741-3737
• DOI: 10.1111/jomf.12047

Employed parents perceive a time squeeze even as trends from the 1960s show they are spending more time with their children. Work conditions (e.g., hours and schedule control) would seem to affect both parents' time with children and perceived time squeeze, but most studies rely on cross-sectional data that do not establish causality. The authors examined the effects of the introduction of a workplace flexibility initiative (Results Only Work Environment [ROWE]) on changes in mothers' and fathers' perceptions of the adequacy of their time with children and actual time spent with children (N = 225). Baseline data show the importance of work conditions for parents' sense of perceived time adequacy. Panel data show that mothers (but not fathers) in ROWE report increased schedule control and improved time adequacy, but no change in actual time spent with children, except that ROWE increases evening meals with children for mothers sharing few meals at baseline.