Sunday Work and Sociability Loss: A U.S. - France Comparison

• In Event: 273 - Regular Session. Sociology of Time Use

Abstract

In this paper, we investigate the consequences of Sunday work on sociability in the US and France. From a historical point of view, Sunday has been widely regarded as the usual weekly day of rest. In the US, the so-called “blue laws” used to regulate locally the politics of Sunday work. Even if they still exist in some counties, these laws have been by and large relaxed or repealed for decades. In France, Sunday work is regulated at the national level and this regulation was relaxed quite recently (2008 and 2009). To examine the extent to which Sunday work is a penalty in terms of sociability (family and friends) for these two countries, we analyze two representative surveys: the American Time Use Survey (2003-2012) and the French Time Use Survey (2009-2010). Using regression analyses, we show that in France, Sunday work is associated with a loss of time spent with family members and friends. Moreover, this loss is not recovered another day, not worked, of the week, mainly because family members and friends are not as available as they are on Sunday.

Authors

• Jean-Yves Boulin, University of Paris Dauphine

• Laurent Lesnard, Sciences Po