Who Sets the Alarm Clock? Gendered Temporal Anchors Relative to Wake Time

• In Event: 2266 - Family Section Roundtables (1 hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: 17. Marriage and Time Use

Abstract

Research suggests that work and school start times affect what time we wake up in the morning. The present study situates work and school schedules in the family context, investigating how a person’s own work schedule, their co-residential partner’s work schedule, and their children’s school schedule associate with that person’s wake time. Given gender differences in work-family responsibilities and expectations, I pay particular attention to gender differences in how own work start time, partner’s work start time, and children’s school start time associate with wake time. I use mixed effects regression models to analyze Spanish and U.K. samples from the Multinational Time Use Study (MTUS). I find that own work start time significantly predicts wake time, but more so for men than for women. Partner’s work start time has a relatively small but significant association with wake time; however, this association does not differ by gender. Children’s school start time is associated with parents’ wake time in the U.K., but not in Spain; this association also does not differ by gender. These results contribute to a growing body of research suggesting the importance of situating sleep within partnership and family contexts.

Author

• Jess M. Meyer, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill