Determinants and Consequences of Work Schedule Quality for Child and Family Well-Being

Session Submission Type: Panel

Abstract

Technological change and the expansion of the 24/7 service economy have substantially increased the prevalence of jobs that operate outside the traditional 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. schedule—such as evening, night, and rotating shifts—as well as jobs with unstable and unpredictable work schedules (Presser, 2005). These developments have coincided with broader declines in job quality, including reductions in the real value of wages (Harknett & Schneider, 2020). These trends are particularly concerning given the negative implications they may have for children and families. 

Prior studies have found that poor work schedule quality, such as nonstandard and unpredictable schedules, is associated with adverse outcomes for children and families, including parental mental health (e.g., Perry-Jenkins et al., 2007) and children’s cognitive and behavioral development (e.g., Han, 2005; Walther & Pilarz, 2024). Despite this evidence, substantial gaps remain. In particular, more research is needed on the forces that further exacerbate declining job quality, including work schedule quality, and the consequences of work schedule quality for broader dimensions of parental well-being (e.g., hours worked, health) and child well-being (e.g., health and health care use). Additionally, little is known about how these relationships evolve across the life course or vary across national contexts.

This panel addresses these gaps by bringing together four papers that draw on diverse data sources and methodologies. The panel begins with a study examining one cause of work schedule instability, providing a novel analysis of how fissuring, specifically franchising, affects job quality in the service sector. The study finds that workers in franchised fast-food restaurants experience lower job quality—including poorer scheduling practices—than workers in non-franchised fast-food establishments.

The next three papers shift the focus to the consequences of work schedule quality for parents and children. The second paper focuses on how volatile work hours shape hours of labor supplied among service-sector workers with young children. The study’s findings that only a small percentage of study participants actually worked and got paid for full-time hours have critical implications for their access to safety net benefits and economic well-being. The third paper, using a life-course and cross-national perspective, investigates parents’ longitudinal work schedule patterns across adulthood. The study finds that certain schedule trajectories, particularly those involving transitions between daytime and non-daytime hours, are negatively linked to parental health, with cross-national variation. The fourth paper takes an intergenerational approach by examining associations between multiple dimensions of parental work schedule quality and children’s health-related outcomes during early childhood, a critical developmental period. Using propensity score–weighted models, the study finds that, relative to regular daytime work, nonstandard schedules are associated with poorer child health while other aspects of work schedule quality (e.g., variable schedules) are not.

This panel also includes two discussants, who bring expertise in academic research and real-world policymaking. Together, the panel contributes policy-relevant evidence on the determinants and consequences of work schedule quality for families and children, with implications for employment policies, work scheduling practices, and child and family policies, particularly at the local and state levels.

Policy Area

• Family and Child Policy

Chair

• Harshita Sarup, University of New Hampshire

Discussants

• Kess Ballentine, Wayne State University

• Hilary C Wething, Economic Policy Institute

Organizer

• Stephanie Hong, Stony Brook University

Individual Presentations

• The Franchise Gap: Job Quality, Labor Policy, and Non-Compliance - Presenting Author: Daniel Schneider, Harvard University

• Schedule(d) Volatility in Hourly Service Work: A New Measure and Its Policy Implications - Presenting Author: Anna Gassman-Pines, Duke University

• Longitudinal Employment Patterns and Parental Health: A Cross-Country Look - Presenting Author: Wen-Jui Han, New York University

• How are Parents’ Work Schedules Associated with Their Children’s Health and Health Care Utilization? - Presenting Author: Stephanie Hong, Stony Brook University