Gender Equality and Restless Sleep Among Partnered Europeans
| Date | 01 August 2018 |
| Author | David J. Maume,Belinda Hewitt,Leah Ruppanner |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/jomf.12488 |
| Published date | 01 August 2018 |
D J. M University of Cincinnati
B H University of Melbourne∗
L R University of Melbourne∗∗
Gender Equality and Restless Sleep Among
Partnered Europeans
Sleep is situated in the work–family nexus and
can be shaped by national norms promoting
gender equality. The authors tested this propo-
sition using individual data from the European
Social Survey matched to a country-level mea-
sure of gender equality. In individual-level
models, women’s sleep was more troubled by
the presence of children in the home and part-
ners’ unemployment, whereas men’s restless
sleep was associated with their own unemploy-
ment and worries about household nances. In
country-level models, the authors nd that in
nations that empower women and elevate their
status, men and women alike report sounder
sleep, and the gender gap in restless sleep is
signicantly reduced among those living in
gender-equal countries. This study adds to the
understanding of gender differences in sleep
quality and provides new evidence on the impor-
tance of the national context in shaping the pat-
tern of gender inequality in the domestic sphere.
Department of Sociology, Universityof Cincinnati, 301
Clifton Court, Cincinnati, Ohio USA 45221-3017
(maumedj@ucmail.uc.edu).
∗School of Political and Social Sciences, University of
Melbourne, 401 Grattan Street, Melbourne, Victoria,
Australia.
∗∗School of Social and Political Sciences, University of
Melbourne, 401 Grattan Street, Melbourne, Victoria,
Australia.
KeyWords: gender,international, sleep, work–family issues.
A growing body of research shows that gen-
dered sleep patterns stem from inequality in the
work–family nexus. That is, gender inequality in
waking obligations, demands, and stresses asso-
ciated with work and family roles is associated
with gender differences in sleep disruption (Bur-
gard, 2011; Burgard & Ailshire, 2013; Hislop &
Arber, 2006, 2003; Maume, Sebastian, & Bardo,
2010; Sekine, Chandola, Martikainen, Marmot,
& Kagamimori, 2006; Venn, Arber, Meadows,
& Hislop, 2008). Most studies, however, draw
on samples from a single country, thus raising
the following question: If nations vary in pro-
moting gender equality, will the incidence and
determinants of gender differences in sleep sim-
ilarly vary across national contexts?
Toour knowledge, the sleep literature is silent
on this question. This is in stark contrast to a
growing body of research showing that gendered
time use varies systematically across national
contexts. These studies (reviewed in this article)
indicate that men and women’s waking time is
driven by gendered allocations of work and fam-
ily responsibilities and levels of societal gender
equality.Sleep time may also be sensitive to con-
texts of gender equality above and beyond the
established gender effects.
We argue that sleep, similar to paid work
and unpaid family work, is situated in the
work–family nexus and can be shaped by
national norms promoting gender equality.
We test this proposition with individual data
from the European Social Survey matched to a
1040 Journal of Marriage and Family 80 (August 2018): 1040–1058
DOI:10.1111/jomf.12488
Gender Equality and Restless Sleep 1041
country-level measure of gender equality. Our
analyses show that work–family stressors differ-
entially affect sleep by gender, but that both men
and women sleep better with increased gender
equality. This study adds to our understanding
of gender inequality in sleep and provides new
evidence on the importance of the national con-
text in shaping the pattern of gender inequality
in the domestic sphere.
G, W–F N,
S
Most adults provide and care for family mem-
bers, and how men and women allocate their
time across work–family obligations has been
the subject of much research (for a review, see
Ridgeway, 2011). Often, this research seeks to
assess progress toward gender equality through
the following central question: If men have
increased their time in family care work as
women increase their time in paid market work,
does this signal progress toward gender parity
in work-family role obligations (Baxter, 1997;
Esping-Andersen, 2009)?
Recent analyses conrm the persistence
of gendered cultural assumptions structuring
men’s and women’stime use (Esping-Andersen,
2009; Ridgeway, 2011). For example, although
cultural expectations of men have expanded
to include more involvement in family life,
it is still the case that men see their rst and
primary role as family provider (Baxter, 1997;
Derickson, 2013; Townsend, 2002). Similarly,
despite expanding denitions of motherhood
that include career pursuits, women are still
mainly responsible for caring for family mem-
bers (Monna & Gauthier, 2008; Ridgeway,
2011). In light of these different expectations
of time use it is perhaps not surprising that the
latest evidence from time diaries show that men
still allocate most of their total work time to
paid work in the labor market, whereas women
still do two thirds of all unpaid care work within
the home (Monna & Gauthier, 2008; Sullivan,
2013).
Scholars are increasingly analyzing gendered
patterns of sleep as a dimension of time use
within the work–family nexus. Although not
denying the biological imperativeof sleep, social
scientists have succeeded in showing that sleep
is also a form of discretionary time use that is
connected to sentient role obligations. That is, to
the extent there is gender inequality in daily role
obligations to employers and family members,
there will be gender differences in the quality of
sleep at night (Burgard, 2011; Burgard & Ail-
shire, 2013; Hislop & Arber, 2003; Maume et al.,
2009, 2010).
Starting with the paid work side of the
work–family nexus, ndings from analyses of
time diaries show that time in paid work has a
strong negative effect on sleep (Burgard & Ail-
shire, 2013). Because time is a nite resource,
increasing time in paid work should reduce time
available for sleep (Chatzitheochari & Arber,
2009). In addition, the stresses of work can be
carried into the home where they can disrupt
sleep. In survey data, Burgard and Ailshire
(2009) found that full-time workers were more
likely to feel upset or bothered at work, which
in turn affected their sleep. Another survey of
Japanese workers reported that time in paid
work accounted for a substantial portion of the
gender gap in sleep quality (Sekine et al., 2006).
These studies suggest that if men are more
likely than women to hold paying jobs and to
work longer hours, work-related pressures and
stressors are more likely to disrupt men’s than
women’s sleep.
Qualitative studies suggest other ways in
which men’s commitment to work may disrupt
their sleep. Several interview studies of partners
showed that men’s commitment to breadwin-
ning privileged men’s sleep over women’s
(Hislop & Arber, 2006; Maume et al., 2010;
Meadows, Arber, Venn, & Hislop, 2008). That
is, men viewed sleep as a time to recover from
the demands of today’s work and prepare to be
at their best for tomorrow’s work. Furthermore,
because men thought their paid work was vital to
supporting the family (even if their partners also
held a paying job), men’s rights to a restful and
uninterrupted sleep were elevated over women’s
sleep needs (Venn et al., 2008). When men did
report problems in getting to or staying asleep at
night, they almost always cited concerns about
the next day’s work or how their pay affected
family nances (Maume et al., 2010). Of course,
it should also be noted that men who most iden-
tied as "breadwinners" saw their work as a
display of their strength and viewed the need
to sleep as a sign of weakness; such men often
opted to work longer hours at the expense of get-
ting adequate sleep (Derickson, 2013). Across
these studies, the following two generalizations
emerge: (a) men’s status as breadwinners privi-
leges their sleep over women’s; (b) men’s sleep
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