Nonstandard Work Schedules and Private Safety Nets Among Working Mothers
| Date | 01 June 2017 |
| Published date | 01 June 2017 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/jomf.12358 |
| Author | Jessica Houston Su,Rachel Dunifon |
J H S University at Buffalo, SUNY
R D Cornell University∗
Nonstandard Work Schedules and Private Safety
Nets Among Working Mothers
Although the implications of nonstandard work
schedules (work outside of the typical 9 – 5,
Monday – Friday schedule) for individuals and
families are increasingly well understood, it is
unclear how such schedules are associated with
perceived social support for working mothers.
Using data from the Fragile Families and Child
WellbeingStudy and a variety of methodological
approaches, we found mixed evidence for this
relationship. Results fromordinary least squares
and propensity-weighted models suggest that
working a nonstandard schedule is associated
with weaker perceived support, particularly
among those who are Black and less educated,
and those who exclusively work such a schedule.
Conversely, results from xed-effects models
suggest that changing from a standard to a
nonstandard schedule is associated with modest
increases in perceived social support. These
results add nuance to our understanding of the
implications of nonstandard work schedules for
families.
The U.S. economy operates on a cycle that
is 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and work
Department of Sociology, 455 Park Hall, Buffalo,NY,
14260 (jhsu2@buffalo.edu).
∗Department of Policy Analysis and Management, 2301
Martha VanRensselaer Hall, Ithaca, NY 14853.
This article was edited by Kelly Raley.
Key Words: maternal employment, work hours, social sup-
port, Fragile Familiesand Child Wellbeing Study.
outside of the typical 9 to 5, Monday through
Friday schedule is prevalent, especially among
disadvantaged populations (McMenamin, 2007;
Presser, 2003b). In 2011, one of four work-
ers with below-median income and one of
four Black workers had a nonstandard sched-
ule (Enchautegui, 2013). A growing body of
research examines the implications of nonstan-
dard work schedules for individuals and their
immediate families, but we know very little
about how such schedules inuence a mother’s
perceived social support. Perceivedi nstrumental
support, referred to here and in other work as a
private safety net (Edin & Lein, 1997; Harknett,
2006; Harknett & Hartnett, 2011; Kalil & Ryan,
2010; Ryan, Kalil, & Leininger, 2009; Turney
& Kao, 2009), is the tangible help that a mother
feels she could rely on others to provide, such
as emergency child care, shelter, or money.
Generally, workers with nonstandard sched-
ules spend less time with their spouses and
children (Wight, Raley, & Bianchi, 2008), have
lower quality and less stable romantic relation-
ships (Davis, Goodman, Pirretti, & Almeida,
2008; Maume & Sebastian, 2012; Presser, 2000;
White & Keith, 1990), use less effective parent-
ing practices (Joshi & Bogen, 2007; Strazdins,
Clements, Korda, Broom, & D’Souza, 2006),
and are less involved in community activities
(Cornwell & Warburton,2014) than those work-
ing standard schedules. These dynamics likely
extend to broader social relationships and may
limit the perceived availability of instrumental
social support. This is particularly relevant for
Journal of Marriage and Family 79 (June 2017): 597–613 597
DOI:10.1111/jomf.12358
598 Journal of Marriage and Family
working mothers with nonstandard schedules
in part because they may require more support
(Henly & Lambert, 2005; Henly & Lyons, 2000;
Knox, London, & Scott, 2003; Scott, London,
& Hurst, 2005).
Importantly, this study focuses on perceived
support, or the belief that future support would
be available if needed, rather than received sup-
port (Meadows, 2009). Research indicates that
perceived support serves as a greater buffer
against stress than received support (Cohen,
2004; Cohen & Wills, 1985; Haber, Cohen,
Lucas, & Baltes, 2007; Thoits, 1995; Wething-
ton & Kessler, 1986). Researchers hypothesize
that the perception of social support improves an
individual’s condence in his or her own abil-
ity to cope with adverse events and therefore
buffers against stress (Cohen & Wills, 1985).
This may provide peace of mind about everyday
stressors, such as having a car break down, hav-
ing a sick child, or making ends meet at the end
of the month (Edin & Lein, 1997; Thoits, 1986),
even if these events do not occur. The safety net
metaphor is therefore particularly apt; it is ben-
ecial to know that there is a safety net beneath
you even if you do not fall.
By contrast, received support may conate
the availability of social support with the need
for it (Harknett, 2006; Harknett & Hartnett,
2011). Research suggests that although people
do not want to be in a situation in which help is
needed and received, they do like knowing that
a network of support is available (Thoits, 2011).
Individuals who both need and receivemore sup-
port likely experience more hardship than those
who receive less, and this hardship might gen-
erate a spurious relationship between received
support and poorer well-being (Henly, Danziger,
& Offer, 2005). Indeed, research on a sample of
disadvantaged mothers found that receipt of sup-
port was associated with a higher likelihood of
depression, whereas the opposite was found for
perceived support (Meadows, 2009). Perceived
support is therefore arguably a more salient mea-
sure of the private safety net than received sup-
port (Henly et al., 2005).
A robust body of literature suggests that per-
ceived social support may benet disadvantaged
mothers in particular. For example, research
drawing on data from the Fragile Families and
Child Wellbeing Study (FFCWS), the same data
analyzed in the current study, nds that a strong
private safety net is associated with decreased
likelihood of depressive symptoms (Meadows,
2009). Private safety nets also mitigate some
of the stressors that are common among dis-
advantaged mothers, such as material hardship,
parenting stress (Manuel, Martinson, Bledsoe-
Mansori, & Bellamy, 2012), and work–family
conict (Ciabattari, 2007). Perceived support is
also linked to improved economic outcomes for
less advantaged mothers (Harknett, 2006; Henly
et al., 2005), and improved behaviors among
their children (Ryan et al., 2009).
To date, no existing quantitative study uses
robust methods and a large sample of mothers
and children to examine the linkages between
maternal nonstandard work schedules and per-
ceived instrumental support. Our study lls this
gap. Drawing on a sample of urban working
mothers with young children from the FFCWS,
we address the following three questions: Is
a nonstandard work schedule associated with
mothers’ private safety nets? Does this relation-
ship vary by the mother’seducational attainment
or race? Does observed work schedule history,
such as exclusive exposure to a nonstandard
work schedule over a period of time, inuence
the private safety net?
L W S W P
S N
To motivate these questions, we draw on an eco-
logical systems framework that acknowledges
the interconnections between work, family, and
community (Bronfenbrenner, 1979; Voydanoff,
2007). Just as nonstandard work schedules are
related to an individual’s health and family
well-being, they likely also inuence an individ-
ual’s broader social relationships. This section
outlines some of the possible factors linking non-
standard work schedules to perceived support,
although testing such mechanisms is outside of
the scope of this article.
Evidence suggests that disadvantaged moth-
ers have a greater need for support but are
less likely to believe that support is available,
potentially because they are both more difcult
to support and are less likely to reciprocate
support (Harknett & Hartnett, 2011). Indeed,
research using FFCWS data found that factors
such as poverty, poor health (Harknett & Hart-
nett, 2011), multipartner fertility (Harknett &
Knab, 2007), and poor neighborhood conditions
(Turney & Harknett, 2010) are linked to reduced
private safety nets. In addition, employment
experiences, particularly unstable employment,
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