Nonstandard work schedules in the UK: What are the implications for parental mental health and relationship happiness?

Figures & data

Table 1. Descriptive statistics of the pooled sample of employed mothers, by schedule (mean or percent).

	Full Sample		Nonstandard		Standard		p value
Variable	Mean or %	SD	Mean or %	SD	Mean or %	SD
Mental health (0–24)	2.80	3.26	2.93	3.37	2.71	3.17	0.00
Relationship happiness (0–6) (n = 32,313)	4.72	1.41	4.69	1.42	4.75	1.41	0.01
Nonstandard schedule
Evening	32.87		77.69		—		—
Weekend	24.33		57.49		—		—
Night	9.76		23.07		—		—
Standard (no to all nonstandard)	57.69		—		—		—
Time-stable characteristics
Education
No qualifications	4.33		5.63		3.37		0.00
Overseas	1.11		0.98		1.21		0.21
NVQ1	5.93		6.87		5.25		0.00
NVQ2 (GCSE)	29.01		28.69		29.25		0.49
NVQ3 (A-level)	15.78		14.45		16.76		0.00
NVQ4+ (degree or more)	43.83		43.38		44.16		0.39
Race/ethnicity
White	93.72		94.19		93.37		0.04
Indian	1.76		1.74		1.77		0.88
Pakistani/Bangladeshi	0.91		0.67		1.08		0.00
Black/Black British	2.11		1.95		2.23		0.20
Other	1.50		1.45		1.54		0.64
Time-varying covariates
Weekly work hours
1–19 hours	37.05		36.77		37.26		0.52
20–34 hours	38.80		36.27		40.66		0.00
35–44 hours	19.88		19.30		20.31		0.09
45+ hours	4.26		7.66		1.76		0.00
Occupational categories
Managerial/Professional	40.55		40.75		40.40		0.67
Intermediate	22.80		12.81		30.13		0.00
Small emp./Self-emp.	8.05		10.43		6.31		0.00
Lower supervisory/technical	3.73		5.11		2.72		0.00
Semi-routine and routine	24.86		30.90		20.44		0.00
Age (in years)	35.67	6.40	35.05	6.67	36.13	6.15	0.00
Child age (months)	66.86	43.26	65.52	42.95	67.85	43.46	0.00
Weekly net family income	591.88	304.09	570.35	303.02	607.67	303.91	0.00
Two-parent family	87.30		87.60		87.20		0.41
Presence of grandparent	3.46		3.82		3.19		0.02
Number of siblings	1.07	0.88	1.12	0.90	1.03	0.86	0.00
Person-year observations	37,814		15,984		21,830

Note: Data were pooled across the first five waves of MCS. Higher scores on mental health indicate worse mental health whereas higher scores on relationship happiness indicate higher levels of happiness. The p value column denotes statistical differences between nonstandard and standard work schedule observations.

Small emp. = Small employer. Self-emp. = Self-employed. NVQ = National Vocational Qualification. GCSE = General Certificate of Secondary Education.

Table 2. Descriptive statistics of the pooled sample of employed fathers, by schedule (mean or percent).

	Full Sample		Nonstandard		Standard		p value
Variable	Mean or %	SD	Mean or %	SD	Mean or %	SD
Mental health (0–24)	3.07	3.22	3.15	3.24	2.95	3.20	0.01
Relationship happiness (0–6) (n = 23,440)	4.80	1.39	4.81	1.39	4.80	1.38	0.50
Nonstandard schedule
Evening	44.40		78.10		—		—
Weekend	30.84		54.25		—		—
Night	17.22		30.28		—		—
Standard (no to all nonstandard)	43.14		—		—		—
Time-stable characteristics
Education
No qualifications	6.62		6.54		6.72		0.68
Overseas	2.10		2.24		1.92		0.17
NVQ1	6.04		6.08		5.99		0.83
NVQ2 (GCSE)	26.70		26.37		27.14		0.34
NVQ3 (A-level)	16.14		15.44		17.06		0.02
NVQ4+ (degree or more)	42.40		43.34		41.18		0.02
Race/ethnicity
White	92.03		91.02		93.35		0.00
Indian	2.07		2.38		1.67		0.01
Pakistani/Bangladeshi	2.50		3.15		1.64		0.00
Black/Black British	1.53		1.41		1.69		0.23
Other	1.87		2.03		1.66		0.12
Time-varying covariates
Weekly work hours
1–19 hours	1.52		1.39		1.71		0.11
20–34 hours	4.84		4.71		5.00		0.39
35–44 hours	58.83		47.52		73.74		0.00
45+ hours	34.80		46.38		19.55		0.00
Occupational categories
Managerial/Professional	49.83		49.81		49.86		0.95
Intermediate	5.73		4.88		6.84		0.00
Small emp./Self-emp.	14.92		18.01		10.85		0.00
Lower supervisory/technical	12.54		11.00		14.57		0.00
Semi-routine and routine	16.98		16.30		17.88		0.01
Age (in years)	37.85	7.27	38.11	7.24	37.51	7.29	0.00
Child age (months)	63.31	52.56	65.43	52.50	60.52	52.52	0.00
Weekly net family income	598.68	304.48	615.55	321.20	576.46	279.38	0.00
Presence of grandparent	3.08		3.25		2.85		0.18
Number of siblings	1.16	0.96	1.20	0.96	1.12	0.96	0.00
Person-year observations	23,664		13,458		10,206

Note: Data were pooled across the 9-month, Age 7 and Age 11 waves of MCS. Higher scores on mental health indicate worse mental health whereas higher scores on relationship happiness indicate higher levels of happiness. The p value column denotes statistical differences between nonstandard and standard work schedule observations.

Small emp. = Small employer. Self-emp. = Self-employed. NVQ = National Vocational Qualification. GCSE = General Certificate of Secondary Education.

Table 3. Associations between nonstandard work schedules and mental health among mothers and fathers from fixed effects models.

	Mothers		Fathers
	Model 1 B (SE)	Model 2 B (SE)	Model 1 B (SE)	Model 2 B (SE)
Panel 1: Nonstandard work schedule	0.001 (0.012)	0.000 (0.011)	0.064*** (0.018)	0.064*** (0.018)
Panel 2: Types of nonstandard work
Worked evenings	−0.004 (0.012)	−0.007 (0.012)	0.055** (0.020)	0.058** (0.020)
Worked weekends	−0.003 (0.013)	−0.003 (0.013)	0.048* (0.020)	0.051* (0.020)
Worked nights	0.016 (0.018)	0.011 (0.018)	0.017 (0.026)	0.012 (0.026)
Person-years	37,814	37,814	23,664	23,664
Unique observations	12,646	12,646	11,675	11,675

Note: Regression coefficients are in standard deviation units. Reference category for the work schedule variables is standard hours only. Model 1 includes individual fixed effects. Model 2 includes individual fixed effects and time-varying covariates.

*p < .05. **p < .01. ***p < .001.

Table 4. Associations between nonstandard work schedules and relationship happiness among partnered mothers and fathers from fixed-effects models.

	Mothers		Fathers
	Model 1 B (SE)	Model 2 B (SE)	Model 1 B (SE)	Model 2 B (SE)
Panel 1: Nonstandard work schedule	−0.017 (0.016)	−0.017 (0.016)	−0.003 (0.020)	0.006 (0.020)
Panel 2: Types of nonstandard work
Worked evenings	−0.002 (0.020)	−0.003 (0.020)	0.002 (0.021)	−0.000 (0.024)
Worked weekends	0.011 (0.022)	0.011 (0.022)	0.026 (0.022)	0.041 (0.026)
Worked nights	−0.074* (0.032)	−0.076* (0.032)	−0.043 (0.027)	−0.044 (0.032)
Person-years	32,313	32,313	23,440	23,440
Unique observations	11,375	11,375	11,580	11,580

Note: Regression coefficients are in standard deviation units. Reference category for the work schedule variables is standard hours only. Model 1 includes individual fixed effects. Model 2 includes individual fixed effects and time-varying covariates.

*p < .05.

Table 5. Associations between joint parental nonstandard work schedules, mental health, and relationship happiness from fixed effects models.

	Mothers’ mental health		Mothers’ relationship happiness
Joint work schedules	Model 1 B (SE)	Model 2 B (SE)	Model 1 B (SE)	Model 2 B (SE)
Both parents nonstandard (ref: Both parents standard)	−0.015 (0.024)	−0.001 (0.024)	−0.071 (0.041)	−0.070 (0.042)
Mother nonstandard/father standard	−0.005 (0.025)	−0.007 (0.025)	−0.012 (0.041)	−0.015 (0.041)
Mother standard/father nonstandard	−0.009 (0.021)	0.006 (0.020)	−0.089* (0.035)	−0.085* (0.035)
Person-years	16,920	16,920	16,794	16,794
Unique observations	9,305	9,305	9,256	9,256
	Fathers’ mental health		Fathers’ relationship happiness
Joint work schedules	Model 1 B (SE)	Model 2 B (SE)	Model 1 B (SE)	Model 2 B (SE)
Both parents nonstandard (ref: Both parents standard)	0.054 (0.031)	0.059 (0.031)	−0.013 (0.035)	−0.002 (0.036)
Mother nonstandard/father standard	0.006 (0.033)	0.005 (0.033)	0.022 (0.036)	0.025 (0.036)
Mother standard/father nonstandard	0.071* (0.028)	0.076** (0.028)	0.013 (0.031)	0.020 (0.032)
Person-years	15,699	15,699	15,594	15,594
Unique observations	8,466	8,466	8,430	8,430

Note: Regression coefficients are in standard deviation units. Model 1 includes individual fixed effects. Model 2 includes individual fixed effects and time-varying covariates.

*p < .05. **p < .01.