Suchergebnisse

This paper investigates the link between non-standard employment (NSE) and the risk of partnership dissolution, applying event history analysis to data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) and the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey for the period 2001–2016. It moves beyond previous studies by (a) considering a broader range of employment types, including fixed-term and casual contracts, temporary agency work and part-time work, and (b) by comparing the effect of NSE in nonmarital cohabitations and marriages. The results show that the effect differs by employment type, gender and partnership type. For example, among women, part-time work is associated with a decreased dissolution risk compared to full-time work in marriages but not in cohabitations. Temporary employment is linked to increased dissolution risks compared to permanent employment in both partnership types, with the association partly being stronger for casual and/or agency work than for fixed-term contracts.

AbstractObjectiveThis study investigates the effects of working from home (WFH) on both work‐to‐family conflict (WTFC) and family‐to‐work conflict (FTWC) among parents, and whether family demands and the COVID‐19 pandemic moderate these effects.BackgroundThe COVID‐19 pandemic saw a marked increase in the incidence of WFH in many countries, which many argue has been beneficial for families. Convincing evidence in support of this hypothesis, however, is scarce.MethodPanel data from 19 waves of the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey (covering the period 2001 to 2021) are used to estimate fixed effects regression models of both FTWC and WTFC where the explanatory variable of interest is the share of usual weekly work hours worked from home. The sample is restricted to working parents aged between 18 and 64 years (9850 persons; 54,764 observations).ResultsFor both genders, the level of WTFC declines with the proportion of time worked from home. By contrast, the association between WFH and FTWC differs between mothers and fathers, with FTWC lower for mothers but higher for fathers (and especially for single fathers and those with young children) when working mostly from home. These associations remained largely unchanged during the pandemic.ConclusionWFH is particularly beneficial for mothers' reconciliation of work and family life but has ambivalent effects for fathers. This, in turn, may mean mothers will be more likely than fathers to have preferences for continuing WFH post pandemic.

Longitudinal evidence on whether, and under what conditions, working from home is good or bad for family life is largely absent. Using 15 waves of data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia Survey, this study investigates the association between working from home and work–family conflict among parents. Fixed-effects structural equation models reveal that more hours worked at home are associated with less work–family conflict. This association, however, is only sizeable (and significant) for those working most of their hours at home. Furthermore, mothers benefit significantly more from home working than fathers. Additionally, mediation analysis suggests the association between working from home and work–family conflict is partly mediated by the level of schedule control, commuting time, and unsocial work hours. Whereas increased schedule control and less commuting among home workers reduce work–family conflict, home working is also associated with more unsocial work hours, which increases work–family conflict.

AbstractUsing data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey, and after restricting attention to employees, we observe an increase over time in the non‐standard employment share, all of which is concentrated in the period since 2009. Further, we find clear evidence that employees in non‐standard forms of employment have experienced relatively low rates of growth in hourly wages when compared with permanent full‐time employees. Nevertheless, decomposition analysis suggests that changes in workforce composition by employment type have had a very small (and insignificant) impact on the overall rate of wage growth in recent years.

While it is often believed that temporary forms of employment, such as fixed-term contracts, casual work and temporary agency work, provide workers with more flexibility to balance work and private commitments, convincing empirical evidence on this issue is still scarce. This paper investigates the association between temporary employment and work-life balance in Australia, using longitudinal data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia Survey for the period 2001 to 2017. In contrast to previous studies, we compare results from pooled cross-sectional and fixed-effects regressions to investigate the role of time-constant unobserved worker characteristics in linking temporary employment and work-life outcomes. The results show that, after accounting for job characteristics and person-specific fixed-effects, among women only casual employment is unequivocally associated with better work-life outcomes than permanent employment. For men, we mostly find negative associations between all forms of temporary employment and work-life outcomes, but the magnitudes of these associations are much smaller and mostly insignificant in fixed-effects models. This result suggests that male temporary employees have stable unobserved traits that are connected to poorer work-life balance.

Objective: This article introduces the reader to the Special Issue "Labour markets, families and public policies shaping gender relations and parenting" and gives a theoretical and empirical overview of gender roles and gender equality in Europe. Background: This Special Issue analyses the connection between labour markets, families, social policy, and gender relations in several European countries. Method: The six included articles are based on qualitative and quantitative approaches and data that have been gathered in Finland, Norway, Poland, Spain, and across the entire EU. Results: Key findings are: (1) In less egalitarian countries, children of single parents suffer more nutritional, educational and social life deprivation. (2) The institutional design of parental leave can contribute to reproducing gender inequality in the use of leave. (3) The institutional design interacts with cultural norms in shaping fatherhood practices of migrant fathers. (4) Individualised, performance-based wage and career schemes can counteract the effects of gender-equalising family policies. (5) Fathers taking leave independently from the mother and for an extended period are more involved in childcare beyond the leave period, and (6) the use of longer unpaid parental leave by mothers leads to a more unequal distribution of childcare between the parents. Conclusion: This Special Issue highlights that even in the most egalitarian countries, there remain persistent challenges to achieving gender equality regarding labour market, institutions and family life.

Objective: This paper investigates whether weekend work is associated with higher levels of work-family conflict (WFC) among parents, and whether resources like schedule control or presence of a partner mitigate this effect. Background: The 24/7 economy requires many workers to work on weekends. Nevertheless, research on the impact of weekend work on families, and on WFC in particular, is underdeveloped, with previous studies relying on cross-sectional data and small samples. Method: Associations between regular weekend work and a measure of WFC are examined using data from fourteen waves of the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey. The sample is restricted to workers aged 18 to 64 years with parenting responsibilities for children aged 17or less (7,753 individuals, 40,216 observations). Both pooled ordinary least squares and fixed-effects regression models are estimated. Results: Among both genders, weekend workers have significantly higher levels of WFC than those who only work weekdays. WFC is particularly high for those who work weekends and simultaneously have little control over their schedule. And whereas WFC is generally higher for single parents, week-end work affects WFC similarly for couple and single parents. Conclusion: Weekend work generally has a detrimental effect on workers' ability to combine employment with parenting commitments. However, work-domain resources like schedule control can buffer the impact of weekend work.

On average, temporary jobs are far less stable than permanent jobs. This higher instability could potentially lower workers' incentives to relocate towards the workplace, thereby resulting in longer commutes. However, surprisingly few studies have investigated the link between temporary employment and commuting length. Building on the notion that individuals strive to optimize their utility when deciding where to work and live, we develop and test a theoretical framework that predicts commuting outcomes for different types of temporary workers - fixed-term, casual and temporary agency workers - and in different institutional contexts. We estimate fixed-effects regression models using 17 waves of data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey and the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP). As expected, the results show that the link between temporary employment and commuting length varies by employment type and institutional context. Agency work is associated with longer commutes than permanent work in both countries, whereas this applies to fixed-term contracts for Germany only. For casual work, the findings suggest no commuting length differential to permanent employment. In terms of policy, our findings suggest lengthy commuting can be a side effect of flexible labour markets, with potentially negative implications for worker well-being, transportation management and the environment.

Soziale Berufe zeichnen sich durch hohe Systemrelevanz bei niedrigem Einkommen aus. Berufe in der Pflege, Erziehung und Sozialarbeit werden ganz überwiegend von Frauen ausgeübt. Beschäftigte in sozialen Berufen arbeiten häufig in Teilzeit. Vielfach arbeiten die Beschäftigten nicht im gewünschten Stundenumfang. Gesundheitspflegende wollen besonders oft Stunden reduzieren, während in der Altenpflege sowie Erziehung und Sozialarbeit Beschäftigte oft mehr Stunden arbeiten wollen. Vielfach sind die Beschäftigten durch großen Zeitdruck belastet. Viele Beschäftigte erwägen, die Stelle zu wechseln. Höherer Stundenlohn, mehr Zeitautonomie und nachhaltiges Gesundheits- und Belastungsmanagement wären bedeutsame Impulse für die Aufwertung sozialer Berufe.

This paper examines the impact of the growth in the incidence of working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic on workers' job satisfaction. Using longitudinal data collected in 2019 and 2021 as part of the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey, fixed-effects models of job satisfaction are estimated. Changes in the share of total weekly work hours usually worked from home are not found to have any significant association with changes in job satisfaction for men. In contrast, a strong significant positive (but non-linear) association is found for women, and this relationship is concentrated on women with children. These findings suggest the main benefit of working from home for workers arises from the improved ability to combine work and family responsibilities, something that matters more to women given they continue to shoulder most of the responsibility for house and care work.

In der Pandemie ist die Lebenszufriedenheit deutlich gesunken, vor allem in Zeiten von Kontaktbeschränkungen. Nach Lockerung der Restriktionen ist die Lebenszufriedenheit wieder etwas angestiegen. Um gut durch Krisen zu kommen, sind u.a. drei Dinge wichtig: Gute Beziehungen in der Familie, finanzielle Sicherheit und die Fähigkeit zu Optimismus. Familie zu haben, und dabei vor allem eine gute Beziehungsqualität in der Partnerschaft und zu den Kindern, war in der Pandemie zentral für das Wohlbefinden. Familienpolitik ist in Krisenzeiten besonders wichtig. Dies umfasst verlässliche, ganztägige Kita- und Schulbetreuung, niederschwellige psychosoziale Beratungsangebote für Kinder und Jugendliche sowie familienfreundlichere Arbeitsplätze. Etwa ein Drittel der Menschen im mittleren Alter hatte ernsthafte finanzielle Sorgen in der Pandemie, was mit einer niedrigeren Lebenszufriedenheit verbunden war. Politische Maßnahmen wie Kurzarbeit (oder bei der Energiekrise die Gaspreisbremse), die finanzielle Risiken schnell abfedern, sind hier hilfreich. Die Fähigkeit, auch in Krisen positive Seiten zu sehen, hängt eng mit einer höheren Lebenszufriedenheit zusammen. Eine Prise Optimismus und ein Blick auf andere Lebensaspekte können in Krisen zu Resilienz beitragen. Politik sollte die Chancen, die sich aus Krisen ergeben, angehen und unterstützende Maßnahmen breit kommunizieren.