The Gender Inequalities in Work Time Fragmentation and Anxiety: Latest Time Use Evidence in the UK

Due to the increasing work flexibility in the UK over the past decades, work time fragmentation and its gendered mental consequences have been subjects of ongoing debate in sociology and organisational management. This study adopts the time diary data in the UK during the Covid-19 pandemic (2020–2021) and employs a combination of Ordinary Least Squares regression and the Karlson-Holm-Breen method to investigate the nuanced gender-differentiated associations between British workers’ work time fragmentation, subjective time pressure and anxiety levels. This study surprisingly finds that both male and female workers tend to report lower anxiety levels when having a more fragmented work schedule. Female workers’ anxiety levels remain consistently higher than those of their male counterparts when having similar levels of work time fragmentation. In addition, among female workers, the observed association between fragmented work schedules and lower anxiety levels appears to be partially attenuated (34.1%) by a counteracting pattern involving higher levels of subjective time pressure. In contrast, such a mediation pattern is not observed among male workers. These findings underscore work time fragmentation as a potential form of ‘alleviation’ or ‘compensation’ for female workers’ higher anxiety levels, led by heavier domestic responsibilities, poorer work-life balance, and disadvantaged positions. However, the current work-family intervention should not solely rely on ‘more flexible yet fragmented work arrangements’ to alleviate workers’ anxiety levels. Instead, policies supporting better work-life balance, such as accessible childcare services and longer paid leave, are essential for effectively reducing anxiety among female workers.