IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/iae/iaewps/wp2006n19.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Who Wants Flexibility? Changing Work Hours Preferences and Life Events

Author

Listed:
  • Robert Drago

    (Pennsylvania State University, USA)

  • David Black

    (Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne and Brotherhood of St Laurence)

  • Mark Wooden

    (Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne)

Abstract

We consider desires for flexibility in weekly hours by analyzing changes in work hours preferences using four years of data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey. We control for work hours preferences in previous years and test for effects on desired labor force participation and, for those wishing to participate, on current hours preferences. Our findings reveal that, in general, women are more sensitive to life events than men. Women’s preferred hours and labor force participation decline sharply with pregnancy and the arrival of children; their preferred hours approach usual levels as children enter school and ultimately decline as they become empty-nesters. We also find women’s preferred hours increasing following separation but falling after divorce, with an opposing pattern for men. Finally, a sizeable minority of retirees have preferences for phased instead of full retirement.

Suggested Citation

  • Robert Drago & David Black & Mark Wooden, 2006. "Who Wants Flexibility? Changing Work Hours Preferences and Life Events," Melbourne Institute Working Paper Series wp2006n19, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne.
    • Handle: RePEc:iae:iaewps:wp2006n19
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://melbourneinstitute.unimelb.edu.au/downloads/working_paper_series/wp2006n19.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. René Böheim & Mark P. Taylor, 2004. "Actual and Preferred Working Hours," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 42(1), pages 149-166, March.
    2. Kelly Bedard & Olivier Deschênes, 2005. "Sex Preferences, Marital Dissolution, and the Economic Status of Women," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 40(2).
    3. Yi-Ping Tseng & Mark Wooden, 2005. "Preferred vs Actual Working Hours in Couple Households," Melbourne Institute Working Paper Series wp2005n07, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne.
    4. Jane Waldfogel, 2006. "What do children need?," Public Policy Review, Institute for Public Policy Research, vol. 13(1), pages 26-34, March.
    5. Johnson, William R & Skinner, Jonathan, 1986. "Labor Supply and Marital Separation," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 76(3), pages 455-469, June.
    6. repec:bla:ausecr:v:37:y:2004:i:3:p:343-349 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Landers, Renee M & Rebitzer, James B & Taylor, Lowell J, 1996. "Rat Race Redux: Adverse Selection in the Determination of Work Hours in Law Firms," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 86(3), pages 329-348, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Bonke, Jens & Schultz-Nielsen, Marie Louise, 2014. "Do Preferences Impact Behavior and Wellbeing? A Panel Study of Preferred and Actual Working Time 2001-2008/09," IZA Discussion Papers 8356, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Nadia Steiber, 2008. ""How Many Hours Would you Want to Work a Week?": Job Quality and the Omitted Variables Bias in Labour Supply Models," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 121, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    3. Bonke, Jens & Schultz-Nielsen, Marie Louise, 2014. "Are working hour preferences satisfied?," Nationaløkonomisk tidsskrift, Nationaløkonomisk Forening, vol. 2014(1), pages 1-25.
    4. Javier García-Manglano, 2015. "Opting Out and Leaning In: The Life Course Employment Profiles of Early Baby Boom Women in the United States," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 52(6), pages 1961-1993, December.
    5. Wanger, Susanne, 2017. "What makes employees satisfied with their working time? : The role of working hours, time-sovereignty and working conditions for working time and job satisfaction," IAB-Discussion Paper 201720, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany].

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Robert Drago & Mark Wooden & David Black, 2009. "Long Work Hours: Volunteers and Conscripts," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 47(3), pages 571-600, September.
    2. Patricia E. van Echtelt & Arie C. Glebbeek & Siegwart M. Lindenberg, 2006. "The new lumpiness of work," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 20(3), pages 493-512, September.
    3. Alison Aughinbaugh, 2010. "The effects of remarriage on women’s labor supply," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 23(4), pages 1151-1176, September.
    4. Alameddine, Mohamad & Otterbach, Steffen & Rafii, Bayan & Sousa-Poza, Alfonso, 2018. "Work hour constraints in the German nursing workforce: A quarter of a century in review," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 122(10), pages 1101-1108.
    5. Fouarge, D. & Baaijens, F P., 2009. "Job mobility and hours of work: the effect of Dutch legislation," ROA Research Memorandum 004, Maastricht University, Research Centre for Education and the Labour Market (ROA).
    6. Michael C. Knaus & Steffen Otterbach, 2019. "Work Hour Mismatch And Job Mobility: Adjustment Channels And Resolution Rates," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 57(1), pages 227-242, January.
    7. Hayley Fisher & Hamish Low, 2015. "Financial implications of relationship breakdown: Does marriage matter?," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 13(4), pages 735-769, December.
    8. Constantinos Alexiou & Adimulya Kartiyasa, 2020. "Does greater income inequality cause increased work hours? New evidence from high income economies," Bulletin of Economic Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 72(4), pages 380-392, October.
    9. Rafael González†Val & Miriam Marcén, 2018. "Club Classification of US Divorce Rates," Manchester School, University of Manchester, vol. 86(4), pages 512-532, July.
    10. Rupert, Peter & Zanella, Giulio, 2018. "Grandchildren and their grandparents' labor supply," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 159(C), pages 89-103.
    11. Weber, Enzo & Zimmert, Franziska, 2017. "The creation and resolution of working hour discrepancies over the life course," IAB-Discussion Paper 201729, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany].
    12. Samuel Bowles & Yongjin Park, 2005. "Emulation, Inequality, and Work Hours: Was Thorsten Veblen Right?," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 115(507), pages 397-412, November.
    13. Betsey Stevenson & Justin Wolfers, 2007. "Marriage and Divorce: Changes and their Driving Forces," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 21(2), pages 27-52, Spring.
    14. Constant, Amelie F. & Otterbach, Steffen, 2011. "Work Hours Constraints: Impacts and Policy Implications," IZA Policy Papers 35, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    15. Carole Bonnet & Bertrand Garbinti & Anne Solaz, 2021. "The flip side of marital specialization: the gendered effect of divorce on living standards and labor supply," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 34(2), pages 515-573, April.
    16. Beckmannshagen, Mattis & Schröder, Carsten, 2022. "Earnings inequality and working hours mismatch," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    17. Bonke, Jens & Schultz-Nielsen, Marie Louise, 2014. "Do Preferences Impact Behavior and Wellbeing? A Panel Study of Preferred and Actual Working Time 2001-2008/09," IZA Discussion Papers 8356, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    18. Scott Drewianka & Martin E. Meder, 2020. "Simultaneity and selection in financial hardship and divorce," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 18(4), pages 1245-1265, December.
    19. Papps, Kerry L., 2006. "The Effects of Divorce Risk on the Labour Supply of Married Couples," IZA Discussion Papers 2395, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    20. Steffen Otterbach, 2010. "Mismatches Between Actual and Preferred Work Time: Empirical Evidence of Hours Constraints in 21 Countries," Journal of Consumer Policy, Springer, vol. 33(2), pages 143-161, June.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:iae:iaewps:wp2006n19. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sheri Carnegie (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/mimelau.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.