Mechanisms Connecting Unstable Work to Child Outcomes Among Child Care Subsidy Recipients

Background and Purpose: The well-being of low-income families remains tied to an increasingly precarious workforce: families from marginalized groups bear the brunt of wage inequality, job polarization, and declining job quality at the bottom at the income distribution (OECD 2015). Unpredictable work scheduling practices, in particular, threaten families’ ability to successfully arrange child care (Carrillo et al. 2017), maintain family routines (Golden 2015) and establish financial stability (Schneider & Harknett 2019). While more than half (70-85 percent) of low-income workers experience some kind of work schedule unpredictability (Lambert, Fugiel & Henly 2014), a dearth of studies have investigated the effects of parental work schedule unpredictability on child and family well-being. The purpose of this study is to estimate associations between parental work schedule instability and unpredictability and child wellbeing, and test several potential mediators of these associations. We hypothesize that work schedule instability and unpredictability will be associated with more child behavior problems via four mechanisms: work-family conflict, material hardship, parenting stress, and child care instability.

Methods: We use data from the Illinois - New York Child Care Partnership Study: a telephone survey of a random sample of 614 child care subsidy recipients from four regions in NY and IL. Parental work schedules are measured at the beginning of the study period when parents first started using a child care subsidy, and child behavior problems and mediators are measured at the time of the survey, approximately 18 months later. Work schedule instability is operationalized using four questions that ask how frequently parents’ work hours and shifts changed, how often they needed to stay later or leave unexpectedly, and how many weeks in advance they knew their schedule. Child behavior problems are measured using the Behavior Problems Index. We use structural equation models to test the hypothesized relationships between each dimension of work schedules and child behavior problems, directly and indirectly via four mediators. We control for a host of demographic (e.g., race), work-related (e.g., nonstandard schedule), and study-specific (e.g., site) factors that are expected to influence our key variables.

Results: Two dimensions of work schedules—variable shifts and having to leave early or stay late unexpectedly—were each associated with more child behavior problems. The association between variable shifts and child behavior was mediated by work-family conflict and parenting stress, while the association between having to leave early or stay late unexpectedly and child behavior was mediated by work-family conflict, material hardship, and parenting stress. Child care instability did not mediate these associations. Limited advance notice of work schedules and variable work hours were not associated with child behavior problems.

Implications: Our findings add to the small but growing literature suggesting adverse consequences of precarious work schedules on child and family wellbeing. This study is novel in its comprehensive measures of work schedules, child behavior, and multiple mediators. Findings underscore the need for Fair Scheduling Laws that limit employers’ “just-in-time” scheduling practices and give workers more control over their schedules and suggest that these laws could benefit child and family wellbeing.