Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management

Gaps in school readiness explain about half of later disparities in school achievement and children from economically disadvantaged backgrounds start the farthest behind (Duncan & Murnane, 2011). To close gaps in school readiness, we need to better understand what factors produce those gaps. One understudied contributing factor to school readiness is the role of maternal employment, and in particular, how precarious employment, unpredictable or uncertain work, is linked with child wellbeing. This is an important omission as precarious work has risen in recent decades (Kalleberg, 2013) especially among economically disadvantaged groups (Kalleberg, 2009).

Although a number of studies have linked various dimensions of precarious work, such as low wages, employment shocks and contingent employment, with family wellbeing, more recently, studies have highlighted the prevalence of another form of employment precarity – volatility in work hours and scheduling (e.g. Lambert, 2008; Schneider & Harknett, 2016). Research has found that many workers, especially those in service-sector employment, receive schedules on short notice, have schedules that change on a weekly basis and may not have consistent levels of work (in terms of work hours) over time (Golden, 2001; Appelbaum, Berg, Frost, Preuss & Appelbaum, 2003; Gerstel & Clawson, 2015; Lambert, Fugiel & Henly, 2014). Variation, or instability, in work hours and scheduling has been increasing (Finnigan, 2018).

There are a number of reasons why maternal work changes in schedules and hours might be linked with school readiness. If variable work hours affect economic stability (Duncan & Brooks-Gunn, 1997), parent’s time with children, child care arrangements (Pilarz & Hill, 2014), or maternal stress/mental health that may affect parenting (Raver, 2003), then children are likely to be affected. Although studies have examined how non-standard work schedules are linked with child wellbeing (e.g. Li et al., 2014), and other research has examined work intensity (full vs. part-time work; e.g. Baum, 2003), data limitations (both on detailed work schedule changes and on child outcomes) have meant that we know relatively little about how work and schedule variation is linked with child wellbeing.

To address this gap in the literature, this paper examines whether time in non-standard work (night, evening, irregular shifts), changes in work shifts (time of day), and in work hours (intensity) over early childhood (birth to age 5) are linked with children’s school readiness. Using employment calendar data (N=1,964) from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (FFCWS), a longitudinal birth cohort dataset of largely low-income urban mothers, this study extends earlier research by examining multiple forms of schedule volatility and considering cumulative instability over early childhood. I employ four different methodological approaches to account for selection. Although changes in work hours or shifts over time are not associated with school readiness, irregular shifts (work that changes weekly) are associated with greater externalizing and internalizing behavior. By better understanding whether changes (or instability/volatility) in work hours and work schedules are linked with child wellbeing, we can consider how scheduling policies (like the Seattle Secure Scheduling Ordinance) might influence child outcomes.