Hours, Scheduling and Flexibility for Women in the US Low-Wage Labour Force

• Autores: Anna W. Jacobs, Irene Padavic
• Localización: Gender Work & Organization, ISSN-e 1468-0432, Vol. 22, Nº. 1, 2015, págs. 67-86
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • Research on women's experiences with work schedules and flexibility tends to focus on professional women in high-paying careers, despite women's far greater prevalence in low-wage jobs. This paper seeks to contribute to our understanding of the work-hours problems faced by women precariously employed in low-wage jobs by addressing how work-on-demand scheduling and other features of part-time labour in the neoliberal economy limit women's ability to make ends meet. Using data from 17 in-depth interviews, we identify four themes � unpredictable schedules, inadequate hours, time theft and punishment-and-control via hours-reduction � and the problems they present. Results suggest that much-championed flexible work policies that seek to encourage women's career advancement may have little bearing on the work-hours dilemmas faced by low-wage women workers. We conclude that social change efforts need to encompass work policies geared to low-wage workers, such as guaranteed minimum hours and increases in the minimum wage.