The Impact of Weekend Working on Well-Being in the UK Andrew Bryce, University of Sheffield Supervisors: Jennifer Roberts and Mark Bryan Labour Force and Annual Population Surveys User Conference 2016
Motivation
3 Weekend working does it matter?
4 Weekend working does it matter?
5 Literature Weekend workers have lower satisfaction with days worked (Martin and Lelchook, 2011) Parents who work weekends experience more work-family conflict (Hosking and Western, 2008) and spend less time with their children (Hook, 2012; Barnes et al, 2006) Weekend workers do not make up for lost time spent with others during the rest of the week (Craig and Brown, 2015) Some weekend workers experience higher work-related and spouse-related daily stressors (Davis et al, 2008) Working at the weekend exacerbates the negative feelings people experience while at work (Bryson and MacKerron, 2016)
Descriptive analysis
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8 Weekend working by gender Weighted data. Sample includes all individuals scheduled to work in the reference week (N=451,664). Pooled data from LFS 2012 Q1 to 2014 Q3.
9 by age Weighted data. Sample includes all individuals scheduled to work in the reference week (N=451,664). Pooled data from LFS 2012 Q1 to 2014 Q3.
10 by occupation Weighted data. Sample includes all individuals scheduled to work in the reference week (N=451,664). Pooled data from LFS 2012 Q1 to 2014 Q3.
11 by industry Weighted data. Sample includes all individuals scheduled to work in the reference week (N=451,664). Pooled data from LFS 2012 Q1 to 2014 Q3.
12 by employment status Weighted data. Sample includes all individuals scheduled to work in the reference week (N=451,664). Pooled data from LFS 2012 Q1 to 2014 Q3.
Econometric analysis
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15 Data Each person in LFS is interviewed five times at quarterly intervals. Analysis uses a pooled sample of c. 10,000 employed or self-employed individuals, with well-being data, who had their fifth and final interview between January 2013 and September 2014. Model is based on change in outcomes between wave 1 and wave 5.
16 Caveat! Subjective well-being variables are not normally released in LFS datasets for analysis (APS only) The main reason is that a different weighting variable (not available in LFS) should be used to weight wellbeing responses But I am using these variables in unweighted regression analysis so this should not affect the robustness of my results
17 The model Two period panel. Assume a linear relationship between explanatory variables and well-being: 2 Take first differences (Δ ) and then estimate by ordinary least squares (OLS): Δ Δ Δ Δ Δ
18 Results
19 Results
Discussion and conclusions
21 Discussion Possible omitted variable in the LFS regression: 50% (24%) of weekend workers usually work evenings (nights) compared to 20% (7%) of non-weekend workers. Selection bias may persist even after controlling for fixed effects. But this selection bias would dampen not exaggerate our results. Results imply association not causality. Results only pick up outcomes of those who have changed work schedules quite recently so it s possible that well-being gains may be temporary. Possible bias in whether yesterday was a working day.
22 Understanding Society Same model different definition of weekend working and different well-being outcomes, changes over two years not one People moving into (out of) weekend working experience significantly reduced (increased) satisfaction with the amount of leisure time they have Men moving into (out of) weekend working experience significantly reduced (improved) mental health, as measured by GHQ-12, but this result is not found for women No effect on life satisfaction or job satisfaction
23 Conclusion This research suggests that weekend working does matter to people in the UK People seem to be happier when they were not working on the previous weekend No effect on life satisfaction, anxiety or worthwhileness (except for parents with children) However, the results may be sensitive to the day of the week on which people on different work schedules were interviewed by the LFS