http://eprints.unimelb.edu.au/archive/00000812/

Work timing arrangements in Australia in the 1990s: evidence from the Australia Time Use Survey

The timing of work over the day or week is fundamental to the nature of paid work and the interaction between work and leisure. However, due to data limitations, little research has been done on the timing of work in Australia. The Australian Time Use Survey, conducted nationally by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) in 1992 and 1997, provides a unique opportunity to examine actual work timing arrangements in the Australian workforce.

The first section of the thesis examines the incidence, characteristics and growth of work at non-standard times of day during the 1990s, a period of substantial structural and institutional change in the Australian labour market. The results show that the most common starting time for work is between 8am and 9am, and the most common finishing time is between 5pm and 6pm. While work at non-standard times is common, it accounts for only a small fraction of total working time. The characteristics of those who work at non-standard times vary between men and women, and for different times of the day. In general, workers in the hospitality, mining, personal and recreational services industries have a high probability of working at non-standard times, as do full-time students, workers in manual occupations, and those that work part-time or long weekly hours. Work at non-standard times increased slightly during the 1990s, mainly due to an increase in the incidence of work in the early morning. Much of the growth in work at non-standard times can be accounted for by an increase in the length of the working day, and a structural shift towards service sector employment.

The second section of the thesis uses matched Time Use Survey data to examine work schedule coordination by dual earner couples. Couples coordinate their work schedules, but those with children under 12 years spend less time with both partners working simultaneously. Doing so allows them to reduce their dependence on non-parental child care. Examination of the work schedules of men and women in these couples shows that it is primarily women who 'adjust' their schedules by working fewer hours per day and being less likely to work in the hours directly before and after school and around the time of the evening meal. It is possible that specialisation in child care tasks by women is an efficient response to the economic incentives facing the household. A test of the efficiency of observed work schedule coordination shows that, in general, the level of inconsistency with Pareto efficiency is non-zero. However, the efficiency of household allocations is higher in households where the woman works part-time, or has a lower wage rate than her partner. In households where both partners work full-time, or where the woman's wage is similar to her partner's, inefficient allocations are more likely. The findings show that the traditional gender division of household labour is evident in the work timing patterns of Australian dual earner couples, and that for couples where both partners work full-time, this may be an inefficient response to economic incentives.