Accounting for Job Quality in Women’s and Men’s Commute Time to Work: An Update to the “Household Responsibility” Thesis

Women often face trade-offs in fulfilling both employment and household responsibilities. One indicator of this is commute time, a compromise between the stresses of longer work journeys and potentially expanded job options. Women spend less time commuting than men and thus may have fewer work oppor...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Social service review (Chicago) 2013-03, Vol.87 (1), p.70-97
Main Authors: Haley-Lock, Anna, Berman, Danielle, Timberlake, Jeffrey M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Child care
Commuting
Commuting (Travel)
Employee benefits
Employment
Family Work Relationship
Females
Gender roles
Homes
Hours of work
Households
Housework
Men
Responsibilities
Scheduling
Sex Role Identity
Sex roles
Transportation
Wages
Women workers
Working Women
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Summary:Women often face trade-offs in fulfilling both employment and household responsibilities. One indicator of this is commute time, a compromise between the stresses of longer work journeys and potentially expanded job options. Women spend less time commuting than men and thus may have fewer work opportunities. While prior research finds a link between commute time and women's disproportionate household responsibilities, it does not examine in detail the potential role of job quality. Using employee data from the 2008 National Study of the Changing Workforce, this study examines how fringe benefits, scheduling flexibility, wages, and full-time hours relate to commute time and mediate relationships between sex, household responsibilities, and commute time. This study finds that for women, orientation toward traditional gender roles is associated with shorter commute times, though access to benefits is related to longer commutes. The association between wages and commute time is similar between women and men, and men’s commute times are not tied to their household roles or attitudes.
ISSN:0037-7961
1537-5404
DOI:10.1086/669241