Counting the Hours: The Influence of Gender and Occupation on Work Hour Mismatch Prevalence and Resolution in Australia

Abstract

Existing research on work hour mismatches has examined gender and occupational differences, but it has largely assumed that these factors work independently of each other. This paper combines insights from the stress of higher status hypothesis and the concept of the ideal worker to examine the intersections of gender and occupation in relation to inequalities in workers’ abilities to control the amount of time they spend in paid work. I also offer a longitudinal and process-oriented analysis by examining how men and women in upper, middle, and lower prestige occupations differ in their chances of having hour mismatches, resolving mismatches, and in the methods through which they resolve them. Findings indicate that men and women experience different types of mismatches and men in upper level occupations are at greater risk of mismatches and least likely to find resolutions, yet outcomes are heavily influenced by the intersections of gender and occupation, illustrating the need for this type of analysis. There are few results to indicate differences in the mechanism of mismatch resolution by either gender or occupation.