Constrained choices? Linking employees' and spouses' work time to health behaviors
Section snippets
Work hours in relation to fast food consumption and exercise: mixed findings
Previous studies on work hours and health-related outcomes have been focused on workers' own work hours, with Kleiner and Pavalko (2010) providing one of the most nuanced views of these patterns. Using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979, Kleiner and Pavalko found a curvilinear relationship between work time and health: greater-than-standard work hours (41–59) predicted lower levels of mental and physical health, but workers reporting extremely long hours (>59) did not report
Spouses' work time in relation to respondents' fast food consumption and exercise
There is little research on the effects of spousal employment and work hours on respondents' health behaviors, but more research on the effect of spousal employment and work hours on self-reported health. A nationally representative study showed that having an employed spouse was linked to better health (Kleiner and Pavalko, 2010). But this association could differ by gender. Given that paid work is tightly linked to masculinity, and that men are still expected to be breadwinners (Moen and
Couple's work arrangements in relation to respondents' fast food consumption and exercise
Following Clarkberg and Moen (2001), we conceptualize work time as a couple-level construct. We distinguish five substantively meaningful types of couples: (1) respondent sole breadwinner (spouse not working), (2) respondent primary breadwinner (respondent long hours, spouse fewer hours), (3) spouse primary breadwinner (spouse long hours, respondent fewer hours), (4) moderate commitments (both lower hours, <45 h/week), and (5) high commitments (both long hours, ≥45 h/week). Note we define
Schedule control as a buffer between long work hours and poor health behaviors
The extent to which each additional work hour crowds out health-promoting behaviors may depend on both respondents' and their spouses' degree of control over their work schedules. Previous research found greater control over work time resulted in increased health behaviors such as more exercise and higher perceived time for healthy meals (Moen et al., 2013a). We theorize schedule control as a couple-level resource that buffers the potential unhealthy effects of extended work hours, given that a
Sample
We draw on data from the Work, Family & Health Network Study, an interdisciplinary study designed to examine the impact of workplace practices and policies on work, family life, and health outcomes (King et al., 2013). Computer-assisted personal interviews were collected in the IT division of a U.S. Fortune 500 workplace we call TOMO (pseudonym). Of the 1182 employees invited, 823 (70%) completed face-to-face interviews administered by trained field interviewers. Spouses and cohabiting partners
Descriptive results
Table 1 presents background characteristics for the married IT employees. As noted, we refer to those in the IT sample as “respondents” (often specifying women or men) and their spouses/partners as “husbands” or “wives.” Sixty-eight percent of the partnered IT workers are men and the mean age is 46. Most are non-Hispanic White (68%). A third (33%) have no children living at home, while 23% have at least one preschooler. Almost a quarter provides care for infirm adults (22%), with more women
Discussion
This paper takes advantage of couple data including survey data from employee respondents of an IT workforce and their spouses to test whether employees' decisions as to exercise or eat fast food are made in light of their own and their spouses' work hours and flexibility. Understanding the role of work time and the coupled aspects of employees' diet and exercise behavior is an important step towards the prevention of conditions such as obesity and the promotion of a healthy workforce.
What are
Acknowledgments
Special acknowledgement goes to Extramural Staff Science Collaborator, Rosalind Berkowitz King, PhD and Lynne Casper, PhD for design of the original Workplace, Family, Health and Well-Being Network Initiative. Our thanks to the TOMO managers and employees who participated in the study and facilitated our research; to Rachel Magennis, Kimberly Fox, Holly Whitesides, and Laurie Pasricha for facilitating data collection and conducting field research; and to Sarah Kalsbeek and Leslie Erickson of
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