Shift Work Among Dual-Earner Couples with Children

In a 1980 sample of U.S. nonfarm households with children and with both spouses employed full time, one-third of the couples included at least one spouse who worked other than a regular day shift. In about one-tenth of the couples the spouses worked entirely different shifts with no overlap in hours. These findings are linked to an earlier study which showed a high prevalence of child care by employed fathers whose wives were employed in certain occupations.