Abstract Although there is growing recognition that unstable and unpredictable work schedules create challenges for working parents, research is scarce on whether access to flexibility from different resources can attenuate problems created by scheduling instability. Guided by Emlen’s conceptualization of flexibility and the Job Demands-Resource Model, we examine the buffering effects of flexibility resources—from work, child care, and family—on work-caregiving conflict and parental stress in the context of work schedule instability. We first assessed the direct relationship between schedule instability and these outcomes and found it was associated with a higher level of work-caregiving conflict but not parenting stress. We then considered the direct and moderating role of flexibility resources and found that work schedule input and provider flexibility buffered the relationship between schedule instability and work-caregiving conflict. Policy implications to ameliorate work schedule instability and strengthen flexibility resources are discussed.
Kim et al. (Sat,) studied this question.