Women and the Standard Workweek: Developing a Typology of Work Schedules in the UK

Jennifer A Whillans

doi:10.1177/09500170251336933

Women and the Standard Workweek: Developing a Typology of Work Schedules in the UK

Jennifer A Whillans^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

School of Sociology, Politics and International Studies

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article (Academic Journal) › peer-review

Abstract

When do women work? Which women work when? Much of our understanding of the temporal organisation of women’s paid work relies on oversimplified stylised estimates of duration and categorical indicators of work timing. Using United Kingdom Time Use Survey 2014–2015 workweek grid data and innovative sequence analysis, this research provides new empirical evidence by identifying a typology of women’s work schedules, including variants of and departures from the standard workweek. Furthermore, sociodemographic and job characteristics are found to be associated with different work schedules. A feminist evaluation of findings highlights the insufficiency of the standard/nonstandard dichotomy and presents new ways of describing worktime that better capture the complex and diverse experiences of women. It concludes that, while the standard workweek is not strictly identifiable as a type of schedule, it acts as an organising principle of worktime among contemporary working women.

Original language	English
Article number	09500170251336933
Pages (from-to)	1127-1153
Number of pages	27
Journal	Work, Employment and Society
Volume	39
Issue number	5
Early online date	24 Jun 2025
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1177/09500170251336933
Publication status	E-pub ahead of print - 24 Jun 2025

Bibliographical note

Jennifer Whillans is a Senior Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Bristol. Her research expertise is in the temporal organisation and experience of mundane practices, which she examines using both qualitative and advanced quantitative methods. She held a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowship award to conduct a project entitled (De)synchronisation of People and Practices in Working Households: The Relationship between the Temporal Organisation of Employment and Eating in the UK. She also led the quantitative research on the project Eating Out Revisited. She is concerned with sociological debates around poor eating habits, worker well-being, and time-squeezed society.

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 5 Gender Equality
SDG 8 Decent Work and Economic Growth

Keywords

feminism
gender
nonstandard workhours
Sequence analysis
standard workweek
temporal organisation
time use research
workday
workweek

Access to Document

10.1177/09500170251336933Licence: CC BY

Handle.net

Persistent link

Cite this

@article{5574b898ce634704851ac1ac99099606,

title = "Women and the Standard Workweek: Developing a Typology of Work Schedules in the UK",

abstract = "When do women work? Which women work when? Much of our understanding of the temporal organisation of women{\textquoteright}s paid work relies on oversimplified stylised estimates of duration and categorical indicators of work timing. Using United Kingdom Time Use Survey 2014{\textendash}2015 workweek grid data and innovative sequence analysis, this research provides new empirical evidence by identifying a typology of women{\textquoteright}s work schedules, including variants of and departures from the standard workweek. Furthermore, sociodemographic and job characteristics are found to be associated with different work schedules. A feminist evaluation of findings highlights the insufficiency of the standard/nonstandard dichotomy and presents new ways of describing worktime that better capture the complex and diverse experiences of women. It concludes that, while the standard workweek is not strictly identifiable as a type of schedule, it acts as an organising principle of worktime among contemporary working women.",

keywords = "feminism, gender, nonstandard workhours, Sequence analysis, standard workweek, temporal organisation, time use research, workday, workweek",

author = "Whillans, \{Jennifer A\}",

note = "Jennifer Whillans is a Senior Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Bristol. Her research expertise is in the temporal organisation and experience of mundane practices, which she examines using both qualitative and advanced quantitative methods. She held a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowship award to conduct a project entitled (De)synchronisation of People and Practices in Working Households: The Relationship between the Temporal Organisation of Employment and Eating in the UK. She also led the quantitative research on the project Eating Out Revisited. She is concerned with sociological debates around poor eating habits, worker well-being, and time-squeezed society.",

year = "2025",

month = jun,

day = "24",

doi = "10.1177/09500170251336933",

language = "English",

volume = "39",

pages = "1127--1153",

journal = "Work, Employment and Society",

issn = "0950-0170",

publisher = "SAGE Publications Ltd",

number = "5",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Women and the Standard Workweek

T2 - Developing a Typology of Work Schedules in the UK

AU - Whillans, Jennifer A

N1 - Jennifer Whillans is a Senior Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Bristol. Her research expertise is in the temporal organisation and experience of mundane practices, which she examines using both qualitative and advanced quantitative methods. She held a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowship award to conduct a project entitled (De)synchronisation of People and Practices in Working Households: The Relationship between the Temporal Organisation of Employment and Eating in the UK. She also led the quantitative research on the project Eating Out Revisited. She is concerned with sociological debates around poor eating habits, worker well-being, and time-squeezed society.

PY - 2025/6/24

Y1 - 2025/6/24

N2 - When do women work? Which women work when? Much of our understanding of the temporal organisation of women’s paid work relies on oversimplified stylised estimates of duration and categorical indicators of work timing. Using United Kingdom Time Use Survey 2014–2015 workweek grid data and innovative sequence analysis, this research provides new empirical evidence by identifying a typology of women’s work schedules, including variants of and departures from the standard workweek. Furthermore, sociodemographic and job characteristics are found to be associated with different work schedules. A feminist evaluation of findings highlights the insufficiency of the standard/nonstandard dichotomy and presents new ways of describing worktime that better capture the complex and diverse experiences of women. It concludes that, while the standard workweek is not strictly identifiable as a type of schedule, it acts as an organising principle of worktime among contemporary working women.

AB - When do women work? Which women work when? Much of our understanding of the temporal organisation of women’s paid work relies on oversimplified stylised estimates of duration and categorical indicators of work timing. Using United Kingdom Time Use Survey 2014–2015 workweek grid data and innovative sequence analysis, this research provides new empirical evidence by identifying a typology of women’s work schedules, including variants of and departures from the standard workweek. Furthermore, sociodemographic and job characteristics are found to be associated with different work schedules. A feminist evaluation of findings highlights the insufficiency of the standard/nonstandard dichotomy and presents new ways of describing worktime that better capture the complex and diverse experiences of women. It concludes that, while the standard workweek is not strictly identifiable as a type of schedule, it acts as an organising principle of worktime among contemporary working women.

KW - feminism

KW - gender

KW - nonstandard workhours

KW - Sequence analysis

KW - standard workweek

KW - temporal organisation

KW - time use research

KW - workday

KW - workweek

U2 - 10.1177/09500170251336933

DO - 10.1177/09500170251336933

M3 - Article (Academic Journal)

SN - 0950-0170

VL - 39

SP - 1127

EP - 1153

JO - Work, Employment and Society

JF - Work, Employment and Society

IS - 5

M1 - 09500170251336933

ER -

Women and the Standard Workweek: Developing a Typology of Work Schedules in the UK

Abstract

Bibliographical note

UN SDGs

Keywords

Access to Document

Handle.net

Fingerprint

Cite this