#precariouswork — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #precariouswork, aggregated by home.social.
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DATE: August 23, 2026 at 07:00AM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: Unpredictable work schedules increase the risk of romantic breakups, new study finds
Unpredictable and erratic work schedules may take a heavy toll on romantic relationships, according to new research published in the Journal of Marriage and Family. The findings suggest that hourly service workers who deal with unstable work hours are at a higher risk of going through a separation or divorce. The study highlights how the stressful demands of modern low-wage jobs can spill over into personal lives and disrupt family stability.
Past research exploring the link between economic hardship and relationship stability has largely focused on wages and employment status. Financial milestones are often seen as a prerequisite for marriage, and job loss is a well-known stressor that strains family dynamics. Earning a steady income tends to provide a foundation for harmonious domestic life.
Less attention has been given to the actual day-to-day scheduling conditions of a person’s job. Job attributes like schedule control and shift predictability have profound effects on the rhythm of daily life. When a person cannot predict their work hours, they may find it difficult to coordinate childcare, manage household duties, or simply spend quality time with a partner.
Unpredictable schedules can lead to negative work-to-family spillover, where the time and energy demanded by a job interfere with family responsibilities. Psychological stress from work can cross over to a partner, potentially reducing positive social behaviors and emotional support within the relationship. The authors of the current study wanted to test whether this specific type of precarious work is associated with an increased risk of relationship dissolution.
“The topic of my recent article, Predictably Unstable, weaves together two of my longstanding interests,” said Kristen Harknett, a professor of sociology at the University of California, Berkeley. “Lately, my research with The Shift Project has focused on the many ways that unpredictable and unstable work schedules affect workers and their families. In my earlier research, I was interested in how economic conditions affect family structure. This paper unites these two interests by asking whether routine instability in work schedules disrupts marital and cohabiting relationships.”
To explore this dynamic, the scientists analyzed longitudinal survey data from 6,918 hourly service-sector workers in the United States. The data were collected between 2019 and 2024 as part of The Shift Project. The sample included employees at large retail and food service companies who were either married or living with a romantic partner at the time of their first survey.
The researchers followed up with these workers an average of nine months later to record if their relationships were still intact. The main predictor in the study was a measure of schedule instability based on five specific conditions in the month prior to the survey. These conditions included being placed on-call, having shifts canceled, experiencing last-minute timing changes, and receiving less than two weeks of advance notice for a work schedule.
The fifth condition was working “clopening” shifts. A clopening shift happens when an employee works a closing shift late at night and then returns for an opening shift early the next morning. The authors counted how many of these five unstable scheduling practices each worker experienced, creating a score ranging from zero to five.
The researchers then compared this schedule instability score to the likelihood of the worker separating from their partner by the follow-up survey. The statistical models controlled for various demographic and economic factors. These controls included the worker’s age, parental status, race, education level, hourly wage, and whether their partner was employed.
The findings indicate a consistent link between erratic schedules and relationship breakdowns. Among married workers with completely stable schedules, 94 percent of their marriages were still intact at the follow-up survey. In contrast, for married workers who experienced four or five types of schedule instability, the rate of intact marriages dropped to 82 percent. This represents an absolute decrease of 12 percentage points in marital stability associated with severe schedule unpredictability.
A similar pattern emerged for couples who were cohabiting, meaning they were living together but not married. For these workers, 87 percent of relationships remained intact when schedules were completely stable. When workers faced four or five types of schedule instability, the rate of intact cohabiting relationships fell to 75 percent.
Harknett summarized the core finding simply. “When work schedules are assigned and changed on short notice, married and cohabiting couples are more likely to break up,” she told PsyPost.
The study also provides evidence that cohabiting relationships might be more sensitive to moderate levels of schedule unpredictability than marriages. Married couples mostly saw an increased risk of divorce only when they faced the highest levels of schedule instability. Cohabiting relationships began to show a heightened risk of separation even at moderate levels of instability, such as experiencing just three types of unpredictable schedule conditions.
To account for the possibility that certain personal traits cause both unstable schedules and unstable relationships, the researchers created a predicted schedule instability measure. This measure estimated the typical schedule unpredictability a worker should expect based purely on their employer, job tenure, age, and education. This predicted measure also correlated with marital dissolution, suggesting that the job conditions themselves, rather than unmeasured personal traits, are driving the relationship stress.
The scientists also looked at whether the association between work schedules and relationship dissolution varied by gender. For cohabiting couples, the association was roughly the same for both men and women. For married couples, men’s schedule instability was tied to a higher risk of divorce than women’s schedule instability.
Specifically, men with the most unstable work schedules were 12 percentage points less likely to still be married at the follow-up compared to men with stable schedules. Women with the most unstable schedules were only 4 percentage points less likely to remain married compared to women with stable schedules. Unpredictable work conditions for men might violate traditional breadwinner expectations, creating unique friction in marriages.
The study relies on survey data from only one partner in each relationship. Lacking information on the work schedule of the second partner leaves an incomplete picture of the household’s overall economic and scheduling stress. The dynamic interplay between two partners’ daily schedules remains unmeasured, meaning the study cannot account for how couples might navigate overlapping erratic shifts.
The research design did not capture the total length of the couples’ relationships at the start of the study. A very new relationship might react to schedule instability differently than a marriage that has lasted for many years. Without baseline relationship duration data, the findings cannot determine if established couples are more resilient to scheduling stress than newly formed couples.
The sample consisted of workers recruited through social media advertisements rather than a randomized national sample. This recruitment method might underrepresent certain demographics, such as individuals without internet access or undocumented workers.
“The study focuses on workers paid by the hour in the retail and food service sector in the United States,” Harknett noted. “These workers have little input into their schedules and limited financial resources.”
Future research could aim to recruit a broader representative sample to see if these associations hold true across a wider variety of employment contracts and industries. “My hope is that this study will inspire others to pursue a research agenda revealing how erratic work schedules affect relationships and family life,” Harknett said.
The study, “Predictably Unstable?: Precarious Work and Precarious Relationships in the U.S.,” was authored by Kristen Harknett, Kevin Bruey, and Elizabeth Kuhlman.
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#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #UnpredictableWorkSchedules #WorkLifeBalance #RelationshipStability #ScheduleInstability #PrecariousWork #ClopeningShifts #WorkStressRelationShips #CohabitingVsMarried #ShiftWorkImpact #HourlyWorkers
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Canadians aren’t imagining the cost-of-living crisis
#Canada #CostOfLiving #EconomicJustice #WageCrisis #HousingCrisis #Inequality #LabourRights #PrecariousWork #MiddleClass #Inflation #PublicPolicy #Poverty #Housing #RentCrisis #Employment #SocialJustice
https://the-14.com/canadians-arent-imagining-the-cost-of-living-crisis/ -
Gig-work delivery jobs are getting more dangerous
#GigWork #DeliveryWorkers #WorkersRights #LabourJustice #PrecariousWork #PlatformEconomy #Unionize #RoadSafety #BikeInfrastructure #MigrantWorkers #AlgorithmicControl #Canada #PublicPolicy #SocialJustice
https://the-14.com/gig-work-delivery-jobs-are-getting-more-dangerous/ -
Postal workers are fighting the gigification of a vital #publicservice. https://breachmedia.ca/postal-workers-strike-fighting-gigification-public-service/
#CanadaPost #Cdnpoli #labourJustice #Wages #Benefits #PrecariousWork #corporatization
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@mmiasma
I'm still astonished by what I endured for the sake of a paycheque. To be fair, I was also doing it because terribly vulnerable people relied on me to do what I did. I'm still extremely relieved that I left that field of work when I still had some wellbeing left. And, I've been doing #PrecariousWork ever since but it's work that I love and which boosts me up. -
Enforcing European and national laws is paramount to reduce #PrecariousWork and #MentalHealth problems arising from it.
We call for the adoption of specific legislation to prevent and combat work- related psychosocial risks.
Our opinion: http://europa.eu/!M77GyT
🐦🔗: https://n.respublicae.eu/EU_EESC/status/1651494310712426496
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The Tyee: In BC, Precarious Work Is the New Normal (in News) https://thetyee.ca/News/2023/04/13/Precarious-Work-New-Normal/ #bcnews #TheTyee - via @[email protected] #CanadianCentreForPolicyAlternatives #SimonFraserUniversity #BCFederationofLabour #BCunemploymentrate #IglikaIvanovaCCPA #KendraStraussSFU #SussanneSkidmore #COVID-19economy #BCLabourMarket #precariouswork #BCgigworkers #BCworkers
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@APBBlue
There are worse things in life than changing one's occupation and location, later in life, especially if a reasonable pension has already been earned. I switched from working Child Protection as a Social Worker after 25 years, to teach ESL, about 1/2 of the time in Việt Nam. It's given me a new lease on life and I still feel very proud of the work I did working with children in need and their families. My second career is #PrecariousWork and not terribly well-paid but it's great. -
Just signed up to this site… still on that other site - same handle! - but for how much longer, who knows?!😊 Keen to follow anyone else who’s into critical studies of work, #labour, #politicaleconomy, #development, etc etc 👋 #highered #labor #sociology #economicsociology #unions #precariouswork #futureofwork
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Today’s my last day as Artist in Residence at @vitalstatistix_ - it’s been an amazing year of art, writing, research, collaboration and conversation.
There are a couple more essays in the pipeline, but for now please enjoy ‘Sick Leave’ - a grant application I wrote as part of the residency, proposing to pay sick leave to artists…
https://medium.com/@paythewriters/sick-leave-eb10f188fdf0
#paythewriters #paytheartists #precariouswork #sickleave #ubi
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looking for anything related to precarious work and its impact in family life.
I have already selected @heejungchung 's The Flexibility Paradox, but I would really benefit from other sources.
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hey @sociology anything relevant for the impact of precarious work in family life?
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In my work as a #librarian I’m very concerned about the rising tide of #censorship (official & vigilante), giving young people access to diverse & real views of the world in story (#WeNeedDiverseBooks), breaking down barriers to learning & creating for #neurodivergent & other #disabled kids, & fighting the rising tide of #PrecariousWork at #libraries by building solidarity among #LibraryWorkers & supporting patrons to demand better from their civil institutions.