Long and atypical working hours and the impact on intimate family life social activities

An increasing number of families has to meet the challenges of working in a 24-7 society and at the same time striving to take part in everyday family life. Research is not conclusive with respect to what degree atypical working hours has an impact on, for example, work-family balance, instable marriages or in general the intimate social activities of families. That is, some research point to the fact that having atypical working hours in families might have positive influence on family social activities, like supporting possibilities for the number of activities in which mothers and/or fathers participate in together with their children (e.g. enjoying breakfasts together). On the other hand other research shows that factors like both parents having atypical working hours and small children in the home suggests a negative impact on family life. In addition, not much research has scrutinized the impact of the introduction of atypical and long working hour in families that hitherto has had normal working hours and the other way round what happens in families that have had atypical working patterns and later come to experience normal work hours. These are examples of questions we are exploring through our longitudinal survey study of everyday family and work-life. So in short, this paper will present and discuss an analysis of the relationship between work life and intimate family life social activities as they evolve over time and across households.