Abstract
Work is an integral part of life in the United States and balancing work and family life can be a difficult task for many families made even harder to accomplish when a mother is low-income, living in a rural area, and working non-standard hours. Non-standard work hours include weekends, nights, rotating shifts, or split shifts. Using qualitative data from the longitudinal Rural Families Speak research project, this paper explored how rural low-income mothers who work non-standard schedules access and manage resources to try to balance the demands of work and family life. Interpreted through a family resource management lens, the results illuminate critical resources that allow families to manage work and family life while highlighting the demands the families often faced. Critical resources included accessing informal social support, managing work and family time, and seeking employment that supports work and family balance. Demands that threatened work and family balance included lack of flexibility in available resources and employment which make it difficult to balance work and family. Findings suggest the importance of developing community based programs to support both work and family as well educating employers on ways to support their employees.
Notes
This research was supported in part by USDA/CSREES/NRICGP Grants—2001-35401-10215, 2002-35401-11591, 2004-35401-14938. Data were collected in conjunction with the cooperative multi state research project NC-223/NC-1011 Rural Low-income families: Tracking Their Well-being and Functioning in the Context of Welfare Reform. Cooperating states are California, Colorado, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, Oregon, South Dakota, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
Data are from CA, IN, KY, LA, MA, MD, MI, MN, NE, NH, NY, OH, OR.
All names are pseudonyms.
References
Bauer, J. W., & Dolan, E. M. (2011). Theories for studying rural families and work. In J. W. Bauer & E. M. Dolan (Eds.), Rural families and work: Context and problems (pp. 17–35). New York: Springer.
Butler, M. A., & Beale, C. L. (1994). Rural–Urban continuum codes of metro and non-metro counties, 1993 (Staff Report No. 9425). Washington, DC: US Department of Agriculture, Agriculture and Rural Economy Division, Economic Research Service.
Chaudry, A., Pedroza, J. M., Sandstrom, H., Danziger, A., Grosz, M., & Scott, M., et al. (2011). Child care choices of low-income working families. Urban Institute. Retrieved from http://www.urban.org/publications/412343.html.
Cochran, C., Skillman, G. D., Rathge, R. W., Moore, K., Johnston, J., & Lochner, A. (2002). A rural road: Exploring opportunities, networks, services, and supports that affect rural families. Child Welfare League of America, 91, 837–846. Retrieved from http://www.aecf.org/upload/publicationfiles/rf2022k565.pdf.
Creswell, J. W. (2012). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among the five traditions (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Daly, K. (2004). Exploring process and control in families working nonstandard schedules. In A. C. Crouter & A. Booth (Eds.), Work-family challenges for low-income parents and their children (pp. 117–126). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Inc.
Davis, K. D., Goodman, B. W., Pirretti, A. E., & Almeida, D. M. (2008). Nonstandard work schedules, perceived family well-being and daily stressors. Journal of Marriage and Family, 70, 991–1003. doi:10.1111/j.1741-3737.2008.00541.x.
Deacon, R., & Firebaugh, F. (1988). Family resource management: Principals and applications. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
Devine, C. M., Jastran, M., Jabs, J., Wethington, E., Farell, T. J., & Bisogni, C. A. (2006). A lot of sacrifices: Work-family spillover and the food choice coping strategies of low-wage employed parents. Social Science and Medicine, 63, 2591–2603. doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2006.06.029.
Enchautegui, M. E. (2013). Nonstandard work schedules and well-being of low income families (Paper #26). Washington, DC: Urban Institute. Retrieved from http://www.urban.org/UploadedPDF/412877-nonstandard-work-schedules.pdf.
Gassman-Pine, A. (2011). Low-income mothers’ nighttime and weekend work: Daily associations with child behavior, mother-child interactions, and mood. Family Relations, 60, 5–29. doi:10.1111/j.1741-3729-2010-00630.x.
Grosswald, B. (2003). Shift work and negative work-to-family spillover. Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare, 20, 4, 31–56. Retrieved from http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0CYZ/is_4_30/ai_111933182/?tag=content;col1.
Henly, J. E., Shaefer, H. L., & Waxman, E. (2006). Nonstandard work schedules: Employer-and employee-driven flexibility in retail jobs. Social Service Review, 80, 609–634. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/508478.
Heymann, S. J., & Earle, A. (2001). The impact of parental working conditions on school-age children: The case of evening work. Community, Work & Family, 4, 305–325. doi:10.1080/014051101200893.
Hogan, M. J., & Buehler, C. A. (1984). The concept of resources: Definition issues. Paper session presented at the Annual Meeting for the National Council on Family Relations, San Francisco, CA.
Hsueh, J., & Yoshikawa, H. (2007). Working nonstandard schedules and variable shifts in low-income families: Associations with parental psychological well-being, family functioning, and child well-being. Developmental Psychology, 43, 620–632. doi:10.1037/0012-1649.43.3.620.
Joshi, P., Quane, J. M., & Cherline, A. J. (2009). Contemporary work and family issues affecting marriage and cohabitation among low-income single mothers. Family Relations, 58, 647–661. doi:10.1111/j.1741-3729.2009.00581.x.
Katras, M. J., Zuiker, V. S., & Bauer, J. W. (2004). Private safety net: Childcare resources from the perspective of rural low-income families. Family Relations, 53, 201–209. doi:10.1111/j.0022-2445.2004.00010.x.
Kinnunen, U., & Mauno, S. (1998). Antecedents and outcomes of work-family conflict among employed women and men in Finland. Human Relations, 51, 157–177. doi:10.1177/001872679805100203.
La Valle, I., Arthur, S., Millward, C., Scott, J., & Clayden, M. (2002). Happy families? Atypical work and its influence on family life. Bristol: Policy Press.
Liu, H., Wang, Q., Kessler, V., & Schneider, B. (2011). Non-standard work schedules, work-family conflict and parental well-being: A comparison of married and cohabiting unions. Social Science Research, 40, 473–484. doi:10.10116/j.ssresearch.2010.10.008.
Maume, D. J., & Sebastian, R. A. (2012). Gender, nonstandard work schedules and marital quality. Journal of Family and Economic Issues, 33, 477–490. doi:10.1007/210834-012-9308-1.
McLaughlin, D. K., & Coleman-Jensen, A. J. (2008). Nonstandard employment in the nonmetropolitan United States. Rural Sociology, 73, 631–659. doi:10.1526/00360118786471558.
McMenamin, T. M. (2007). A time to work: Recent trends in shift work and flexible schedules. Monthly Labor Review, 130, 3–15. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.proxy.libraries.uc.edu/docview/235645198?accountid=2909.
Minnotte, K. L. (2012). Family structure, gender, and the work–family interface: Work-to-family conflict among single and partnered parents. Journal of Family and Economic Issues, 33, 95–107. doi:10.1007/s10834-011-9261-4.
Paolucci, B., Hall, O., & Axinn, N. (1977). Family decision making: An ecosystem approach. New York: Wiley.
Perrucci, R., MacDermid, S., King, E., Tang, C., Brimeyer, T., Ramadoss, K., et al. (2007). The significance of shift work: Current status and future directions. Journal of Family and Economic Issues, 28, 600–617. doi:10.1007/s10834-007-9078-3.
Presser, H. B. (2000). Nonstandard work schedules and marital instability. Journal of Marriage and Family, 61, 93–110. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/1566690.
Presser, H. B., & Cox, A. G. (1997). Work schedules of low-educated American women and welfare reform. The Monthly Labor Review, 120(4), 25–34.
Pressor, H. B. (2003). Working in a 24/7 economy. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
Schieman, S., Milkie, M., & Glavin, P. (2009). When work interferes with life: Work-non-work interference and the influence of work-related demands and resources. American Sociological Review, 74, 966–988.
Son, S., Dyk, P. H., Bauer, J. W., & Katras, M. J. (2011). Barriers to employment among low-income mothers in rural United States communities. International Journal of Human Ecology, 12, 37–49. Retrieved from http://www.ruralfamiliesspeak.org/uploads/BarriersToEmployment.pdf.
Strazdins, L., Clements, M., Korda, R., Broom, D., & D’Souza, R. (2006). Unsocial work? Nonstandard work schedules, family relationships, and children’s well-being. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 68, 394–410. doi:10.1111/j.1741-3737.2006.00260.x.
Taylor, E., Briner, R. B., & Folkard, S. (1997). Models of shiftwork and health: An examination of the influence of stress on shiftwork theory. Human Factory, 39, 67–82. doi:10.1518/001872097778940713.
Taylor, R. D., Seaton, E., & Dominguez, A. (2008). Kinship support, family relations, and psychological adjustment among low-income African American mothers and adolescents. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 18, 1–22. doi:10.1177/0095798410372623.
Thompson, E. B. (2000). Non-standard work hour child care project. US Department of Labor Women’s Bureau Region X and the Governor’s Head Start State Collaboration Project of Washington State. Retrieved from http://www.childcarenet.org/get-involved/advocacy/policy-resources/studies/non_standard.pdf.
Tuttle, R., & Garr, M. (2012). Citing advance online publication: Shift work and work to family fit: does schedule control matter? Journal of Family and Economic Issues, 33, 261–271. doi:10.1007/s10834-012-9283-6.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Katras, M.J., Sharp, E.H., Dolan, E.M. et al. Non-standard Work and Rural Low-Income Mothers: Making It Work. J Fam Econ Iss 36, 84–96 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10834-014-9410-7
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10834-014-9410-7