Gendering work schedule analysis in comparative perspective. How education and the presence and age of children shape work schedule dynamics among different-sex couples in France and western Germany

This paper investigates how gender shapes work schedule dynamics among different-sex couples, and how they play out in France and western Germany. We introduce a gender perspective to the literature on work schedules by uncovering how labor market opportunities intersect with care demands in shaping work schedule dynamics among one-earner and two-earner different-sex couples. France and western Germany have a similar class segregation but work/family policies foster higher gender inequality in western Germany. Using the latest time-use data–the 2010 French Time Use survey and the 2013 German Time Use survey–on 4989 couple workdays, we draw on sequence and cluster analysis to identify typical schedules. We predict how education and the presence and age of children differ in affecting men’s and women’s types of days. In both contexts, lower educated men are more likely to have shift schedules, whereas lower-educated women are more likely to be not employed. However, in France, standard schedules prevail not only among higher educated men but also women, whereas western German women across educational groups are likely to have partial workdays or to be not employed. In contrast to men, women with young children are less likely to work standard, long and shift schedules and more likely to be not employed in both contexts, but women’s schedules vary more strongly according the presence and age of children in western Germany. More work-facilitating policies lead to more gender-equal schedules in France but higher-educated women benefit more than lower-educated women because these policies rely on the norm of standard employment.