If you look at mom’s and dad’s time use diaries, moms’ working hours have been tainted, especially during the pandemic. But fathers are relatively protected because of their role. And kids don’t expect dads to be available when they work from home, when they expect moms to be moms first. This is why employers stigmatize working from home for moms, and maybe not for dads.
I can imagine a forward-thinking woman reading this and thinking, ‘It’s not like that at my house. I am the breadwinner and my husband does the laundry.” In what ways might she still be affected by the gender flexibility paradox?
There is, of course, some variation. But you’ll probably find that when given the flexibility, women will try to cut in as much housework and childcare as possible and weave in as many activities as possible, while fathers either don’t, or use the excuse their employers do.” don’t let them. Many employers do not allow that to mothers either. But moms don’t have any other option, so they may be doing it behind their boss’ backs or having to change jobs or quit the job market altogether.
You write that flexible working “makes mother labor free” and “absolves governments of the need for social response”. Was flexible working a consolation prize for working mothers who demanded more government support?
It’s not necessarily a consolation prize. But if you really want to get a lot of women into the job market, you have to free them up, because there are only 24 hours a day. In Sweden and Denmark, children from the age of 1 have access to high-quality, affordable childcare. But childcare in the US and UK is exorbitantly expensive. If you give women the option to both work from home and be flexible, we see that mothers can maintain their labor market position after having children, and if you don’t give them that, about half of the mothers will drop out, especially if they not have cheap, very high quality childcare.
Are there countries that you think are models for a healthy approach to flexible working?
In the Northern European countries, where gender equality and work-life balance norms are more common and family-friendly benefits are seen as the norm, you don’t see the flexibility paradox or the flexibility stigma as much. Workers have strong bargaining power and a very secure social security network, which will provide up to 80 percent of your income if you are unemployed. These are contexts that help shape people’s attitudes towards the central place of work.
You write about flexible work that not only leads to overtime but also blurs the boundaries between work and life, which can lead to what you call cognitive spillover, where people are constantly thinking about work. What are some of the new laws that are starting to address this?
I think the right to disconnect is really crucial. This isn’t necessarily just about managers. When people respond to email right before bed or just after waking up, everyone unconsciously starts marching toward that always-available, always-available kind of culture. The right to disconnect helps workers not to be exploited by employers, but also helps prevent that culture from developing.
Another thing is just the general protection of workers. One of the reasons we worry about work is the high degree of uncertainty and lack of bargaining power. The European Commission has introduced a series of policies that prohibit discrimination against people who take flexible working arrangements for the needs of parents. But there is also general protection, such as ensuring that workers are safe through better collective bargaining, and better legal protection in terms of job security.
You don’t give much self-help advice because there are so many books on this subject. But are there any tips you picked up that worked especially well for you?
