Shift Work and Flexitime: How Prevalent Are They?.

Abstract

Although the needs of society require a diversity of work schedules, most Americans have traditional morning to lateafternoon hours . The great majority of full-time wage and salary earners begin work between 7 and 9 in the morning. The proportion who work in the evening or at night, or who are on flexible schedules, is rather small. In contrast, almost half of all part-time employees work schedules other than regular day shifts, and nearly one-fifth have some type of flexible scheduling . The incidence of shift work and flexitime varies by sex, race, age, and other characteristics, but differences are more apparent by occupation and industry . These patterns are revealed in newly available data from the Current Population Survey (cps), which asked questions on beginning and ending hours of work, shift work, and the availability of flexitime, to name a few. The information relates to people who were at work during the week of May 12-18, 1985, and was collected in a special supplement to the May 1985 cps .'