More and more parents are working non-traditional shifts, including evening and night shifts. One-third of dual-income families now work opposite shifts from one another, according to Alandra Johnson's September 18, 2009 Bend Bulletin article, entitled "Split-Shift Parenting." Some parents work opposite shifts intentionally, to minimize child care costs or maximize shift differentials.
However, the majority work these shifts due to working in an industry which requires a non-traditional schedule, such as janitorial, manufacturing, or healthcare, according to 2004 data compiled by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Couples Working Opposite Shifts and Egalitarian Marriages
Parents on opposite shifts often find that when a father is solely responsible for child care while his wife is working, he is forced to hone domestic skills that other husbands sometimes avoid. This reduces the stress on working moms caused by the “second shift” phenomenon, in which women take on the majority of household and child care duties during their hours at home.
Children notice the difference, according to researcher Rosalind Barnett at Brandeis University. In Johnson's article, Barnett discussed her research with nurses working shift work. Her interviews with a group of nurses and their families showed that the nurses' children rated their moms' parenting skills equally, regardless of whether their mothers worked days or evenings. However, the fathers in opposite shift families were rated more highly by their children than the fathers in families with both parents working the same shift. Many couples find this boost to fathers' parenting skills to be a major benefit to working non-standard shifts.
Child Care and Opposite Shifts
Working opposite shifts decreases childcare costs, if parents can coordinate their schedules. However, according to researcher Elizabeth Rudd, in the December 2004 Network News article "Shift Work: A Work-Family Strategy or a Deal With the Devil," coordinating schedules may involve a complex balancing act.
This is especially true if one partner works rotating shifts that never stay the same for long. Some parents even find themselves passing children off in the workplace parking lot, between one another's shifts. Scheduling child care can be stressful, but this is much less of a stressor in families with extended family members willing to babysit during non-standard hours.
Effects on Marriage and Children
Since couples who work opposite shifts spend fewer hours together, they must work harder than other couples to communicate and find couple time. Harriett Presser, who wrote the 2003 book, Working in a 24/7 Economy: Challenges for American Families (Russell Sage Foundation Publications), found that couples in which one spouse works nights are more likely to divorce. Interestingly, this only holds true in families with children, presumably due to difficulties in scheduling time to reconnect apart from children.
Working opposite shifts is not the ideal in most cases, but many families feel that they have no other choice. While children in opposite shift families do spend less hours away from parents, it can be difficult to maintain consistency in matters such as potty training or homework help when both parents are rarely present simultaneously. Discipline can also be difficult to maintain, if parents are sleep-deprived from working night shift.
When circumstances are right, it is difficult, but not impossible, to adapt to this arrangement. As in any other dual income household, the pros and cons of this schedule should be considered carefully. Flexible child care, open communication, and prioritizing time as a couple are all necessities.
Kay Majors - Kay graduated college with a bachelor of science degree in nursing. She has experience in the areas of women's health, newborn care, and ...
Join the Conversation