Kim Minseop, Jung Nahri, Wulandari Larasati
Department of Social Work, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong SAR, China.
Department of Economics, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Front Psychol. 2022 Jul 7;13:905226. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.905226. eCollection 2022.
Evidence suggests that parental involvement in children's education has a positive impact on children's educational achievements and wellbeing outcomes. The trend toward 24/7 economies has obliged many mothers to work non-standard schedules (i.e., schedules outside traditional daytime, Monday-Friday work schedules). This has raised concerns over how non-standard work schedules affect parenting behaviors, including paternal involvement in children's education. Using data from mothers of young children (age 5-6) in Hong Kong ( = 433), this study examined the association between maternal work schedules and involvement in children's home and school activities. The results of structural equation modeling found that weekend work was associated with lower levels of home-based involvement. By contrast, working non-standard hours was linked with higher levels of school-based involvement. This pattern suggested that non-standard work schedules could make it either easier or harder for mothers to balance work and family responsibilities, depending on the circumstances (i.e., whether they work non-standard hours or weekends). These findings, indicating that the effects of non-standard work schedules are not uniformly negative or positive, warrant sophisticated policy efforts to address the potential adverse effects of non-standard work schedules and avoid undermining their potential to be used as a family-friendly option.
有证据表明，父母参与孩子的教育对孩子的学业成绩和幸福状况有积极影响。全天候经济的趋势使许多母亲不得不按非标准时间表工作（即传统周一至周五白天工作时间以外的时间表）。这引发了人们对非标准工作时间表如何影响育儿行为的担忧，包括父亲对孩子教育的参与。本研究利用香港433名幼儿（5至6岁）母亲的数据，考察了母亲工作时间表与参与孩子家庭和学校活动之间的关联。结构方程模型的结果发现，周末工作与较低水平的家庭参与度相关。相比之下，非标准工时工作与较高水平的学校参与度相关。这种模式表明，非标准工作时间表可能会使母亲更容易或更难平衡工作和家庭责任，这取决于具体情况（即她们是按非标准工时还是周末工作）。这些发现表明，非标准工作时间表的影响并非一律负面或正面，需要制定完善的政策措施来应对非标准工作时间表的潜在不利影响，并避免削弱其作为家庭友好型选择的潜力。
