OVERWORKED FAMILIES? CHANGES IN THE PAID WORKING HOURS OF FAMILIES WITH YOUNG CHILDREN, 1986 TO 2001

Internationally, there is much research interest in the potential challenges associated with overwork within households, particularly for parents raising children. New Zealand census data show that, when individuals are considered, average hours of paid work for employed women and men changed very little between 1986 and 2001. Yet, in this time period, there were significant changes in both employment rates for women and men and a polarisation of hours of work among these individuals. Further affecting household working hours have been changes in family structure. When total hours of work for both single parents and couple families with young children are considered, a polarisation of hours of work is also evident. However, the shift to long hours was larger than the growth in short hours, while the average hours worked by couples with young children also increased. These findings help explain why many sole parents and couples feel that paid working time has increased and, conversely, that family time has decreased. The paper concludes by examining policy options available to governments in order to curb long working hours.