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From Daily Realities to National Policy: Inequalities in Work-Family Time Use and Paid Family Leave
From Daily Realities to National Policy: Inequalities in Work-Family Time Use and Paid Family Leave
상세정보
- 자료유형
- 학위논문 서양
- 최종처리일시
- 20260202104842
- ISBN
- 9798293892655
- DDC
- 361
- 저자명
- Keh, MinJee.
- 서명/저자
- From Daily Realities to National Policy: Inequalities in Work-Family Time Use and Paid Family Leave
- 발행사항
- [Sl] : University of California, Berkeley, 2025
- 발행사항
- Ann Arbor : ProQuest Dissertations & Theses, 2025
- 형태사항
- 147 p
- 주기사항
- Source: Dissertations Abstracts International, Volume: 87-04, Section: B.
- 주기사항
- Advisor: Chang, Yu-Ling.
- 학위논문주기
- Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of California, Berkeley, 2025.
- 초록/해제
- 요약Work-family conflict arises when the demands of paid work and unpaid caregiving are incompatible, affecting both individual well-being and organizational outcomes. At its core, work-family conflict is a conflict over time-who has it, how it is structured, and under what conditions it is supported. Disparities in work-family time are shaped by social identities, labor market conditions, and the (un)availability of supportive policies. In the United States, these inequalities are exacerbated by the absence of a national paid family leave policy and by labor market shifts toward unstable, unpredictable, and unsupported work. The COVID-19 pandemic further magnified these inequalities by disrupting caregiving arrangements and intensifying time pressure for workers managing dual demands.Although prior research has examined unequal experiences of work-family conflict and the effects of work-family supports, the field has traditionally approached work-family conflict as an individual-level perception, emphasizing personal coping strategies. While more recent research has begun to examine structural and institutional factors such as the COVID-19 pandemic, labor market precarity, and policy interventions like paid family leave as major forces shaping work-family life, few have brought these elements together through the lens of time. Moreover, although paid family leave is widely recognized as a potential intervention, research has primarily focused on existing employer-provided and state-level programs, with limited attention to how equity concerns are addressed in federal policy discourse on national paid leave. This dissertation addresses these gaps through three empirical studies that use time as an analytical bridge and center structural factors shaping disparities from daily time use to national policy. Specifically, it asks: (1) How did work-family time-use patterns and related disparities change before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic? (2) How does multidimensional job precarity relate to distinct work-family time-use patterns? (3) What topics are discussed in congressional hearings regarding paid family leave, and to what extent does federal paid leave discourse address equity concerns related to gender, race, and class?Study 1 analyzes how the work-family time-use patterns changed before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic and how the disparities by gender, race/ethnicity, and occupation in these time-use patterns shifted across years during this period. Using nationally representative yearly data from the American Time Use Survey (ATUS) from 2018 to 2023, the analysis focuses on three dimensions of work-family time: total burden (total minutes spent in paid work and caregiving), fragmentation (number of distinct episodes of work and caregiving), and multitasking (percentage of paid work time spent concurrently caregiving). Findings show that while total burden remained stable across the six-year period, fragmentation significantly declined during the pandemic and remained lower than pre-pandemic levels through 2023. Multitasking rose sharply in 2020, particularly among women and professional workers, and gradually declined toward pre-pandemic levels. Gender disparities persisted, with women consistently experiencing more fragmented schedules, and greater multitasking than men. Racial/ethnic disparities were more context-specific: Black workers experienced significantly higher total burden during the crisis years, though this pattern did not persist in post-pandemic years. Black workers also consistently exhibited lower fragmentation and multitasking than White workers, patterns likely shaped by structural constraints such as limited access to remote work and inflexible job conditions. Occupational disparities reflected both short-term disruption and embedded structural inequality. Professional and managerial workers experienced a temporary reduction in total burden during the early pandemic years, likely due to greater flexibility and institutional support. Their higher levels of fragmentation and multitasking were attributable to demographic and structural factors such as caregiving intensity and remote work, rather than occupation alone. These patterns indicate that pandemic-era disparities were not solely occupational but were shaped by intersecting institutional arrangements. Overall, the pandemic altered how work and care were organized but did not eliminate-and in some cases reinforced-existing inequalities. The findings highlight the need for crisis-responsive, equity-centered work-family policies that address both the amount and structure of time demanded from workers in caregiving roles.Study 2 examines the multidimensional nature of precarious work and its relationship with work-family time-use patterns. Existing literature highlights the negative effects of job precarity on work-family balance but often overlooks its multidimensional nature and implications for time use. This study challenges the predominant variable-centered focus by adopting a person-centered approach to identify how specific combinations of precarity characteristics- employment type, work schedule, income level, and benefits-shape workers' time-use patterns, such as total burden, fragmentation, and multitasking. Using nationally representative data from the 2017-2018 American Time Use Survey (ATUS) and Leave Module, this study employs latent class analysis (LCA) with the BCH (Bolck, Croon, and Hagenaars) 3-step method to identify distinct worker groups and examine their demographic characteristics and work-family time-use patterns. Four distinct groups were identified: Optimal Job Security Workers (12%), Flexible Professionals (22%), Inflexible Long Part-timers (42%), and Severely Precarious Workers (24%). Optimal Job Security Workers experienced relatively balanced time-use patterns, whereas Flexible Professionals faced the highest burden and multitasking demands. Inflexible Long part-timers encountered a high burden but the lowest multitasking, and Severely Precarious Workers exhibited fragmented time use. Vulnerable groups, such as young workers, women, racial minorities, and those with lower levels of education, were disproportionately represented in precarious jobs. Findings reveal the nuanced, non-linear relationship between multidimensional job precarity and work-family time-use patterns, with each group experiencing distinct challenges in managing paid work and caregiving responsibilities. The results highlight the need for nuanced, targeted policy solutions that address both the multidimensional nature of precarity and its varied implications for time allocation in working families.Study 3 expands the inquiry to the policy level, examining how federal paid family leave is discussed in congressional hearings, with a focus on whether issues of equity, specifically gender, racial, and class disparities, are addressed in federal legislative discourse. While research has documented unequal use and access to existing employer-provided and state-level paid leave programs, little is known about how these inequalities are represented in federal policymaking debates. Using a corpus of 333 congressional hearing transcript documents from 1995 to 2024, the study employs machine learning-based topic modeling to identify the dominant topics in these debates. Thirteen topics emerged, ranging from program design and cost debates to broader themes such as family economic security and reproductive justice. Of these, six topics featured paid leave as a central focus, while seven treated it as secondary or peripheral. Among the central topics, only two-those focused on inequitable access and national policy arguments-explicitly framed equity as a core policy concern. In other topics, identity-based disparities were invoked strategically or omitted entirely, often overshadowed by cost, employer burden, or administrative feasibility. These findings reveal that although paid family leave is increasingly discussed in Congress, equity considerations remain inconsistently addressed or strategically framed. Structural disparities were more likely to be acknowledged in testimony from advocates, whereas opponents emphasized universalism, fiscal constraints, or administrative feasibility.
- 초록/해제
- 요약The study underscores the importance of political discourse in shaping policy priorities and suggests that advancing inclusive paid leave policy will require not only technical design but also a deliberate centering of equity in federal debate.Collectively, the three studies examine how gendered, classed, and racialized disparities in work-family time manifest in both the lived realities of workers and the political debates surrounding paid family leave. This dissertation contributes to the literature by providing empirical evidence that: (1) structural disparities in work-family time use persisted or deepened during and after COVID-19 pandemic; (2) how multidimensional job precarity relates to distinct time-use patterns of burden, fragmentation, and multitasking; and (3) how federal legislative discourse on paid family leave inconsistently addresses gender, race, and class inequities, limiting the transformative potential of paid family leave. Taken together, the findings offer time-centered analysis that underscores the need for equity-driven research and policy interventions that recognize work-family balance as a collective societal responsibility rather than an individual issue.
- 일반주제명
- Social work
- 일반주제명
- Experimental psychology
- 기타저자
- University of California, Berkeley Social Welfare
- 기본자료저록
- Dissertations Abstracts International. 87-04B.
- 전자적 위치 및 접속
- 로그인 후 원문을 볼 수 있습니다.
MARC
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■040 ▼aMiAaPQ▼cMiAaPQ
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■1001 ▼aKeh, MinJee.
■24510▼aFrom Daily Realities to National Policy: Inequalities in Work-Family Time Use and Paid Family Leave
■260 ▼a[Sl]▼bUniversity of California, Berkeley▼c2025
■260 1▼aAnn Arbor▼bProQuest Dissertations & Theses▼c2025
■300 ▼a147 p
■500 ▼aSource: Dissertations Abstracts International, Volume: 87-04, Section: B.
■500 ▼aAdvisor: Chang, Yu-Ling.
■5021 ▼aThesis (Ph.D.)--University of California, Berkeley, 2025.
■520 ▼aWork-family conflict arises when the demands of paid work and unpaid caregiving are incompatible, affecting both individual well-being and organizational outcomes. At its core, work-family conflict is a conflict over time-who has it, how it is structured, and under what conditions it is supported. Disparities in work-family time are shaped by social identities, labor market conditions, and the (un)availability of supportive policies. In the United States, these inequalities are exacerbated by the absence of a national paid family leave policy and by labor market shifts toward unstable, unpredictable, and unsupported work. The COVID-19 pandemic further magnified these inequalities by disrupting caregiving arrangements and intensifying time pressure for workers managing dual demands.Although prior research has examined unequal experiences of work-family conflict and the effects of work-family supports, the field has traditionally approached work-family conflict as an individual-level perception, emphasizing personal coping strategies. While more recent research has begun to examine structural and institutional factors such as the COVID-19 pandemic, labor market precarity, and policy interventions like paid family leave as major forces shaping work-family life, few have brought these elements together through the lens of time. Moreover, although paid family leave is widely recognized as a potential intervention, research has primarily focused on existing employer-provided and state-level programs, with limited attention to how equity concerns are addressed in federal policy discourse on national paid leave. This dissertation addresses these gaps through three empirical studies that use time as an analytical bridge and center structural factors shaping disparities from daily time use to national policy. Specifically, it asks: (1) How did work-family time-use patterns and related disparities change before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic? (2) How does multidimensional job precarity relate to distinct work-family time-use patterns? (3) What topics are discussed in congressional hearings regarding paid family leave, and to what extent does federal paid leave discourse address equity concerns related to gender, race, and class?Study 1 analyzes how the work-family time-use patterns changed before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic and how the disparities by gender, race/ethnicity, and occupation in these time-use patterns shifted across years during this period. Using nationally representative yearly data from the American Time Use Survey (ATUS) from 2018 to 2023, the analysis focuses on three dimensions of work-family time: total burden (total minutes spent in paid work and caregiving), fragmentation (number of distinct episodes of work and caregiving), and multitasking (percentage of paid work time spent concurrently caregiving). Findings show that while total burden remained stable across the six-year period, fragmentation significantly declined during the pandemic and remained lower than pre-pandemic levels through 2023. Multitasking rose sharply in 2020, particularly among women and professional workers, and gradually declined toward pre-pandemic levels. Gender disparities persisted, with women consistently experiencing more fragmented schedules, and greater multitasking than men. Racial/ethnic disparities were more context-specific: Black workers experienced significantly higher total burden during the crisis years, though this pattern did not persist in post-pandemic years. Black workers also consistently exhibited lower fragmentation and multitasking than White workers, patterns likely shaped by structural constraints such as limited access to remote work and inflexible job conditions. Occupational disparities reflected both short-term disruption and embedded structural inequality. Professional and managerial workers experienced a temporary reduction in total burden during the early pandemic years, likely due to greater flexibility and institutional support. Their higher levels of fragmentation and multitasking were attributable to demographic and structural factors such as caregiving intensity and remote work, rather than occupation alone. These patterns indicate that pandemic-era disparities were not solely occupational but were shaped by intersecting institutional arrangements. Overall, the pandemic altered how work and care were organized but did not eliminate-and in some cases reinforced-existing inequalities. The findings highlight the need for crisis-responsive, equity-centered work-family policies that address both the amount and structure of time demanded from workers in caregiving roles.Study 2 examines the multidimensional nature of precarious work and its relationship with work-family time-use patterns. Existing literature highlights the negative effects of job precarity on work-family balance but often overlooks its multidimensional nature and implications for time use. This study challenges the predominant variable-centered focus by adopting a person-centered approach to identify how specific combinations of precarity characteristics- employment type, work schedule, income level, and benefits-shape workers' time-use patterns, such as total burden, fragmentation, and multitasking. Using nationally representative data from the 2017-2018 American Time Use Survey (ATUS) and Leave Module, this study employs latent class analysis (LCA) with the BCH (Bolck, Croon, and Hagenaars) 3-step method to identify distinct worker groups and examine their demographic characteristics and work-family time-use patterns. Four distinct groups were identified: Optimal Job Security Workers (12%), Flexible Professionals (22%), Inflexible Long Part-timers (42%), and Severely Precarious Workers (24%). Optimal Job Security Workers experienced relatively balanced time-use patterns, whereas Flexible Professionals faced the highest burden and multitasking demands. Inflexible Long part-timers encountered a high burden but the lowest multitasking, and Severely Precarious Workers exhibited fragmented time use. Vulnerable groups, such as young workers, women, racial minorities, and those with lower levels of education, were disproportionately represented in precarious jobs. Findings reveal the nuanced, non-linear relationship between multidimensional job precarity and work-family time-use patterns, with each group experiencing distinct challenges in managing paid work and caregiving responsibilities. The results highlight the need for nuanced, targeted policy solutions that address both the multidimensional nature of precarity and its varied implications for time allocation in working families.Study 3 expands the inquiry to the policy level, examining how federal paid family leave is discussed in congressional hearings, with a focus on whether issues of equity, specifically gender, racial, and class disparities, are addressed in federal legislative discourse. While research has documented unequal use and access to existing employer-provided and state-level paid leave programs, little is known about how these inequalities are represented in federal policymaking debates. Using a corpus of 333 congressional hearing transcript documents from 1995 to 2024, the study employs machine learning-based topic modeling to identify the dominant topics in these debates. Thirteen topics emerged, ranging from program design and cost debates to broader themes such as family economic security and reproductive justice. Of these, six topics featured paid leave as a central focus, while seven treated it as secondary or peripheral. Among the central topics, only two-those focused on inequitable access and national policy arguments-explicitly framed equity as a core policy concern. In other topics, identity-based disparities were invoked strategically or omitted entirely, often overshadowed by cost, employer burden, or administrative feasibility. These findings reveal that although paid family leave is increasingly discussed in Congress, equity considerations remain inconsistently addressed or strategically framed. Structural disparities were more likely to be acknowledged in testimony from advocates, whereas opponents emphasized universalism, fiscal constraints, or administrative feasibility.
■520 ▼aThe study underscores the importance of political discourse in shaping policy priorities and suggests that advancing inclusive paid leave policy will require not only technical design but also a deliberate centering of equity in federal debate.Collectively, the three studies examine how gendered, classed, and racialized disparities in work-family time manifest in both the lived realities of workers and the political debates surrounding paid family leave. This dissertation contributes to the literature by providing empirical evidence that: (1) structural disparities in work-family time use persisted or deepened during and after COVID-19 pandemic; (2) how multidimensional job precarity relates to distinct time-use patterns of burden, fragmentation, and multitasking; and (3) how federal legislative discourse on paid family leave inconsistently addresses gender, race, and class inequities, limiting the transformative potential of paid family leave. Taken together, the findings offer time-centered analysis that underscores the need for equity-driven research and policy interventions that recognize work-family balance as a collective societal responsibility rather than an individual issue.
■590 ▼aSchool code: 0028.
■650 4▼aSocial work
■650 4▼aIndividual & family studies
■650 4▼aExperimental psychology
■653 ▼aSocial identities
■653 ▼aWork-family conflict
■653 ▼aCOVID-19 pandemic
■653 ▼aAmerican Time Use Survey
■653 ▼aPaid leave policy
■690 ▼a0452
■690 ▼a0624
■690 ▼a0623
■690 ▼a0628
■690 ▼a0629
■71020▼aUniversity of California, Berkeley▼bSocial Welfare.
■7730 ▼tDissertations Abstracts International▼g87-04B.
■790 ▼a0028
■791 ▼aPh.D.
■792 ▼a2025
■793 ▼aEnglish
■85640▼uhttp://www.riss.kr/pdu/ddodLink.do?id=T17359151▼nKERIS▼z이 자료의 원문은 한국교육학술정보원에서 제공합니다.


