As nonstandard work has expanded in the labor market, the border between work and life has become increasingly flexible, indicating the growing need to examine the work-life balance of workers through a multidimensional lens. In particular, workers wi...
As nonstandard work has expanded in the labor market, the border between work and life has become increasingly flexible, indicating the growing need to examine the work-life balance of workers through a multidimensional lens. In particular, workers with young children are required to engage in paid work, childcare/housework, and personal life, leading to complex adjustments in the boundaries of time and place for each domain. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate how work and life places and activities are structured throughout the day, encompassing both standard and nonstandard workers with young children.
Based on border theory, this study examines how workers with young children configure their daily work and life places and activities on weekdays. The purposes of this study are (a) to classify how employed mothers and fathers configure their work and life including daily places and activities on weekdays, (b) to examine whether there are differences in individual, family, and occupational characteristics by type of work-life configuration, and (c) to investigate if these types are associated with well-being (time pressure, fatigue, and life satisfaction). Employed mothers and fathers were classified separately because the structure of their work-life configurations and available resources may differ by gender.
Data came from the 2024 Korean Time Use Survey, time-diary data collected by the Ministry of Data and Statistics in Korea. The sample for this study included 1,374 employed parents (488 mothers, 886 fathers) who lived with at least one child under age 10. Each participant completed a weekday diary providing details on a day when they worked for pay. Because time diaries record both places and activities in 10-minute intervals over 24 hours, they allow for the reconstruction of work-life configurations that integrate activity duration, timing, sequencing, and spatial context. This study constructed daily sequences of places and activities, and applied multichannel sequence analysis. Sequence dissimilarities were computed using dynamic Hamming matching (DHM), and configuration types were derived through Ward’s hierarchical clustering. The resulting types were interpreted through descriptive comparisons of time-place-activity. Subsequently, ANOVA and cross-tabulation were conducted to identify type differences based on the characteristics of the individual (age, education, income), family (number of cohabiting adults, age of youngest child, presence of a spouse), and job (employment status, industry, occupation, secondary job). Finally, multiple regression analysis was used to explore the relationship between these types and well-being. Individual weights were applied to all analyses.
Four work-life configuration types were identified for both employed mothers and employed fathers. Employed mothers were classified into: (a) standard work with morning/evening caregiving (44.28%), (b) reduced-hours and childcare-intensive (22.83%), (c) part-time work and afternoon-nonwork life (22.13%), and (d) work-from-home-based (WFH-based) work-life blended (10.75%). The primary distinctions among mothers’ types were how a reduction in working hours (e.g., reduced-hours and part-time) and the use of specific workplace characteristics (e.g., work from home) were combined with childcare and housework. For instance, mothers in the “reduced-hours and childcare-intensive” type concentrated childcare and housework in the evening, facilitated by shorter working hours. The “part-time and afternoon-nonwork life” type typically ended paid work around midday and engaged in childcare/housework from the afternoon to evening, with relatively frequent childcare-related travel. The “WFH-based work-life blended” type switched frequently throughout the day between paid work and childcare/housework.
Employed fathers were classified into: (a) standard work with evening caregiving (74.35%), (b) non-fixed workplace with work-life integrated type (12.00%), (c) work-focus with extended-hours (10.44%), and (d) work-focus with nighttime schedule (3.21%). Most fathers belonged to the “standard work with evening caregiving” type, indicating a strong prevalence of standard work characteristics. In addition, two types emerged among fathers characterized by extended hours and nonstandard schedules (work-focus with extended-hours and work-focus with nighttime schedule). The “non-fixed workplace with work-life integrated” type was marked by nonstandard workplace characteristics, such as work in alternative places, work-related travel, and work from home, along with comparatively expanded time for childcare/housework and leisure. These findings reflect the different intersections of labor market institutions and gendered role expectations within the family.
An analysis of the differences in individual, family, and job characteristics by type revealed that for employed mothers, differences in family characteristics were not statistically significant, whereas differences in job characteristics (employment status and industry) were prominent across types. Standard work types (types 1 and 2) for employed mothers tended to be associated with stable job characteristics (e.g., regular employment, public and social services). Similarly, for employed fathers, the associations of family characteristics were not significant, while differences across types were observed based on job characteristics (employment status, industry, and occupation). The proportion of self-employed workers was high in both the “non-fixed workplace with work-life integrated” type (characterized by shorter hours) and the "work-focus with extended-hours" type. These findings indicate that the same employment status can manifest in distinctly different work-life patterns.
Regarding well-being, there were limited associations with the various types for mothers despite considerable variation in working hours. However, mothers in the “reduced-hours and childcare-intensive” type reported higher fatigue and lower life satisfaction than the “part-time and afternoon-nonwork life” type. This contrast suggests that shorter work hours do not necessarily reduce the total obligatory time for work and family if childcare and housework burdens increase. For fathers, the association was clearer. Fathers with longer working hours reported poorer well-being, whereas the “non-fixed workplace with work-life integrated” type reported lower fatigue and higher life satisfaction.
This study holistically considered time, places, and activities by classifying the work-life configurations of daily places and activities among employed mothers and fathers with young children. In particular, this research illustrates various ways in which temporal and spatial boundaries interact, such as frequent activity switching of WFH mothers and frequent childcare-related travels of mothers leaving work around midday. Furthermore, the identification of nonstandard work types among both mothers and fathers suggests that work-life balance policies need to expand beyond a standard-work-centric approach to encompass both standard and nonstandard workers.