Flexitime Works Better for Men than Women: Study

London: Flexitime and having autonomy over working hours - known as schedule control - works better for men than women and may increase the gender pay gap, a new study has found.

Women, even full-time working women, do not reap the direct benefit men do in terms of income gains due to flexitime.

Although schedule control is associated with increases in overtime and income, it is men that benefit more, the study led by researchers from University of Kent in the UK found. The research showed that the increase in overtime was much higher for men, meaning that schedule control has the potential to ‘traditionalise’ gender roles. This was because of the large number of women taking part in the study sample who were working part-time. Researchers found a considerable ‘gender gap’ in the income gained through schedule control. Both men and women gain additional income when using schedule control mediated via overtime hours.

However, women, even full-time working women, do not reap the direct benefit men do in terms of income gains. In fact, the findings suggest schedule control may potentially increase the gender pay gap, researchers said. They found that this gender discrepancy exists even when they took into account the gender segregation of the labour market, such as sectors and occupations, as well as other characteristics such as an individual’s ambition or work devotion. The findings were published in the journal European Sociological Review.

PTI