The constraints of work and domestic schedules on women's leisure

Abstract

This article reports on the findings of a research project which examined the effects of hours of work on the leisure behaviour of men and women. By focusing on the women in the sample, the evidence shows that women's scheduling priorities are shaped by domestic rather than leisure concerns. Due to their higher leisure expectations, male shift workers have greater difficulty in adjusting to shift work than women. The relationship between women's domestic, leisure and work time is structured within a cultural framework that is distinct from, yet clearly influenced by that of men. The findings imply the need to revise approaches to the theoretical division between work and leisure time, by prioritizing the study of domestic and gender relationships. Proposals for the lifting of hours of work restrictions imposed on women must be studied in the light of such wider cultural analysis.