Working 9 to 5? Complex patterns of time allocation among managers and professionals in dual career households

This PhD is a theoretically informed empirical investigation of contemporary patterns of time allocation among managers and professionals in dual career households. Focus centres on three key elements of time allocation, namely work, care and commuting. Specifically, this thesis addresses three research questions: (1) Which theoretical approach(es) — mainstream, institutional or feminist — offer the most suitable explanation of individual and household choices and constraints in the allocation of time? (2) Do distinctions need to be made within the Professional-Managerial Class (PMC), and are these distinctions occupational and/or gender specific? (3) What challenges, in a policy context, do dual career households face in managing the combined demands of work-time, caring and commuting? A mixed methods approach is employed. This combines quantitative empirical analysis using published national statistics, specifically the Labour Force Survey (LFS) and the Census Special Licence Household Sample of Anonymised Records (SL-HSAR), with a mixed methods case study of Greater Nottingham, a major employment centre of the East Midlands region of the UK. The case study comprises a series of interviews with Human Resource Managers (HRMs) and a survey of managerial and professional workers. It allows analysis at two reference points, using primary data collected as part of the ‘location and mobility decisions of dual career households’ project funded by the Leverhulme Trust (grant F/740).

Name dc:type.qualificationname

phd

Level dc:type.qualificationlevel

doctoral

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

Nottingham Trent University

Year dc:date.issued

2009

Author dc:creator

• Wheatley, D

Language dc:language

en