Many older workers have difficult schedules: Work-life balance and work schedules by age, 2018

Age Prime-age workers (35–49) Older workers (50–70)
Any type of difficult schedule 66.1% 53.7%
Poor work-life balance 15.8% 11.8%
Last-minute scheduling 22.6% 9.2%
Work more than 48 hours/week 24.2% 16.6%
Night work 31.8% 24.5%
Shift work 32.2% 26.5%

Notes: Workers with poor work-life balance are those who say their working hours fit “not very well” or “not at all well” with family or social commitments. Workers with last-minute scheduling are those whose work schedules are often set the day before or the same day they are expected to work.

Workers with poor work-life balance are those who say their working hours fit “not very well” or “not at all well” with family or social commitments. Workers with last-minute scheduling are those whose work schedules are often set the day before or the same day they are expected to work. The share of workers working more than 48 hours per weeks is based on the hours they usually work at their main job. Workers who work nights are those who work at least two hours between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. at least once per month. Workers who work shifts are based on a question that included other scheduling arrangements, such as working fixed starting and finishing times. Though the survey did not define shift work, this is usually understood to mean round-the-clock work divided into two or three shifts, such that some work is done outside of daytime hours.

Source: Author’s analysis of 2018 American Working Conditions Survey microdata (RAND Corporation 2018).

View the underlying data on epi.org.