Interestingly, the same survey showed no difference in divorce rates among couples working different shifts if they had no children. Professionals who study shift work find the effort by parents to watch their own children admirable, but they also have concerns. There is so much negative written about parents, and yet there are so many out there working to make things better for their children. Nevertheless, the stress is inescapable, she said. In her interviews with workplace couples, she found extreme stress among those trying to balance home and work in this fashion.
Couples making the effort also are a rarity.
In talking to parents working different shifts, sociology professor Jennifer Glass of the University of Iowa said she did not find many who defied the clock for the sake of family child care. It's a major stress. Whether out of principle, fear or economy, the desire to avoid child care outside the family is significant. Census figures from 1994, the latest available, showed that relatives watched about half of all preschoolers while mothers worked, with fathers accounting for 18.5 percent of preschooler care and grandparents 16.3 percent. I work such long hours myself.