They put in the bulk of their work effort at times other than the usual 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. Economywide, it's a huge exercise in social scheduling that determines when we work, play, and sleep. It also reflects other people and their schedules - our family, friends, and coworkers. Even at 3 o'clock in the morning, at least 5 percent of women and 7 percent of men are engaged in market work. Men and women are about equally likely to work a nonstandard schedule, but particular times and occupations differ.
Men tend to work nights or rotating shifts, with cooks having the highest chance of odd hours.
Women with nonstandard schedules tend to work as nurses, cashiers, and waitresses. Nonstandard schedules are least common for engineers, teachers, and secretaries, and more common among African-Americans and the less educated. Still, looked at another way, these figures mean that two-thirds of us work regular weekday gigs. And this is probably no accident, for we are daytime creatures, biologically and psychologically geared for daylight activity. Body temperature is lowest at about 5 a.m., and melatonin, which makes us feel sleepy, begins to increase after 10 o'clock at night.