Predictably Unstable?: Precarious Work and Precarious Relationships in the U.S.

ABSTRACT Objective This study examines the association between workers' experience of unpredictable and unstable work schedules and their risk of marital or cohabitation dissolution and whether these associations vary by gender. Background Employment and earnings are well‐established predictors of relationship dissolution, with many studies demonstrating that men's employment and earnings stabilize relationships and debating whether women's employment and earnings have a stabilizing or destabilizing effect. What has gone missing and untested in this research and debate is the role of other job attributes that have profound effects on the rhythm of life, namely the predictability and consistency in the timing of work shifts. Method This study draws on longitudinal survey data of hourly service‐sector workers in the United States collected between 2019 and 2024 by the Shift Project ( n = 6918). Using linear probability models, married or cohabiting couples' risk of relationship dissolution as a function of work schedule instability is estimated. Results Hourly service‐sector workers who are subject to unstable and unpredictable work schedules are at higher risk for relationship dissolution. Work schedule instability is associated with dissolution for both marital and cohabiting relationships, especially when men experience highly unstable and unpredictable schedule conditions. Conclusion These results suggest that the demands of contemporary low‐wage work, predicated on the ideal worker norm, are at odds with the maintenance and stability of marital and cohabiting unions.