14 DAY TRIAL // A new University of Michigan study shows there are gender differences in sleep interruptions, and working mothers are two-and-a-half times more likely to disturb their sleep to take care of their children.
This research gives the first nationally representative data on gender differences in getting up at night to take care of babies or small children.
Sociologist Sarah Burgard, a researcher at the U-M Institute for Social Research (ISR), analyzed time-diary data from the US Census Bureau's American Time Use Survey, from nearly 20,000 working parents, between 2003 and 2007.
She concluded that the gender gap in sleep interruptions was greatest for people in their twenties and thirties, during the prime childbearing and child-rearing years.
Among working couples with a child under the age of one, 32% of women reported sleep interruptions to take care of the baby, unlike only 11% of men.
As the child grows, sleep interruptions decline to 10% of working mothers and 2% of working fathers with children aged 1 to 2 years, and 3% of working moms and 1% of working dads with kids aged 3 to 5.
Burgard said that “what is really surprising, is that gender differences in night-time caregiving remain even after adjusting for the employment status, income and education levels of each parent.
“Among parents of infants who are the sole breadwinner in a couple, for example, 28 percent of women who are the sole breadwinner report getting up at night to take care of their children, compared to just 4 percent of men who are the only earner in the couple."
And if women being more likely to wake up at night to care for the kids was not enough, the researchers reported that their sleep interruptions also last longer than men's – 44 minutes, on average, for women, and about 30 minutes for men.
“Interrupted sleep is a burden borne disproportionately by women,” said Burgard.
“And this burden may not only affect the health and well-being of women, but also contribute to continuing gender inequality in earnings and career advancement.”
In another research, Burgard and colleagues found that women sleep slightly more than men do, but an average of 15 minutes of extra sleep could make up for sleepless nights, or not.
Burgard added that “women face greater fragmentation and lower quality of sleep at a crucial stage in their careers.
“The prime childbearing years are also the time when earnings trajectories are being established, and career advancement opportunities could well be foregone if women reduce their paid work time or see their workplace performance affected because of exhaustion.
“As a result, sleep interruption may represent an under-recognized 'motherhood penalty' that influences life chances and well-being.”
The results of this study are also important for public health interventions, on improving sleep, and “generally, these interventions target individual behaviors, such as the use of alcohol, caffeine or tobacco.
"Or they focus on nightly routines that help people to relax and fall asleep or stay asleep more successfully.
"But for parents of young children, the best approach might be discussions and negotiations about whose turn it is to get up with the baby tonight,” concluded Burgard.
The study was funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, the National Institute on Aging, and the Sloan Foundation, and it will appear in the peer-reviewed journal Social Forces.
Watch the video explaining the study: