Professor Heejung Chung last week appeared on the cover of Dutch magazine Vrij Nederland (Free Netherlands)
Professor Heejung Chung, last week, appeared on the cover of Dutch magazine,Vrij Nederland (Free Netherlands), discussing how ‘flexible working is not always a good idea’. The interview follows Professor Chung’s research at Kent on an ESRC funded project Work Autonomy, Flexibility and Work-life Balance leading to her book Flexibility Paradox: why flexible working leads to (self-) exploitation discussing how flexible working despite its many positive impacts may result in unintended consequences.
Her book offers an examination of flexible working using data from 30 European countries and draws on studies conducted in Australia, the US and India. It reveals how flexible working can lead to exploitation, namely rather than workers working anytime and anywhere, they end up working all the time and everywhere. However, these patterns manifest differently for women and men, where women end up doing more childcare and housework, while men end up expanding their paid work. And it investigates the potential risks and benefits of flexible working, and provides crucial policy recommendations for overcoming the negative consequences.
The research and book have been widely acclaimed in the media from across the globe, from Newsweek, WIRED magazine, the New York Times, to interviews with the BBC and Aljazeera. Professor Chung’s interest lies in why people engage in work differently across different countries, exploring the role of cultural and institutional contexts. More specifically she is interested in exploring gender inequalities both in the labour market and at home, and the role different labour market policies such as flexible working arrangements, labour, laws, and other family policies have in changing these relationships.
See Professor Heejung Chung’s full profile on the SSPSSR website here, including details of her publications and how to access them.
https://www.kent.ac.uk/social-policy-sociology-social-research/people/570/chung-heejung