Examining Work Temporality Across the U.S. Latino Population by Nativity and Citizenship

Employees’ lives are structured by when and how much they work, which we refer to as “work temporality.” While Latinos, the largest racial/ethnic minority group in the U.S. labor force, are disproportionately employed in jobs with unpredictable work schedules, it is unclear how their time at work, broadly defined, varies within this group. This study addresses this gap by examining the temporal dimensions of work among Latinos in the U.S. by nativity and citizenship status and compares them to native-born White and Black workers. We analyze a range of detailed measures that capture the multidimensional nature of work temporality: duration (weekly hours), variability (changes in weekly hours), and timing (evening/night shifts, early/late weekday schedule, weekend work), in addition to conventional measures of non-standard work schedules. We estimate these conventional and detailed measures for five race/ethnicity/nativity/citizenship groups using the Survey of Income and Program Participation from 2014 to 2021. We assess whether these observed differences are maintained after controlling for compositional differences in demographic, socioeconomic, and geographic characteristics. The results indicate that relying wholly on conventional indicators can underestimate Latinos’ exposure to non-traditional work schedules, particularly for female Latino non-citizens. Instead, considering the temporal dimensions of duration, variability, and timing in concert may be more informative. The findings contribute to our understanding of how Latinos’ time at work is organized, and the stratifying roles of gender, nativity, and citizenship in the U.S. labor market.