{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,28]],"date-time":"2026-08-28T09:06:47Z","timestamp":1787908007081,"version":"build-2784847793"},"reference-count":33,"publisher":"BMJ","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,15]],"date-time":"2025-09-15T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1757894400000},"content-version":"unspecified","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100000269","name":"Economic and Social Research Council","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["ES\/Z504270\/1"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["ES\/Z504270\/1"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100000269","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"name":"European Commission H2020 initiative funding","award":["HORIZON-CL2-2021-TRANSFORMATIONS-01-02"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["HORIZON-CL2-2021-TRANSFORMATIONS-01-02"]}]},{"name":"Ministry of Education of the Republic of Korea and the National Research Foundation of Korea","award":["NRF-2023S1A5A2A03083567"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["NRF-2023S1A5A2A03083567"]}]},{"name":"Economic and Social Research Council Understanding Society Fellowship","award":["187041"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["187041"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["bmj.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["J Epidemiol Community Health"],"accepted":{"date-parts":[[2025,8,25]]},"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,1]]},"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>The \u2018right to request\u2019 flexible working policy has been gradually extended and, by 2014, extended to cover all workers with at least 26 weeks of continuous employment. The impact of these policy changes is unclear. This research aims to assess the effects of the 2014 policy reform on the uptake of flexible working and its impact on health and well-being, focusing on gender differences.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Data were drawn from waves 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 of the UK Household Longitudinal Study (2010\u20132020). We employed a doubly robust difference-in-differences method to estimate the average treatment effects on the treated of the 2014 policy reform. This analysis examined the effects on the uptake of flexible working, mental and physical health, and satisfaction with life, job and leisure.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Findings<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>The 2014 policy reform increased women\u2019s uptake of reduced hours work arrangements, with the effect growing stronger over time. However, no increase in uptake was observed among men. No strong effects were found for flexitime or teleworking arrangements for either men or women. Additionally, the policy reform resulted in a reduction in psychological distress and improved life satisfaction among women.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>The reduction in women\u2019s psychological distress and improved life satisfaction might be partly explained by the increased women\u2019s uptake of reduced hours arrangements, which may have enabled women to better meet their family care demands. However, even the gender-neutral policies on flexible working may inadvertently exacerbate gender inequalities in labour force participation by pushing women more into part-time work.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1136\/jech-2025-224166","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,16]],"date-time":"2025-09-16T01:25:16Z","timestamp":1757985916000},"page":"17-24","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1136\/crossmarkpolicy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3,"title":["Does the \u2018right to request\u2019 flexible work policy influence men\u2019s and women\u2019s uptake of flexible working and well-being: findings from the UK Household Longitudinal Study"],"prefix":"10.1136","volume":"80","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0180-8776","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Baowen","family":"Xue","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Epidemiology & Public Health, University College London, London, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Heejung","family":"Chung","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"King's Business School & King\u2019s Global Institute for Women\u2019s Leadership, King\u2019s College London, London, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6414-6434","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ran","family":"Gu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Economics, City St George's, University of London, London, UK"},{"name":"Institute for Fiscal Studies, London, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Anne","family":"McMunn","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Epidemiology & Public Health, University College London, London, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"239","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,15]]},"reference":[{"key":"2025121002051027000_80.1.17.1","unstructured":"Cunningham S , Brione P , Zaidi K . House of Commons Library; Flexible working, 2024. Available: https:\/\/researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk\/documents\/SN01086\/SN01086.pdf"},{"key":"2025121002051027000_80.1.17.2","unstructured":"Hegewisch A . Flexible Working Policies: A Comparative Review. Institute for Women\u2019s Policy Research, 2009."},{"key":"2025121002051027000_80.1.17.3","unstructured":"Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy . Making flexible working the default. Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy; 2021."},{"key":"2025121002051027000_80.1.17.4","unstructured":"GOV.UK . Flexible working. GOV.UK; 2024. Available: https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/flexible-working\/types-of-flexible-working"},{"key":"2025121002051027000_80.1.17.5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"779","DOI":"10.1177\/0038038519826014","article-title":"Are Flexible Work Arrangements Associated with Lower Levels of Chronic Stress-Related Biomarkers? 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