Do weekend workers like their jobs?
Melbourne Institute Working Paper No. 16/26
Date: October 2026
Author(s):
Abstract
Weekend work is a pervasive feature of labor markets that comes with both potential benefits (e.g., higher pay, flexible schedules) and drawbacks (e.g., less social time). Nevertheless, robust evidence on weekend workers’ job satisfaction is lacking. Longitudinal data from 21 waves of the annual Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey (n=211,077; i=26,273) are used to estimate the association between weekend work and several dimensions of job satisfaction. Estimates from fixed effects models reveal that weekend work is associated with significantly lower levels of satisfaction with working hours and flexibility, but this does not translate into lower levels of overall job satisfaction. Additional analyses were conducted to test whether results varied with employment status, occupation and parental status. In general, the main finding applied to all groups examined. There were, however, marked differences across sub-groups in satisfaction with other job domains. Overall, the results suggest that, for most workers, the benefits of working weekends offset its disadvantages.