Fitting Life into Work

The 53 percent majority of the nation's wage-and-salary workers can adjust their work schedule rather than take leave time from work when they need to go to a doctor, care for a sick child, attend a parent-teacher meeting, or run another type of errand. Seven percent do so during an average week, including 12 percent of managers, 11 percent of the highest-paid workers, and 10 percent of workers with a bachelor's degree.

The percentage of workers who have the freedom to adjust their schedule varies greatly by demographic characteristic. Only 44 percent of Hispanic workers can adjust their schedule compared with 58 percent of Asians. The figures are identical by pay scale: 44 percent of the lowest-paid workers can make scheduling adjustments compared with 58 percent of the highest-paid workers.

The biggest difference is by education. Only 32 percent of workers without a high school diploma can adjust their schedule versus 58 percent of those with a bachelor's degree.

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Access to and Use of Leave--2011 Data from the American Time Use Survey