Living the 14/14 Schedule: Qualitative Analysis of the Challenges and Coping Strategies among Families of Offshore Wind Workers
Abstract
:1. Introduction
- What are the advantages and disadvantages of living the 14/14 schedule as perceived by the women of offshore wind workers, particularly regarding the following phases:
- (1)
- life without offshore partner;
- (2)
- life together as a couple/family;
- (3)
- transition phases (reunion/parting)?
- What coping strategies are employed by the women and couples to deal with the specific features of living the 14/14 schedule?
- How do the women judge the reconciliation of offshore work and partnership/family life, including aspects of organizational support?
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Study Design and Participants
2.2. Interview Guideline
2.3. Analysis
3. Results
3.1. Sample Characteristics
3.2. Single Life without the Offshore Partner
3.2.1. Advantages
“Very simple things, like, for example, when to make purchases, what to buy, when to clean certain things (…).”(Interviewee #8)
“Advantages, perhaps, that one deals with being alone and tries to find strategies to better cope with it. You do not rely on the fact that there is always someone there, but you put more thoughts in your own leisure activities.”(Interviewee #4)
3.2.2. Disadvantages
“A disadvantage is, of course, that you can only maintain your social contacts alone. If there are invitations or birthday parties, or if you just want to spend a nice evening with friends, this doesn’t work.”(Interviewee #13)
“I realize that I’m not feeling well when he’s not there. Sometimes I do not sleep for nights because I cannot stand it.”(Interviewee #5)
“Well, more or less, I am a single parent for two weeks.”(Interviewee #9)
“Of course, when my husband is not there, I work more. When he’s at home, I scale that back a bit, so that we have more time for each other.”(Interviewee #9)
“It also happens that the children get sick if he is not there for a long time.”(Interviewee #6)
3.2.3. Communication and Contact Styles
“During his shift, I can write him and if he reads it in between, he can also answer me. But we rather talk on the phone during his free shifts.”(Interviewee #12)
3.3. Life as a Couple
3.3.1. Advantages
“It’s also good for our relationship, it’s good to have such a short break (...). That brings in a certain freshness.”(Interviewee #6)
3.3.2. Disadvantages
“We are all habitual people and habits can be very difficult at 2 weeks/2 weeks, I think.”(Interviewee #11)
“You always have the feeling that you must put everything into these two weeks, because afterwards, your time together is over. Need for action, discussion needs… what you just can’t always hold on the phone.”(Interviewee #9)
“It was not satisfactory for him either. He was not socializing as much as he had wished. The days are long when all people around you work full time.”(Interviewee #11)
“The time on the two weekends becomes very, very scarce. When there should be time for the partnership, but also for family, friends, and your own interests.”(Interviewee #4)
3.3.3. Conflicts and Compromises
“Because we are separated again and again, you appreciate it (the time spent together) very much. And that makes us both feel that we are not arguing so fast and so much.”(Interviewee #10)
“We have to direct our everyday life according to these offshore trips. He never knows when the trips will be —they are not set at the beginning of the year—so we just cannot plan at all.”(Interviewee #5)
3.4. Transition Phase
3.4.1. Reunion with the Partner
“Then I just run from A to B and check that everything is neat (…). That the food is ready and that no more laundry is lying around. That there are no disruptive factors in order for us to simply enjoy this moment together.”(Interviewee #5)
“At the beginning, you often need some time to get close again, because you have not seen the other person for so long.”(Interviewee #7)
“You develop different habits—your own habits—when the partner is not there. And as soon as he comes back, it’s all jumbled up.”(Interviewee #8)
“When he comes back, the children are usually there, and then the alarm goes from 0 to 100 in the booth.”(Interviewee #13)
3.4.2. Needs and Expectations upon the Partners’ Arrival
“I indeed expect that he will also take care of the household and of the things that happened while he was not there.”(Interviewee #13)
“I get up at the same time in the morning, go to work, and come back in the evening. And then my partner took the time as a vacation, but I was still in the working cycle.”(Interviewee #4)
3.4.3. Parting
3.5. Coping Strategies
3.5.1. Strategies of the Women
“I think that you rely more on the social network around you. That you particularly promote your network. You simply intensify other social contacts, family, friends.”(Interviewee #4)
“For me, this is already somewhat normal. And we talk on the phone in the evenings and write each other during the evenings when he has enough time.”(Interviewee #12)
3.5.2. Strategies of the Couples
“This always means a lot of exchange with each other, and a lot of talking and communicating. Then it works. But those who do not have this ability will find it difficult.”(Interviewee #9)
“Certain rituals are that, when he’s at home, (…) the last weekend before he leaves, or at least 1 or 2 days, that you have these days completely to yourself. And then accept no appointments.”(Interviewee #10)
3.6. Reconciliation of Offshore Work and Family Life/Partnership
3.6.1. Opinions on Reconciliation
“Which father of a family can say that he is completely at home for 2 weeks, from morning to night?”(Interviewee #10)
“I just think that the men miss too much. Especially when a child is born. In the first year, our son actually had only me, his dad was always a bit of a rival.”(Interviewee #5)
“Without a child, I’d say, it works. Then you can deal with it, even without noticing a negative impact on the relationship.”(Interviewee #4)
“The big disadvantage is that the private life suffers greatly, that one must cut back on the partnership because the contact is missing.”(Interviewee #5)
“If you do not have family support, then it is not necessarily family-friendly. So I think that the environment still plays a big role.”(Interviewee #7)
3.6.2. Needs and Wishes for Improving Reconciliation
“These are my concerns, reliability and predictability.”(Interviewee #6)
3.6.3. Support from Offshore Companies
“Of course, if there was a death in the family or something, definitely. Or now with the child’s birth, I could call him anytime and would try to get him off the platform.”(Interviewee #10)
“That’s a good option, I think, that companies put a lot of emphasis on enabling the workers to have regular contact with their families at home.”(Interviewee #10)
4. Discussion
4.1. Single Life without the Offshore Partner
4.2. Life as a Couple
4.3. Coping Strategies
4.4. Reconciliation of Offshore Work and Family Life/Partnership
4.5. Strengths and Limitations
5. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
Data availability
References
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1 | Introduction | Study information, confidentiality, informed consent |
2 | Socio-demographics | Interviewee: age, marital status, occupation, work schedule, duration of partnership with offshore partner, shared household, children Offshore partner: offshore experience, occupation, work schedule |
3 | Phase 1: Single life without offshore partner | Advantages and disadvantages of the phase, contact opportunities while partner is offshore |
4 | Phase 2: Daily life with offshore partner | Advantages and disadvantages of the phase, associated behavior patterns and feelings |
5 | Phase 3: Transition phase | Associated behavior patterns and feelings, needs and expectations upon the partner’s arrival |
6 | Coping strategies | Strategies of the interviewee and the couple |
7 | Reconciliation of offshore work and family life/partnership | Reconciliation of offshore work with family life/partnership; wishes for a facilitated reconciliation |
Interviewee | n |
Gender | |
female | 14 |
Age | |
20–30 years | 4 |
31–40 years | 7 |
41–50 years | 3 |
Marital status | |
not married | 4 |
married | 10 |
Work schedule | |
full-time | 7 |
part-time | 2 |
currently in maternity or parental leave | 5 |
Duration of partnership | |
1–5 years | 6 |
6–10 years | 4 |
11–20 years | 2 |
>20 years | 2 |
Partnership with partner working offshore from the start | |
yes | 4 |
no | 10 |
Children | |
yes and living in household | 8 |
expecting | 4 |
no | 2 |
Offshore partner | n |
Work schedule | |
14 days offshore/14 days onshore | 12 |
other | 2 |
Offshore experience | |
<1 year | 1 |
1–2 years | 6 |
3–4 years | 3 |
>4 years | 4 |
ID | Age * | Marital Status | Occupation | Work Schedule | Duration of Partnership * | Partnership with Partner Offshore * | Shared Household * | Children (in Household) | Occupation | Offshore Experience * | Work Schedule ** |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Interviewee | Offshore partner | ||||||||||
1 | 28 | married | not specified (currently on parental leave) | full-time | 10 | 6 | 9, 5 | 1 (1) | service technician | 6 | 14/14 |
2 | 33 | not married | not specified | full-time | 3 | 3 | 2, 5 | 0 (0) | technical project management | 6 | irregular |
3 | 35 | married | office management | full-time apprenticeship | 10 | 2, 5 | 10 | 2 (2) | quality management | 2, 5 | 14/14 ** |
4 | 32 | married | social worker (currently on maternity leave) | full-time | 5, 5 | 1, 5 | 5 | 0 (0) | health and safety | 1, 5 | 14/14 |
5 | 29 | married | florist | full-time | 2, 5 | 2, 5 | 2, 5 | 1 (1) | service technician | 5 | 8/4 |
6 | 39 | married | administrative official | part-time | 15 | 5 | 12 | 2 (2) | operations manager | 5 | 14/14 ** |
7 | 29 | married | architect (currently on maternity leave) | 10 | 2 | 9 | 0 (0) | offshore medic | 2 | 14/14 | |
8 | 25 | married | maritime sector | full-time | 8 | 0, 5 | 6 | 0 (0) | platform master/ | 0, 5 | 14/14 ** |
9 | 46 | married | teacher | full-time | 27 | 3 | 25 | 2 (2) | service technician | 3 | 14/14 |
10 | 31 | married | tailoress (currently on maternity leave) | part-time | 5 | 1, 5 | 4, 5 | 0 (0) | nautical officer | 1, 5 | 14/14 |
11 | 35 | married | health insurance | part-time | 13 | 2 | 11 | 1 (1) | service technician | 2 | 14/14 |
12 | 34 | not married | occupational therapist (currently on maternity leave) | full-time | 3, 5 | 3, 5 | 0, 5 | 0 (0) | service technician | 14/14 | |
13 | 42 | not married | tailoress | full-time | 2, 5 | 2, 5 | 1, 5 | 2 (2) | electrician | 3 | 14/14 |
14 | 50 | married | house economics | full-time | 30 | 2 | 28 | 1 (1) | service technician | 2 | 14/14 |
Coping Strategies of the Women | Coping Strategies of the Couples |
---|---|
Seeking support of families and friends | Adhering to fixed contact times |
Pursuing an active lifestyle | Mutual understanding and trust |
Structuring time in an organized manner | Spending an intensive time together |
Adapting oneself to the living situation | |
Focusing on time spent together as a couple | |
Keeping expectations low | |
Contact with other women in the same situation |
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Share and Cite
Mette, J.; Robelski, S.; Kirchhöfer, M.; Harth, V.; Mache, S. Living the 14/14 Schedule: Qualitative Analysis of the Challenges and Coping Strategies among Families of Offshore Wind Workers. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2019, 16, 241. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16020241
Mette J, Robelski S, Kirchhöfer M, Harth V, Mache S. Living the 14/14 Schedule: Qualitative Analysis of the Challenges and Coping Strategies among Families of Offshore Wind Workers. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2019; 16(2):241. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16020241
Chicago/Turabian StyleMette, Janika, Swantje Robelski, Maria Kirchhöfer, Volker Harth, and Stefanie Mache. 2019. "Living the 14/14 Schedule: Qualitative Analysis of the Challenges and Coping Strategies among Families of Offshore Wind Workers" International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 16, no. 2: 241. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16020241