Why are fewer Americans working the night shift?

Summary

Podcast Summary

Podcast: The Indicator from Planet Money
Episode: Why are fewer Americans working the night shift?
Date: March 6, 2026
Hosts: Waylon Wong & Angel Carreras

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Episode Overview

This episode of The Indicator explores why fewer Americans are working night shifts today compared to previous decades. Drawing on new economic research, the hosts explain what has changed in the U.S. labor market, the driving forces behind the decline in overnight work, and what night shift jobs mean for American workers today.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

Latest Jobs Friday Numbers

• Economic Recap:
  • February saw a loss of 92,000 jobs in the U.S., with the unemployment rate rising to 4.4%.
  • Recent BLS revisions showed 69,000 fewer jobs added in December and January than previously reported.
  • (00:23–00:59)

The Changing Landscape of Night Work

• Night Shift Decline:

  • Fewer Americans work night shifts ("graveyard shift") now than 50 years ago, despite the persistence of some overnight jobs, like those held by bakers, welders, and journalists.
  • Only a small share of workers have ever worked in the middle of the night, and that share has dropped by approximately 25% for key nighttime hours (10pm–5am). (02:41–03:05)

• Who Still Works Nights?

  • Night work is generally considered "undesirable" based on who tends to do it: people with less education, either quite old or quite young, or those with fewer job choices.
  • "The fact that the people who work at night are disproportionately low educated people, either quite old or quite young, suggest it's not something that people who are at the height of their earning power would like to do." — Dan Hamermesh, Economist (03:22)

Factors Behind the Decline in Night Work

• Economic Structure Shift:

  • Manufacturing employment dropped from 27% (1973) to just 13% today, with the economy moving toward more service-based jobs that are usually done during the day. (05:29–05:45)

• Educational Gains:

  • In 1973, only 16% of workers had a college degree; today, that's risen to 46%.
  • Increased education gives workers access to daytime jobs, reducing reliance on night work.
  • "This increase in education is the big factor behind the decline in night work." (05:45)

Worker Stories: Why Some Still Choose Nights

• John Cloyd, Welder (Florida):

  • Enjoys the night shift as a self-described night owl.
  • Requested overnight hours when hired; starts working at 11pm after waking up at 8:30pm—keeps energized with energy drinks.
  • Night shift pays $2/hour more than day shift.
  • "So I'll do energy drinks. So I'll switch it up between Red Bulls, bangs, Monster, that kind of thing." (04:46)
  • Finds night work preferable for his lifestyle.

• Summer Crawford, Hospital Patient Transport (Atlanta):

  • Took a night shift job to support her family after her mother's death; sometimes handles hundreds of patients during overnight shifts.
  • Prefers not to work nights long-term—it's hard on her body, rest, and social life.
  • Night shift pays $1–2/hour more than the day.
  • "Your day off doesn’t really feel like a day off because you’re spending that whole day sleep basically." (06:21)
  • Currently in school to become an ultrasound technician; plans to switch to daytime work.

Economic & Policy Insights

• Premiums & Incentives:

  • Employers offer higher pay ("nighttime premium") to fill night shifts, but Americans have shown willingness to give up this premium in favor of better schedules as they've become wealthier and more educated.
  • Other countries (Poland, Cambodia) require premium night pay by law, but not the U.S., where pay differentials are modest and unionization rates are lower. (07:26)

• Work/Life Trade-offs:

  • Most U.S. workers prioritize desirable hours over higher pay, even if it means giving up extra earnings.
  • "When you get a job, you get a package—wages, benefits, but also schedules. And people are willing to give up a little bit of wages in order to get a better schedule." — Dan Hamermesh (08:02)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• John Cloyd, on Night Work:

  • "I've always been a night owl... if I'm awake I might as well put my talents to use." (01:27)
  • "So I'll do energy drinks. So I'll switch it up between Red Bulls, Bangs, Monster, that kind of thing." (04:46)

• Dr. Dan Hamermesh, Labor Economist:

  • "Basically, very few people have ever worked in the middle of the night. But it's lower today than it was 50 years ago." (02:57)
  • "People who work at night are disproportionately low educated people, either quite old or quite young." (03:22)
  • "We show that when the willingness of people to work night went down, as they got wealthier, employers had to pay a higher premium for night work." (05:12)
  • "People are willing to give up a little bit of wages in order to get a better schedule." (08:02)

• Summer Crawford, on Night Shift Life:

  • "It definitely can be hard on the body and having like a day off. And your day off doesn’t really feel like a day off because you're spending that whole day sleep basically." (06:21)

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Important Timestamps

• 00:11 – Introduction of Jobs Friday & focus on timing of work
• 01:27 – John Cloyd shares why he likes night shifts
• 02:41 – Dan Hamermesh outlines new research on decline in night work
• 03:22 – Discussion on why night shifts are considered undesirable jobs
• 04:46 – John Cloyd and the practicalities and pay of night shift work
• 05:12 – Economic explanation for night shift premium pay
• 05:29 – Shift from manufacturing to service economy; correlation to night work decline
• 05:45 – Role of rising education in reducing night shift labor
• 06:21 – Summer Crawford on challenges of the night shift
• 07:26 – Comparison with other countries and U.S. pay policy regarding night work
• 08:02 – Final summary on workers valuing better schedules over higher pay

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Episode Tone & Takeaways

The episode offers an accessible, empathetic exploration of U.S. labor trends, interweaving hard data with personal stories. The tone is conversational, sometimes playful, but driven by real economic insights. Essentially, as America has become wealthier and better educated, night work has become less common—reflecting workers' growing ability to prioritize preferred schedules and quality of life over small pay differentials.

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For listeners who want to learn more or suggest future episode topics, the hosts encourage reaching out to the show.

Transcript

[Summer Crawford]

Npr.

[Waylon Wong]

This is the Indicator from Planet Money. I'm Waylon Wong, joined today by Indicator producer Angel Carreras. Welcome, Angel.

[Angel Carreras]

Waylon, it's so nice to see your face. They've released me from the producer holding cell.

[Waylon Wong]

Well, we are very happy to have you as co host. And angel, you are here to commemorate another edition of Jobs Friday, our monthly look at how workers in the US Are doing. We have the latest numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This was a rough month. The economy lost 92,000 jobs in February. The unemployment rate ticked up to 4.4%. The BLS also revised its jobs data for December and January. These numbers now show that the economy added 69,000 fewer jobs than previously reported on our show.

[Angel Carreras]

We follow the jobs market closely because it's really about the people in that market, the workers. We want to know how many people have jobs, what industries they're in and how much they're earning.

[Waylon Wong]

For this month, we wanted to look at when people are working. Are they bakers who start making the donuts at the crack of dawn? Are they office workers typing at a cubicle during traditional business hours? Or do they start their workdays at 11pm like John Cloyd? He's 26 and he's a welder in the natural gas industry.

[John Cloyd]

I've always been a night owl, so on the weekends I'd end up staying up till like three or four in the morning. And I figured if I'm awake I might as well put my talents to use.

[Waylon Wong]

People like John, however, are becoming increasingly rare in the US that's according to new economic research on the decline of

[Angel Carreras]

night shifts today on the show why there's a smaller share of workers in the graveyard shift and what that tells us about the transformation of the American workforce.

[Waylon Wong]

Angel, are you a morning person or a night owl?

[Angel Carreras]

McDonald's breakfast ends at 10am PST. So I'm a morning person.

[Waylon Wong]

Oh, you love that product, don't you, Angel?

[Angel Carreras]

I love egg products, yes.

[Waylon Wong]

Well, you would probably cross paths with Dan Hamermesh. He's emeritus professor of economics at the University of Texas.

[Dan Hamermesh]

I am a tremendous morning person. Only once in my life have I worked past 10pm of all 60 years since I got my PhD.

[Waylon Wong]

Dan has spent much of his career studying the labor market, including the times of day when people work. Earlier this year, he and economist Jeff Biddle at the University of Notre Dame published a paper on this topic.

[Angel Carreras]

Yeah. And their headline finding is that there's been a 50 year shift from night work to daytime work. In the US the two economists drew this conclusion from studying BLS and census data going back to 1973. The they looked at industries like manufacturing, construction, retail and health services.

[Dan Hamermesh]

Basically, very few people have ever worked in the middle of the night. But it's lower today than it was 50 years ago.

[Waylon Wong]

How much lower? Dan says it could be 25% or more for certain hours of the night. That means around 25% fewer workers toiling away during the 10pm to 5am timeframe. Dan describes these working hours as undesirable. And that's not his personal opinion.

[Dan Hamermesh]

We let the data tell us whether it's desirable on average or not. And the fact that the people who work at night are disproportionately low educated people, either quite old or quite young, suggest it's not something that people who are at the height of their earning power would like to do. So inferentially from behavior of people working at night is a generally undesirable thing.

[Angel Carreras]

Now, of course, this is a general observation. People have lots of reasons for working at night. You know, some professions like firefighters, nurses, sometimes even us journalists, that can require being on call 24 7, right, Waylon?

[Waylon Wong]

Yes. I had some early internships at newspapers where I had to be an overnight call covering cops. So you just picture me terrified, listening to the scanner, hoping nothing happened.

[Angel Carreras]

You're so strong, Waylon.

[Waylon Wong]

Well, no, not really the right adjective for me. But if you take John Cloyd, the welder we heard from earlier, he lives in Florida and he works on equipment that converts natural gas into a liquid,

[John Cloyd]

basically like a hot glue gun, but thousands of degrees, just fusing metal together with a filler.

[Waylon Wong]

I should not be trusted with anything like that. John went to trade school and got this job a couple years ago, and he actually requested the night shift because he prefers those hours. His typical schedule is to wake up at 8:30pm and then he starts work at 11pm with plenty of caffeine coursing through his system.

[John Cloyd]

So I'll do energy drinks. So I'll switch it up between Red Bulls, bangs, Monster, that kind of thing.

[Angel Carreras]

He's hitting up the holy trinity of energy drinks. John says that working the night shift pays $2 an hour more than the day shift. And this tracks with economist Dan Hammermesh's findings. He says that over time, employers have needed to pay more to entice workers to take on these undesirable hours.

[Dan Hamermesh]

We show that when the willingness of people to work night went down, as they got wealthier, employers had to Pay a higher premium for night work.

[Angel Carreras]

Dan and his fellow economists tracked long term changes in the makeup of the American workforce. And they looked at how these changes led to a decline in night work.

[Waylon Wong]

One change is in the structure of the U.S. economy. Dan's paper says that in 1973, 27% of workers were employed in manufacturing. That's down to 13% now. The American economy has shifted away from manufacturing and more towards services.

[Angel Carreras]

Another change, and this is the important one, is an increase in education. According to Dan's research, in 1973, 16% of workers had a college degree. Today it's 46%. Dan says this increase in education is the big factor behind the decline in night work. People who earned degrees had better job opportunities.

[Waylon Wong]

This is what Summer Crawford hopes will happen. She's 27 and lives in Atlanta. Right now, she works the night shift at a hospital doing what's called internal patient transport. Basically taking patients where they need to go, like from the emergency waiting room to get labs done and then back again.

[Summer Crawford]

It definitely can be hard on the body and having like a day off. And your day off doesn't really feel like a day off because you're spending that whole day sleep basically.

[Angel Carreras]

Summer got this job when she relocated to take care of family after her mother died. The night shift at the hospital was what was available. And sometimes it's quiet, but other times it can keep her really busy.

[Summer Crawford]

One of the weekends for night shift, they only have four people transport. And mind you, our trauma hospital has like 16 floors and like over sometimes like 200, 300 patients in the emergency room. So it can, it can be a lot.

[Waylon Wong]

Summer says taking the night Shift can pay 1 or $2 more than daytime work. Still, she's hoping her current situation is temporary. She's currently in school to learn how to be an ultrasound technician specializing in echocardiogram.

[Summer Crawford]

When you work night shift, you have like your incentives, you know, pay differentials or whatnot, which is a great thing. But I already know, I already told myself, yeah, I'm working daytime once I actually finish my program.

[Angel Carreras]

Economist Dan Hammermesh says that in the last 50 years, American workers have been very willing to give up higher nighttime pay. In some other countries, including Poland and Cambodia, premium nighttime pay is mandated by law. That's not the case in the U.S. dan says that here the pay differential tends to be smaller. He attributes that to lower unionization rates.

[Waylon Wong]

And Dan says the American labor market is more defined by classic supply and demand. Employers don't have to pay a high premium for the night shift if there are enough workers willing to take those jobs at current wages. Dan also says that people in the US Generally prioritize working desirable hours.

[Dan Hamermesh]

When you get a job, you get a package wages, benefits, but also schedules. And people are willing to give up a little bit of wages in order to get a better schedule.

[Angel Carreras]

With a daytime schedule, maybe someone no longer has to worry about walking to their car after work when the neighborhood is dark and deserted. Or a parent can make sure they're around for school drop off and pickup.

[Waylon Wong]

Summer Crawford says she's looking forward to a work schedule that lets her get enough rest between shifts and lets her have more of a social life.

[Angel Carreras]

And by the way, we found John and Summer after putting out a call for an nighttime workers. We love connecting with listeners this way and having them share their experiences in the economy. So if you've got a job or a work situation you want us to tackle on a Future Jobs Friday, please get in touch send an email to indicatorpr.org this episode was produced by Julia

[Waylon Wong]

Ritchie with engineering by Robert Rodriguez. It was fact checked by Sierra Juarez. Cake and Cannon is our show's editor and the Indicator is a production of NPR.