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This study uses the ‘family time economies’ concept for a nuanced investigation of family work-care experiences in 20 Australian nursing families. The family time economy captures information on the management and coordination of work and care responsibilities in families. Our study investigates how nurses were utilizing nursing flexibility to support time for caring for their families. We report on couple interview research which offered important insights into how shift work and family time are described and negotiated between partners caring for children. The study shows that the complex work schedules generated by shift work are reflected in domestic life, as nurses and their partners use available employment flexibility to ensure they have time for family care. The ‘taylorized’ allotment of time within the family competed with the desire to make, and preserve, free and unstructured family time, reflecting the …