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She works/he works: How two-income families are happy, healthy, and thriving
Abstract
Readable and challenging, this four-year study of three hundred middle-class and working-class couples debunks the myth of the overwrought working mother with her insensitive husband and neglected children. Drawing on extensive cross-disciplinary research, Rosalind Barnett and Caryl Rivers argue that "collaborative couples," busy as they are, thrive in their diverse roles, and inspire competence and confidence in their children.
Table of Contents:
Acknowledgments
Preface
1. Ozzie and Harriet Are Dead
2. The New Nostalgia
3. The Myth of the Miserable Working Woman
4. The Collaborative Couple
5. Twenty-First-Century Man
6. The New Fatherhood
7. Working It Out: Sally and Fred
8. Working Moms Are Good Moms
9. The New Motherhood
10. Working It Out: Steve and Connie
11. Changing the Corporate Culture
12. Attention Working Women
13. Working It Out: Ellen and Marvin
14. The Second Shift: Who's Really On It?
15. Making Marriage Work
16. Working It Out: Tom and Jen
17. Side By Side
18. The Road Ahead
Notes
Index
Reviews of this book:
Rivers and Barnett's four-year study gives an upbeat picture of the advantages for families of women working. Despite the more complicated logistics, they find that mothers with careers are happier, with more cheerful and competent children, and fathers more engaged in family life. "Armed with data from their own research, the Adult Lives Project, a well-sampled, longitudinal study of 300 dual-earner couples in two communities in Massachusetts...and many other significant studies, Barnett and Rivers dispel many popularized assumptions about the difficulties faced by employed wives and mothers. For example, a wide-spread assumption exists that employment is bad for women's physical health and mental heath...Barnett and Rivers point out that, in fact...employed women are not showing increasing heart symptoms,...have lower blood pressure and lower cholesterol levels...[and, among married women] show better mental health than those who are not employed. This book [is] persuasive, as well as a delightful read. I want to buy a dozen copies to share with [my colleagues] who have worried with me about whether they will be able to have both a career and a family life. If Barnett and Rivers are right, they will." --Janet Shibley Hyde, Contemporary Psychology
"[ She Works/He Works ] identifies the stressful as well as the rewarding aspects of the lives of full-time-employed two-earner couples, based on a study conducted in two communities in the greater Boston area. [It] contends that members of the new two-working-parent American family are thriving--often living happier, healthier, and more well-rounded lives than members of the family of the 1950s." -- Journal of Economic Literature
--Diane Johnson, New York Review of Books
Reviews of this book:
A wonderful antidote to all the books peddling guilt to the two-worker family. It's good common sense for the 1990's--bound to make you feel better.
--Ellen Goodman, Boston Globe
Reviews of this book:
Armed with data from their own research, the Adult Lives Project, a well-sampled, longitudinal study of 300 dual-earner couples in two communities in Massachusetts...and many other significant studies, Barnett and Rivers dispel many popularized assumptions about the difficulties faced by employed wives and mothers. For example, a wide-spread assumption exists that employment is bad for women's physical health and mental heath...Barnett and Rivers point out that, in fact...employed women are not showing increasing heart symptoms,...have lower blood pressure and lower cholesterol levels...[and, among married women] show better mental health than those who are not employed. This book [is] persuasive, as well as a delightful read. I want to buy a dozen copies to share with [my colleagues] who have worried with me about whether they will be able to have both a career and a family life. If Barnett and Rivers are right, they will.
--Janet Shibley Hyde, Contemporary Psychology
Reviews of this book:
[ She Works/He Works ] identifies the stressful as well as the rewarding aspects of the lives of full-time-employed two-earner couples, based on a study conducted in two communities in the greater Boston area. [It] contends that members of the new two-working-parent American family are thriving--often living happier, healthier, and more well-rounded lives than members of the family of the 1950s.
--Journal of Economic Literature
... We limit our focus to particular work-related strategies that may help individuals cope with work-family challenges. Broadly, these strategies cohere around the following two typologies: (a) changes in work demands (i.e., work hours and job pressures) and (b) changes in job or workplace flexibility (Barnett & Rivers, 1998;Becker & Moen, 1999;Blair-Loy, 2003;Kaufman & Uhlenberg, 2000). We first discuss literature on women's adoption of such strategies and then consider whether men implement similar strategies in the face of work-family conflict. ...
... Changes in work conditions are also happening among men: Qualitative studies on dual-earner couples find that some men make sacrifices to better balance work and family by scaling back on work hours and job pressures. However, adjustments to husbands' work conditions are limited when compared with their wives (Barnett & Rivers, 1998;Becker & Moen, 1999; for an exception, see Risman & Johnson-Sumerford, 1998). ...
Studies show that fathers report work-family conflict levels comparable to mothers. Given these patterns, the authors examine gender differences in work-related strategies used to ease such conflicts. The authors also test whether the presence of young children at home shapes parents' use of different strategies. They address these focal questions using panel data from the Canadian Work, Stress, and Health study (N=306 fathers; 474 mothers). The authors find that mothers with young children are more likely to scale back on work demands, compared to fathers with young children, but mothers and fathers with older children are equally likely to pursue these strategies. Furthermore, women with young children and men with older children are more likely to seek increased schedule control as a result of work-family conflict compared to their parent-counterparts. The authors situate these findings in the vast literature on the consequences of work-family conflict.
... Socio-economic trends as the increasing participation of women in the labour force, greater number of working single parents and the increasing care of an ageing population provide new responsibilities and challenges to both women and men to work-family balance and commitments (Lerner, 1994;Marks, 1996). An increasing number of women and men nowadays are involved in work and family arrangements, which were largely unknown for the parents' and the past generations ( Barnett and Rivers, 1996;Hochschild, 1997). Along with these new challenges the traditional allocation of family and work is breaking down by gender (Willinger, 1993; Barnett and Rivers, 1996). ...
... An increasing number of women and men nowadays are involved in work and family arrangements, which were largely unknown for the parents' and the past generations ( Barnett and Rivers, 1996;Hochschild, 1997). Along with these new challenges the traditional allocation of family and work is breaking down by gender (Willinger, 1993; Barnett and Rivers, 1996). So far the understanding of the work-family nexus remains limited, thus the research based on which policies and practices can be developed to help individuals through the new work family arrangements, remains also limited. ...
This study examines the relationship between teleworking, gender roles and happiness of couples using data from the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS) and the Understanding Society Survey (USS) during the period 1991-2012. Various approaches are followed, including Probit-adapted fixed effects, multinomial logit and instrumental variables (IV). The results support that both men and women who are teleworkers spend more time on housework, while teleworking increases the probability that the household chores examined in this study, such as cooking, cleaning ironing and childcare, will be shared relatively to those who are non-teleworkers. In addition, women are happier when they or their spouse is teleworker, as well as, both men and women are happier when they state that the specific household chores are shared. Thus, women teleworkers may be happier because they can face the family demands and share the household chores with their spouse, increasing their fairness belief about the household division allocation and improving their well-being, expressed by happiness.
... Socio-economic trends as the increasing participation of women in the labour force, greater number of working single-parents and the increasing care of an ageing population provide new responsibilities and challenges to both women and men to work-family balance and commitments (Lerner, 1994;Marks, 1996). An increasing number of women and men nowadays are involved in work and family arrangements, which were largely unknown for the parents' and the past generations (Barnett and Rivers, 1996;Hochschild, 1997). Along with these new challenges the traditional allocation of family and work is breaking down by gender (Willinger, 1993;Barnett and Rivers, 1996). ...
... An increasing number of women and men nowadays are involved in work and family arrangements, which were largely unknown for the parents' and the past generations (Barnett and Rivers, 1996;Hochschild, 1997). Along with these new challenges the traditional allocation of family and work is breaking down by gender (Willinger, 1993;Barnett and Rivers, 1996). So far the understanding of the work-family nexus remains limited, thus the research based on which policies and practices can be developed to help individuals through the new work family arrangements, remains also limited. ...
This study examines the relationship between teleworking, gender roles and happiness of couples using data from the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS) and the Understanding Society Survey (USS) during the period 1991-2012. Various approaches are followed, including Probit-adapted fixed effects, multinomial Logit and Instrumental variables (IV). The results support that both men and women who are teleworkers spend more time on housework, while teleworking increases the probability that the household chores examined in this study, such as cooking, cleaning ironing and childcare, will be shared relatively to those who are non-teleworkers. In addition, women are happier when they or their spouse is teleworker, as well as, both men and women are happier when they state that the specific household chores are shared. Thus, women teleworkers may be happier because they can face the family demands and share the household chores with their spouse, increasing their fairness belief about the household division allocation and improving their well-being, expressed by happiness.
... Socio-economic trends as the increasing participation of women in the labour force, greater number of working single parents and the increasing care of an ageing population provide new responsibilities and challenges to both women and men to work-family balance and commitments (Lerner, 1994;Marks, 1996). An increasing number of women and men nowadays are involved in work and family arrangements, which were largely unknown for the parents' and the past generations ( Barnett and Rivers, 1996;Hochschild, 1997). Along with these new challenges the traditional allocation of family and work is breaking down by gender (Willinger, 1993; Barnett and Rivers, 1996). ...
... An increasing number of women and men nowadays are involved in work and family arrangements, which were largely unknown for the parents' and the past generations ( Barnett and Rivers, 1996;Hochschild, 1997). Along with these new challenges the traditional allocation of family and work is breaking down by gender (Willinger, 1993; Barnett and Rivers, 1996). So far the understanding of the work-family nexus remains limited, thus the research based on which policies and practices can be developed to help individuals through the new work family arrangements, remains also limited. ...
This study examines the relationship between teleworking, gender roles and happiness of couples using data from the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS) during the period 1991-2009. Various approaches are followed, including Probit-adapted fixed effects, multinomial Logit and three stage least squares. The results support that both men and women who are teleworkers spend more time on housework, while teleworking increases the probability that the household chores examined in this study, such as cooking, cleaning ironing and childcare, will be shared relatively to those who are non-teleworkers. In addition, women are happier when they or their spouse is teleworker, as well as, both men and women are happier when they state that the specific household chores are shared. Thus, teleworkers may be happier for the reason that they are able to face the family demands and share the household chores with their spouse, increasing their fairness belief about the household division allocation and improving their well-being, expressed by happiness.
... This reality, and the various problematic issues it can create, such as time issues, financial issues, household task issues, and power issues, suggests that dual-earner marriage is a mandatory area of content for premarital education. Previous research has shown that stress increases when both spouses work outside the home (Robinson, Flowers, & Carroll, 2001), when spouses work different shifts (Hochschild, 1989), and when couples with children attempt to balance job and family (Barnett & Rivers, 1996). Programs that prepare couples for marriage need to address the stress that two jobs can impose on couples. ...
... "Expectations about household tasks" was the sixth most problematic issue found in this study. This reflects the findings of Hochschild's (1989) groundbreaking study on the different amounts of household work performed by husbands and wives and other recent findings about the gender division of household labor (Barnett & Rivers, 1996;Ehrenberg, Gearing-Small, Hunter, & Small, 2001;Glass & Riley, 1999). Research has consistently shown that both expectations about household tasks and performance of household tasks are major marital issues (Blair, 1993;Burley, 1995;Leslie & Anderson, 1988;Ray, 1990;Rogers & Amato, 1997;Wilkie, Ferree, & Ratcliff, 1998;Zvonkovic & Schmiege, 1994). ...
This article presents findings about problematic issues from a national study of couples married five years or less. It argues that the top 10 issues identified as problematic suggest key content areas for premarital education and makes suggestions for both program development and existing program evaluation. The top three issues reported by this sample are balancing job and family, frequency of sexual relations, and financial issues. For each of the 10 issues, comparisons by gender, parental status, cohabitation status, and age are also reported.
... Familial emotional support also seems to play a vital role in employees' job perceptions. Research suggests that an employee with a partner who provides the opportunity to talk through employment difficulties is better able to handle job-related pressures and consequently performs better at work (Barnett & Rivers, 1996). Wayne et al. (2006) likewise found that the greater the amount of emotional support received at home, the greater employment satisfaction was experienced. ...
... Wayne et al. (2006) likewise found that the greater the amount of emotional support received at home, the greater employment satisfaction was experienced. Other studies also demonstrate that emotional support from home tends to increase work performance as a result of better handling of workrelated stressors (Barnett & Rivers, 1996;Gattiker & Larwood, 1990;Grzywacz & Marks, 1999). Bures, Henderson, Mayfield, Mayfield, and Worley (1996) further ascertained that spousal emotional support was positively related to job satisfaction for both men and women and negatively related to stress levels for men. ...
The purpose was to investigate the influence of couple emotional intimacy on job perceptions (job concerns and job rewards) and work–family conflict (both work-to-family conflict and family-to-work conflict). Data on 567 couples came from a subset of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development’s Study of Early Child Care taken when the target children were fifth graders. The researchers used an actor–partner interdependence model (APIM) to examine mothers’ and fathers’ couple emotional intimacy and its influence on self- and partner perceptions of job concerns and job rewards as well as work-to-family conflict and family-to-work conflict. Both mothers’ and fathers’ couple emotional intimacy predicted fewer job concerns, more job rewards, less work-to-family conflict, and less family-to-work conflict for her- and himself. No partner effects were found in the model.
... Na verdade nossa sociedade não conseguiu ainda se desligar de um modelo que não funciona mais. Nos casamentos onde existe uma divisão mais igualitária das atividades domésticas e cuidado com os filhos, os ganhos são para todos, pois se a mãe diminui sua sobrecarga em casa e passa a contribuir financeiramente com seu trabalho, por outro lado o pai também sofre menos a pressão dos momentos de insegurança no emprego, e passa a conviver mais com os filhos criando um relacionamento mais estreito, o que tem favorecido ao bem-estar emocional dos filhos (Barnett & Rivers, 1998). ...
... Sobre este aspecto podemos supor que mulheres que apresentam a satisfação com o casamento como principal preditora podem tanto dar maior importância ao casamento, por questões culturais, como podem não ter encontrado um trabalho que seja desafiador e estimulante que lhe proporcione as recompensas de um fator como poder de decisão. Sabe-se que desde muito jovens as mulheres são pouco encorajadas para desempenhar atividades que sugerem desafios, assim como desde muito jovens recebem mensagens de que não são tão competentes quanto os garotos, e isto influencia nas suas escolhas como também lhe é negado o poder de atuar nestes tipos de atividades (Barnett & Rivers, 1998). ...
This study examines the effects of women's multiple roles on psychological well-being. The data were taken from a sample of 132 employed mothers who answered a questionnaire composed of three parts: a roles scale, that measures the quality of the two particular roles (paid worker, mother); a General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12), that measures psychological well-being; and a marital satisfaction scale. Multiple regressions were carried out between all the variables and the criterion variable, the psychological well-being. Our results are in agreement with previous reports, showing that rewards from job autonomy and decision-making authority predicted measures of psychological well-being for all women, while marital satisfaction predicted for all women, except for those with high socio-economic status and those older than 39 years.
... Over the years, research literature has addressed the presence of the workfamily conflict in women (Barnett & Rivers, 1998;Crosby, 1991). Three types of conflict were presented: time-based conflict, strain-based conflict, and behavior-based conflict (Lambert et al., 2013;Liu et al., 2020). ...
... Second, with the rise of dual-earner households in today's labor market [22], relying on both partners' financial resources can mitigate the effects of the husband's and wife's financial strain on his mental distress [23]. This happens because an equal share of income reduces the husband's financial pressure [24,25]. ...
Background
Despite extensive research on the association between financial strain and mental distress, little is known about its spousal crossover effect in different-sex couples.
Methods
Using nationally representative longitudinal dyadic data from the UK and fixed effect models, this study examines the dyadic relationship between financial strain and mental distress among couples, and the different relationship by gendered division of labor in income and housework.
Results
Our findings reveal that for both the husband and wife, financial strain is not only associated with their own mental distress but also their spouses’ mental distress, although the spousal cross-over effects have smaller effect sizes. Next, the husband’s mental distress associated with his own financial strain decreases as his share of the couple’s income increases, while his income share does not significantly alleviate his wife’s mental distress related to her own or her husband’s financial strain. Lastly, the wife’s share of housework does not modify the effect of financial strain on her husband’s or her own mental distress. These findings suggest the protective role of the traditional breadwinner in alleviating the husband’s mental distress from his own financial strain, but not from his wife’s financial strain, while also highlighting the limited effects of housework in mitigating the psychological toll of financial strain on both partners.
Conclusions
Overall, these findings provide valuable insights into our understanding of the relationship financial strain and mental distress by incorporating the dyadic perspective and gendered division of labor.
... It has been seen as a crucial aspect in defining psychological and mental health in close partnerships, such as marriage. [1][2][3][4] A lack of emotional literacy frequently leads to emotional unavailability. It may have a strong foundation in distinct cognitive patterns that frequently stand in the way of personal pleasure and fulfilment outside of marriage. ...
Life is essentially an emotional experience; without them, it is difficult to thrive. In a marriage, feelings help to foster open communication, mutual trust, and honesty. Family relationships, friendships, and a person’s overall development are all impacted by happiness levels. Particularly in India, couples look on their partners as their main source of joy. Displays of affection may look cold and distant when one spouse avoids discussing their emotions, leading to sudden spousal and marital unhappiness. A person’s emotional unavailability may have its roots in events from their upbringing. People in India frequently have a complacent attitude with a partner’s lack of emotional availability. A culture where people do not feel secure or need to communicate about their emotions could develop as a result of becoming accustomed to it. It may be challenging for a couple to confront their feelings and forge a connection when one spouse exhibits emotional vulnerability in front of the other because doing so could be interpreted as weakness. This absence of emotional connection has an impact on the person’s degree of happiness. When one spouse is unhappy, the couple fights, which worsens their mental health as a whole and opens the door to divorce or separation. The emotionally unavailable person’s role in the unhappy marriage and partner is highlighted in the current qualitative analysis of the case studies. The focus is on the 40% of intentional activities to promote happiness as indicated in the Happiness Pie Chart, which sequentially increases individual besides marital happiness and satisfaction, because the spouse is emotionally unable to offer support and comfort.
... Women who perceive rewards from their employment may experience positive spillover effects to their parenting work ; more satisfactory health, feelings of autonomy, a better relationship with their partner (Barron, 1990) and life satisfaction (Malley & Stewart, 1988). Furthermore, women's economic contribution to the household reduces financial strains, which improves marital quality (Barnett & Rivers, 1996). ...
p>Increases in women's labour force-participation, including that of women with children, have led researchers to study the health effects of women's multiple roles. Recent investigations have shown that the specific qualities of women's social roles as well as other psychosocial variables such as social support, distribution of household responsibilities and work-family relationship can affect women's health.
The present study aims to explore the relationships between sociodemographic and psychosocial variables on self-perception of physical and mental health in Venezuelan working women at different occupational levels.
Four studies were carried out using different methodologies, designs and testing additive and interactive models. Study 1 considered only secretaries (n=122), Study 2 included working women from different occupational levels and a group of housewives (n=417). Both studies were cross-sectional. In order to test the potential causal influence of psychosocial variables on self-reported physical and mental health, a longitudinal study was carried out (n=130). To enrich the results obtained from the three quantitative studies, the final study was qualitative (n=32).
Only the level of education and having pre-school children turned out to be health predictors. In general, women with partners reported better health than women without partners. The characteristics of women's social roles were the most important psychosocial variables considering the main and interactive effects that either put a strain on, or enhance women's health and well-being. Supervisor and co-workers support as well as the perception of job control were the most important protective aspects. Social relations at work played a fundamental role on mental health, moderating important work-related stressing conditions such as dissatisfaction with the salary/lack of recognition and promotion. Marital satisfaction was directly related to women's perception of health. Job control and social integration protected working women from stress related to marital conflict. None of the psychosocial factors studied for the mother role aced as protectors against the effects of this role on women's health. The results showed that integral approaches, which simultaneously consider work and family spheres, are required for the comprehension of working women's health.</p
... Osobní důsledky jsou však mnohem větší: zvýšená míra stresu, psychosomatických poruch, problémové požívání alkoholu, zvýšená depresivita, snížená spokojenost se životem, snížená kvalita rodinného života, zvýšený počet rodinných konfliktů a problémy v sociálních vztazích. Barnett a Rivers (1996) upozornili na to, že až 75 % párů s dvojí kariérou manifestuje problémy ve zvládání rodinných a profesních povinností. ...
The monograph deals with the issue of partnership and professional satisfaction of women who work at state universities and research departments in the Czech Republic and who have a long-term relationship. The main topic of the study is also the synchronization of professional and personal lives and mapping the options of how to cope with the dual role, according to the women.
The research sample consisted of 32 women aged 30–52 who have had an academic career for 3 or more years and who have lived in a long-term relationship for at least three years. Women work in various fields. As regards the methods of data collection and processing, it was a mixed research based on a unique design of the so-called “Concurrent Nested Strategy”. Within the processing of the results of the second and fourth research goal, the data obtained by in-depth interviews was supported, categorized and validated by the Dyadic Adjustment Scale (DAS) and three short scales. The remaining goals are purely of qualitative nature.
The research results were processed in compliance with five research questions. Participants are most satisfied with their relationships, health and in the field of parenting. Their discomfort is mainly caused by the lack of time for themselves, for the families, partners and friends. A functional relationship makes it easier for women in academic fields to cope with the professional requirements. Relationships based on mutual harmony, respect and compromising demonstrate more stability and harmony. The most satisfied women speak about values, characteristics and interests shared with partners who are very tolerant and provide the women with support both in the personal and work matters. The academic profession is a demanding job both in terms of time and mental load and for most women it affects personal lives, which requires clarification of priorities, setting borders, taking an active approach to life and profession and a tolerant and participating approach of the partner, so that the balance and satisfaction in both the crucial spheres could be preserved.
... Egalitarian arrangement leads to higher marital satisfaction (Gray-Little B. et al., 1996) [9]. Dual earners having work balanced schedules share parenting roles (Barnett and Rivers, 1998) [10]. Woman often hear overwhelming messages from colleagues, relatives, peadiatrician, school-teacher about their role and place in society. ...
... Резултати које смо добили у складу су са резултатима неких ранијих истраживања која су се бавила проблемима функционисања родитеља. Неки аутори (Barnett & Rivers, 1996) наводе да студије спроведене на америчким породицама код којих су оба родитеља запослена пуно радно време указују на то да ове породице и поред извесних породичних проблема могу бити врло функционалне. Позитивни исходи које мајкама и очевима доноси запосленост су мањи степен депресивних симптома и анксиозности који су били карактеристични за жене 50-их година XX века. ...
У раду се разматра израженост конфликта родитељских и пословних улога и
повезаност са варијаблама као што су пол родитеља, ниво образовања и врста посла.
Проблему кофликта приступа се кроз чувену теорију посао–породица конфликт, а
то је модел Гринхауса и Бјутела (Greenhaus & Beutell, 1985), према коме се утицај
посла на породицу и обрнуто састоји од три субдимензије: временски базиран
конфликт, конфликт базиран на напору, напрезању особе и карактеристикама особе
и конфликт базиран на понашањима. У истраживању је учествовало 204 испитаника
– запослених родитеља са бар једним дететом узраста од три године до 16 година са
територије Србије. Добијени резултати указују на то да конфликт родитељских и
пословних улога није изражен код родитеља у Србији, већ је изражен позитиван
ефекат запослености. Дакле, показује се да запосленост родитеља позитивно утиче
на породичну атмосферу. Значајне разлике показале су се у односу на пол родитеља –
тако да конфликт напрезања имају више мајке него очеви. Такође, утврђено је да је
позитиван ефекат запослености израженији код родитеља са вишим нивоом
образовања, а мање изражен код родитеља са нижим нивоом образовања.
INTENSITY AND CORRELATES OF CONFLICT
BETWEEN THE PARENT AND BUSINESS ROLES
Abstract
This paper addresses the issue of the intensity of the inter-role conflict regarding the
parent and business roles and the relation between the conflict and variables: gender, level
of education and type of work. The problem of the inter-role conflict is accessed through
the famous model of job-family conflict, developed by Greenhaus & Beutell (1985),
according to which the impact of work on family and vice versa consists of three
subdimensions: time-based conflict, the conflict based on effort, strain and characteristics
of persons and conflict based on the behaviour. This research was performed among 204
participants - working parents with at least one child between the age of three and sixteen,
from Serbia. The obtained results show that the participants do not express conflict
between the parent and business roles, while they reported a positive employment effects.
So, it shows that the parents’ employment positively influences the family atmosphere.
There were significant differences between the conflict based on strain, that were found
between the male and female participants – the results showed a greater number of mothers
who have conflict based on strain than the fathers. Also, differences were found regarding
the parents’ level of education - the positive employment effect is greater among parents
with higher levels of education than the parents with lower levels of education.
Key words: conflict based on strain, conflict based on the behaviour, conflict
between the parent and business roles, time-based conflict, work-family.
... Egalitarian arrangement leads to higher marital satisfaction (Gray-Little B. et al., 1996) [9]. Dual earners having work balanced schedules share parenting roles (Barnett and Rivers, 1998) [10]. Woman often hear overwhelming messages from colleagues, relatives, peadiatrician, school-teacher about their role and place in society. ...
In the patriarchal society, working mothers face several issues and challenges in managing their career and personal life responsibilities. Primary data was collected from 495 working mothers using questionnaire to understand various facets of work-life related factors and outcome. The aim of this study is to investigate the role of gender ideology in determining women’s work-life balance and their job-life satisfaction. Furthermore, it examines the mediating effect of work-life balance satisfaction, work-family conflict and family-work conflict on the relationships between gender ideology-job satisfaction, gender ideology-life satisfaction and gender ideology-turnover intention. Type and strength of association among research variables were analyzed using correlation analysis while Regression analysis was used to check mediation effect. The result established partial and full mediation effects in maximum cases.
... It may also be suggested that at least for Dutch working women, higher levels of family-work conflict make it more likely they will suffer from work-related burnout. This finding is in agreement with gender socialization theory (Barnett and Rivers, 1998) and suggestive of the fact that women must tackle the double burden of work and home (more than men). ...
The purpose of this study was to validate the Parental Burnout Inventory (PBI) in a Dutch sample of working parents. The Dutch version of the PBI and questionnaires about work were administered to 627 working parents, with at least one child living at home. We investigated whether the tri-dimensional structure of the PBI held in a sample of male and female employed parents. Furthermore, we examined the relationships between PBI and the constructs work-related burnout, depressive mood, parenting stress and work-family conflict, which we assessed with widely used and validated instruments, i.e., emotional exhaustion [a subscale of the Dutch version of Maslach’s Burnout Inventory], a Dutch Parental Stress Questionnaire and Work-Family Conflict. The results support the validity of a tri-dimensional parental burnout syndrome, including exhaustion, distancing and inefficacy. Low to moderate correlations between parents’ burnout symptoms and professional exhaustion, parenting stress, depressive complaints and work-family conflict experiences were found, suggesting that the concept of PBI differs significantly from the concepts of job burnout, depression and stress, respectively. The current study confirms that some parents are extremely exhausted by their parental role. However, the number of Dutch employees reporting extreme parental burnout is rather low.
... Nowadays an increasing number of women and men are involved in work and family arrangements. These arrangements were mostly unknown to the parents' of the last generations (Barnett and Rivers 1996;Hochschild 1997;Sullivan and Lewis 2001). Earlier studies try to explore the work-family balance nexus. ...
This study explores the household production allocation and happiness of women when their spouse is teleworker using data from the British Household Panel Survey over the years 1991–2009. The study aims to answer whether the women spend additional time on housework and are happier when they or their partner is teleworker. Also, we explore whether are happier when they share the household–domestic production with their partners. Fixed effects estimates take place, and we consider a Bayesian Network framework and a directed acyclic graph for causal inference. The results show that women are more likely to state that the household allocation, such as cooking, cleaning, ironing and childcare is shared when their partner teleworks. Shopping is an exception which can be regarded as an outdoor activity while one partner may be mainly responsible for this chore. In addition, women are happier when they or their spouse is teleworker, and they report higher levels of happiness when the household production allocation is a shared process. This may indicate men teleworkers may contribute extra to the household production releasing a burden for the partners and improving their well-being.
... Initially, it was the effects of working women that spurred this interest (e.g. Barnett & Rivers, 1996; Hochschild, 1997) and most of the early works focused on a conflicting perspective. From this perspective, work-family conflict exists because competing demands from both roles cannot be fulfilled simultaneously (Greenhaus & Beutell, 1985; Greenhaus, Parasuraman, & Wormley, 1990). ...
We investigated the conditions under which individuals experience work-family enrichment. We selected six dual-career couples based on their positive spillover scores (categorized as high / mid / low) and conducted multiple in-depth interviews for a total of thirty interviews. We discovered and classified organizational and home factors which contribute to resources obtained in the work and family domains and also identified a new resource exclusive to the family domain. We also found that motivation, boundary preference and precedent enrichment experience facilitate the enrichment process as the transfer of resources from one role to another role can be either conscious and intentional or unconscious and unintentional.
... This is due to its significant impact on physical and psychological health, organizational outcomes, family relations, and childbirth rates in industrialized societies (e.g. Barnett & Rivers, 1996; Hochschild, 1997; Pitt-Catsouphes, Kossek, & Sweet, 2006; Poelmans, Greenhaus, & Las Heras, 2013). ...
This study examines the mechanism through which family supportive organizations (i.e. family supportive supervisor behaviors and work-family friendly culture) is negatively related to turnover intentions. In a sample of 340 individuals, analysis of structural equation modeling showed that satisfaction with work-family balance mediated the relation between family supportive organizations and turnover intentions. Thus, family supportive organizations facilitate increasing the level of satisfaction with work-family experiences which, in turn, is associated with lower intentions to leave the company. Research and practical implications of this study are discussed.
... Cultural norms and practices have generally been slow to respond to the rise in dual-earner families (Barnett & Rivers, 1996) and in many workplaces, practices continue to be structured around an assumption that paid employees have a full-time adult at home who takes care of all unpaid labour. However, the increasing participation of women in the Irish workforce has been accompanied by increasing demands for childcare, flexible working and equality in this domain (Fine- Davis, Fagnani, Giovanini, Hojgaard, & Clarke, 2004). ...
... States households were like that in the 1990s (Barnett & Rivers, 1996). Instead, increasing numbers of women are participating in work and family roles. ...
... These norms are institutionalized and influence the behavior of institutions as well as the everyday life of people (Näsman, 1999;Pfau-Effinger, 1998). Dual-earner couples are thought to struggle with feelings of guilt because of societal messages (Barnett & Rivers, 1996). Research has, for example, shown that if working hours deviate from the cultural norm this may produce feelings of guilt (Anttila, Nätti, & Väisänen, 2005). ...
In many contemporary families, both parents are involved in paid work and family responsibilities. This creates challenges for the successful reconciliation of work and family. In this study, we examined whether and how the division of paid work and unpaid work between partners is related to work-family interference. Analyses were based on survey data of 147 Finnish, 186 German, and 265 Dutch dual-earner couples with young children and show that there is no recipe for a division of paid work and unpaid work that guarantees a conflict-free reconciliation of work and family. Although some cultural variation was identified, in general, individual time spent on paid work and unpaid work appeared to be more decisive for parents' level of work-family interference than couples' combination strategies. Therefore, to help working parents it seems important to create opportunities to adjust their time spent on paid work and unpaid work.
... For example, the employment of the one partner might provide sufficient resources for the other partner to enroll in education or search for an ade quate position following job loss (Verbakal and de Graaf, 2008). Partners can also use their skills and knowledge to advise each other, provide infor mation about job vacancies, or use their professional contacts to advance their partners' occupational careers (Barnett and Rivers, 1998;Bernasco et al, 1998). In comparison, singles might face fewer coordination problems, but cannot count on a partner's support in the form of either domestic (and emotional) backup or additional financial and social resources. ...
... The literature clearly supports the importance of addressing equality in couples' relationships and the critical role that equality plays in marital satisfaction. Shared and equal responsibilities lead to couples' overall feelings of intimacy and marital satisfaction (Barnett & Rivers, 1996;Schwartz, 1994;Steil, 1994). ...
Answers as to how working couples successfully balance work and family continue to interest social science researchers. Creating a balance presents couples with numerous challenges that place strain on relationships and marriages. Marital satisfaction is significantly related to how couples negotiate their work-family demands and responsibilities. Gender often influences couples’ definitions and perceptions of those demands and responsibilities. This literature review summarizes recent research on marital satisfaction as it relates to couples’ division of labor and perceptions of equity and fairness, specifically as it relates to gender ideologies. Adaptive strategies and practical considerations are discussed, and implications for future research are identified including cultural and socioeconomic considerations.
... These norms are institutionalized and influence the behavior of institutions as well as the everyday life of people (Näsman, 1999;Pfau-Effinger, 1998). Dual-earner couples are thought to struggle with feelings of guilt because of societal messages (Barnett & Rivers, 1996). Research has, for example, shown that if working hours deviate from the cultural norm this may produce feelings of guilt (Anttila, Nätti, & Väisänen, 2005). ...
Work and family: Stress or success?
The combination of work and family is one of the greatest social challenges of this era. What helps dual-earner families with young children to deal with this issue? Pedagogue Hilde Wierda-Boer approached this issue from different angles.
She found three factors that may hinder a successful reconciliation of work and family: time spent on paid work – by the person and his or her partner, scaling back in a life domain (work or family) when the time budget is limited, and experiences of stress. Although an equal division of tasks may yield other benefits, it was not a solution for work-family interference experienced by the parents in this study. The key to success could be found in personal characteristics: emotional stable parents, fathers with more feminine traits and mothers with more masculine traits had an asset in combining work and family.
The thesis concludes with several directions for policy making.
... Today there is growing recognition in professional and lay literature that work and family can compliment one another, despite being simultaneous sources of stress (Frone, in press;Barnett & Rivers, 1996). Although several scholars have conceptually defined work-family facilitation (positive spillover/enhancement; Barnett & Baruch, 1985;Frone, in press;Grzywacz & Marks, 2000;Kirchmeyer, 1992a;Sieber, 1974), theory regarding the putative causes and consequences of work-family facilitation and subsequent empirical research explicitly examining this phenomenon is absent from the broad, multidisciplinary work-family literature (for recent review see Frone, in press). ...
ABSTRACT Scholars and practitioners are increasingly accepting the idea that combining,work and family yields benefits as well as conflicts; however, a theory articulating what this phenomenon is, why it happens, and how it occurs is missing from the broad work-family literature. In this paper, a preliminary theory of work-family facilitation – that is, the extent to which participation in one domain,promotes enhanced,engagement,or processes in another – is offered. Drawing on ecological theory, it is posited that work-family facilitation is driven by individual and system propensities toward higher levels of organization,and that both individual and contextual circumstances contribute to the occurrence of work-family facilitation. Several preliminary propositions are offered to guide future research, and the role of work-family facilitation within a broader empirical and theoretical context are discussed. Work-Family Facilitation 2 Toward a theory of Work-Family Facilitation Today there is growing recognition in professional and lay literature that work and family can compliment one another, despite being simultaneous sources of stress (Frone, in press; Barnett & Rivers, 1996). Although several scholars have conceptually defined work-family facilitation (positive spillover/enhancement; Barnett & Baruch, 1985; Frone, in press; Grzywacz & Marks, 2000; Kirchmeyer, 1992a; Sieber, 1974), theory regarding the putative causes and
... Women whose husbands have erratic or overextended schedules making them unavailable to help with childcare are less likely to be in the labor force. In families where home and child rearing responsibilities are shared with husbands, partners, or another family member, women are more likely to be working for pay (Barnett & Rivers, 1996;Strober & Chan, 1999). ...
Marital status and earnings from work for women are studied using the National Longitudinal Surveys (NLS), Young Women's Cohort. The study focuses on how being continuously married affects the earnings of women from young adulthood through their pre-retirement years. Earnings from work are measured by average annual wages between 1968 and 1999. Bivariate findings suggest that marriage and family are associated with lessening the wage-earning potential of women over the life course but multivariate analysis shows no effect beyond that of other measures accounted for in the study. Education and number of hours worked are positively related to earnings outcomes and the number of dependents has a negative effect. Policy makers who are calling for an increase in marriage-promoting activities for TANF recipients are using marriage as a primary solution for eliminating poverty and thereby ignoring real ways to help women earn more for themselves and their families. The use of TANF funds for encouraging marriage in general is also of questionable economic advantage to non-welfare women.
... Although not to the same degree as women, men are opting in between (by choice or necessity) at various points in their career. Barnett and Rivers (1996) describe the changing role of fathers during recent years as ''the era of the involved father'' (p. 74). ...
Professional women with children are inundated with conflicting messages about how to manage their careers and personal lives and whether they should “opt in” or “opt out” of the workforce. Using in-depth interviews with 23 professional women, this study focused on the career choices that women make after having children. The authors found that many mothers neither opt in or opt out but successfully function in between these two choices, or opt “in between,” by working flexible hours, by working part-time, and/or by being involved with home-based entrepreneurial endeavors. Using the boundaryless career typology of knowing why, knowing how, and knowing whom, the authors summarize the key strategies that mothers use to opt in between. The interviewees were clear about why they were working, managed their careers by finding the right organizational fit, did not focus on guilt or perfectionism, and maintained excellent networks of friends, bosses, colleagues, and day care providers.
Australia is a nation with a strong individualistic culture and a history of gender norms firmly entrenched in law, the economy, and the household. The widespread entry of women into the labour force in the last half-century led to conflicts between work and family, particularly for mothers, and also the gradual introduction of corporate work–life programmes by the turn of the twenty-first century. Women’s patterns of labour force participation during the prime child-rearing years expanded slowly over time, partly due to an increasing prevalence of part-time work, and delayed and limited childbearing. Since 2008, substantial changes in Australian law included the introduction of paid leave for new parents and ultimately for caregivers, the right-to-request flexible work arrangements, and employment protections for a variety of categories, including LGBTIQA + individuals, pregnant or breastfeeding mothers, family or carer’s responsibilities, and paid family and domestic violence leave. These laws were intended to reduce discrimination against women in the workplace, but the net effect may have been to entrench women’s part-time employment even more firmly. The effects of the rapid, and perhaps lasting, expansion of hybrid work arrangements for knowledge workers around the COVID-19 pandemic on gender equity remain unclear. That and other possibilities for progress are discussed in conclusion.
Relationships that involve a physician and a non-physician professional spouse face many challenges that are similar to those experienced by dual career marriages. However, there are unique demands that are associated with physicians who are married to other professionals. One such challenge is the task of navigating their multiple familial and professional roles. This present study explores how physicians who are married to other professionals confront and navigate the complex environment that is often characteristic of work-family issues in this population. Employing an exploratory qualitative design, 34 heterosexual individuals (17 couples) completed in-depth qualitative interviews. These dyadic interviews included 10 male physicians and 7 female physicians. A multisystemic approach was employed to explore themes that emerged. One major theme, contextual appreciation of the physician’s work demands, and three sub-themes: familial support, non-traditional parenting and domestic roles, and paid help, emerged. These data provide important information for the medical education of physicians with specific emphasis on navigating multiple familial and professional roles when part of dual career marriages. Findings provide implications for physician vitality/health, medical education, and continuing education with a focus on physician marriages.
Research has suggested that sacrifices are made to manage the work-home interface. They have been however, related to various deleterious effects. Drawing from self-determination theory, we argue that the sacrifice of psychological needs is worse than the sacrifice of activities such as maintenance and leisure in terms of personal functioning. The present two studies investigate whether sacrifices made in one life sphere to attend matters in another are negatively related to well-being and satisfaction, through enhanced work-family conflict, and whether all sacrifices are created equal. One transversal (n = 141) and one three-wave prospective (n = 78) study were conducted among convenience samples of workers who answered online surveys. Results revealed that personal psychological need sacrifices were negatively related to well-being via family to work conflict (FWC) and work to family conflict (WFC), over and beyond other types of sacrifice. In addition, personal psychological need sacrifices led to decreased life and professional satisfaction over 3 months, via FWC and WFC. Hence, need sacrifices, especially those made in the personal sphere, come at a cost and may not be the best long-term strategy to manage one’s work-home interface.
Parenting is challenging in today’s world. Dual careers, hyper-connectivity, and long distances take almost all our time, and parents must integrate their different roles. A direct impact of this hectic life is on the time parents spend with their children. Additionally, the role of fathers has gained importance, and it is important to understand his influence. In this chapter we will analyze the importance of the time fathers spend in positive engagement activities with their children, such as eating and reading with their children, and also how organizations, through their managers, can promote these positive engagement activities. Also, to show how context influences this relationship, we compare different countries in Latin America: Argentina, Chile, Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, and the Dominican Republic.
Examining two, 3-wave prospective longitudinal samples of university students pursuing a career goal, we propose that young adults make personal sacrifices during goal pursuit. Specifically, we introduce the concept of basic psychological need sacrifice and suggest it is distinguishable from the sacrifice of maintenance and leisure activities. We found that sacrificing basic psychological needs had enduring affective and self-regulatory costs through the effect of increased need frustration over the academic year. Moreover, we found that the sacrifice of psychological needs stemmed from controlling motivational processes, such as extrinsic life aspirations, controlled career goal motivation (assessed at the start of the academic year) and controlled motivation for sacrificing (assessed midyear along with the three types of sacrifices). Psychological distress and need frustration were assessed at baseline and end-of-academic-year, while career goal progress was assessed at the end of the academic year. Implications of these findings for basic psychological needs theory are discussed.
This study assessed the effective coping mechanisms strategies on stressors of mother-administrators of three public and ten private Higher Education Institutions in the province of Nueva Ecija. The samples were 100 mother-administrators who perform administrative functions like that of the President, Vice President, Dean, Director and Department Heads. The descriptive method of research was used. Data from Administrative Stress Index (ASI) survey questionnaire were tallied and analyzed using frequency, weighted mean, percentage, cross-tabulation and analysis of variance. As to personal profile, majority of the mother-administrators were at the age group of 41-50, their length of service ranged from 1-8 years and majority of them were doctorate degree holders.
The stress level of mother-administrators was found “low” to “mild” using the Administrative Stress Index (ADI) which was categorized such as administrative responsibility (X= 2.60) ”mild”, role expectations (x=2.39) ”low”, intrapersonal conflicts (x=2.37) “low”, interpersonal relations (x=2.35) “low” and administrative constraints (x=2.33) “low”. Most of the mother-administrators from private HEIs were stressed in preparation and allocating budgets resources (2.84) “mild”, being involved in the collective bargaining process (2.84) “mild”, attempting to meet social expectations (housing, friends, etc.) (2.84) “mild” and administering the negotiated contract (grievance, interpretations) (2.67) “mild” while, mother-administrators from public HEIs were stressed in trying to complete reports and other paperworks (2.62) described as ”mild”. Analysis of variance showed that there was no significant difference in the stress level and age with F-value (0.145806) and F-critical value (3.109311), furthermore, length of service has F-value (1.302064) and F-critical value (2.467493) and finally, educational attainment has F-value (0.027632) and F-critical value (3.090187) and the null hypothesis is accepted.
The level of coping preference scale and coping factor of mother-administrators of higher education institutions revealed that the Coping Preference Scale (CPS) utilized were (35.71%) described as “often” with ranked 1, followed by (35.57%) described as “occasionally” with ranked 2, followed by (12.57%) described as “frequently” with ranked 3, next is (12.29%) described as “rarely” with ranked 4 and lastly, only (3.86%)described as “never” with ranked 5. This means that the mother-administrators of higher education institutions which uniformly reflected a rating of “often”.
This paper is about work-life balance among a cohort of young mother entrepreneurs in France who left stable employment to start their own business. Contrary to expectations, these women experienced business ownership as an opportunity to reconcile motherhood and professional aspirations thanks to a better locus of control. Suggestions for government policies that would support young parents creating start-ups are put forward. Theoretical implications on mechanisms linking work and family among entrepreneurs are also presented.
A questionnaire containing 56 natural language statements about fatherhood was completed by 1,006 ethnically diverse fathers of elementary school children. Factor analysis of fathers' responses to the statements were used to develop the Discourses About Fathers Inventory (DAFI), which consists of 4 distinct discourses about fathering. Fathers in the study reported that they were most exposed to the Fathers as Conflicted About Work and Family and Fathers as Strong and Responsible Family Leaders discourses, followed by the Fathers as Equal and Involved Parents discourse. Fathers perceived themselves to be least exposed to the Fathers as Incompetent and Uninvolved Caregivers discourse. Previous literature has reported researchers' perceptions of current discourses about fatherhood; the DAFI derives these discourses from the fathers themselves. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)
La persistencia de brechas de género en el cuidado y en los salarios constituye una prueba de la inercia del orden de género heredado del modelo segregado y fuertemente generizado de provisión y cuidado de la sociedad industrial, que sigue operando e interactuando en la organización global del trabajo. Además de
una división sexual del trabajo, ese orden confronta lógicas disimétricas y excluyentes. De un lado, la lógica del mercado que se rige por la competencia, el logro, el reconocimiento y la remuneración. De otro, una lógica del cuidado basada en la naturalización, el no reconocimiento, la donación y el servicio. Conforme a ellas se han jerarquizado identidades, tiempos, espacios y tareas, y alimentado esquemas culturales, normativos y afectivos de realización y dedicación que sitúan a hombres y mujeres en posiciones diferentes y desiguales en la negociación de sus dedicaciones laborales y familiares.
The goal of this chapter is to further theoretical understanding of the potential impact of maternal work on child health outcomes. We discuss limitations of role theory as a framework and utilize the concept of “weaving strategies” as family adaptive mechanisms that working women use to reconcile work and parenting demands. We present an empirical, structured interview-based study (n = 217 mothers) of maternal weaving strategies and their relationship with a host of child health outcomes. Six maternal weaving strategies were identified through factor analysis: positive reframing of work, modifying standards, time management, quick meals, selective socialization and limiting work. There was clear variability in use of alternative weaving strategies by marital status, race, household poverty status, and maternal work schedules. As expected, given the multidimensionality of child health, associations of different weaving strategies with discrete child health outcomes at different points in children’s first year of life varied.
Männlichkeit und Geld sind in der US-amerikanischen Kultur — wie generell in der westlichen Welt — nicht nur faktisch, sondern auch symbolisch und damit psychologisch miteinander verbunden.l Von diesem Zusammenhang handelt dieser Beitrag, der sich in vier Teile untergliedert. Im ersten Abschnitt untersuche ich die symbolische Analogie zwischen Gelderwerb bzw. dem Besitz von Gold und männlicher Potenz. Im zweiten Teil wende ich mich der Fragestellung zu, warum der Zusammenhang zwischen Geld und Männlichkeit in der US-amerikanischen Kultur einen so zentralen Stellenwert besitzt, und im Anschluss daran versuche ich, Männlichkeit in Anlehnung an den französischen Soziologen Pierre Bourdieu als eine Form sozialen Kapitals theoretisch zu fassen, um so einige Facetten dieses Verhältnisses neu zu beleuchten. Abschließend werde ich die Vor- und Nachteile dieser Konzeptualisierung zumindest in Ansätzen diskutieren.
Women have made considerable progress in the labor market, not least regarding the professions. Both men and women are attaining high-status degrees and entering fast-track professions such as law, medicine, and academia. This has changed the conditions for both family formation and careers. While high levels of education and career orientation among women are generally associated with reduced involvement in family life, there is evidence of change in Scandinavia as well as USA. This chapter focuses on how fast-track professionals in law, medicine, and academia fare with respect to continued childbearing. Evidence from Sweden is explored and contrasted with the experiences from the United States. The countries differ in terms of how the labor market works, but also with respect to social policy and gender equality. While Sweden has introduced extensive policies alleviating parents from work-family conflicts, such policies are limited in USA. There are differences with respect to continued childbearing within the group of highly educated professionals, in both Sweden and USA. Doctors are more likely to continue childbearing compared to law professionals and academics. Doctors are different compared to the rest; a result that holds for both men and women. There are differences in the variation across professions by gender, indicating that public sector employment is conducive to Swedish women’s continued childbearing. The results indicate that working conditions and career structures contribute to making it easier for some groups than others to combine a professional career and children, irrespective of country context.
Alternative food networks (AFNs) are exemplified by organic, fair trade and local foods, and promote forms of food provisioning that are ‘corrective’ to conventional agriculture and food (agrifood) systems. Despite enthusiasm for AFNs, scholars have increasingly interrogated whether inequalities are perpetuated by AFNs. Reproduction of gender inequality in AFNs, particularly at the level of consumption, has often been left empirically unexamined, however. This is problematic given that women continue to be predominantly responsible for food provisioning in the US, and that this responsibility can lead to negative physical, psychological and social outcomes. Using quantitative methods and data from the 2012 Ohio Survey of Food, Agriculture, and Environmental Issues, this paper examines the extent to which gender inequality in the division of labor is reproduced in AFNs by focusing on the potential persistence of gender inequality in food provisioning among AFN participants. Findings suggest that among AFN participants, particularly those utilizing local food systems, women, compared to men, remain predominantly responsible for food provisioning, spend more time in food provisioning, and engage in more food provisioning from scratch. This research confirms that food provisioning remains a gendered act amongst AFN participants, calling attention to the persistence of gender inequality in AFNs. The paper concludes by suggesting that AFNs are positioned as a place to create change, albeit small scale, in the gendered division of household labor in the US, and provides some practical suggestions for how this might occur.
Work-family interference (WFI) is becoming one of the principal hazards to occupational health, family satisfaction, well-being and job satisfaction in the 21st century, especially among women professionals. With obvious increases in female participation within the upper echelons of the labour force both in the developed and developing world (Wirth, 2000); the need to effectively combine work and family roles has become quite a critical issue in occupational and organisational psychology, as well as family studies.
Thus identifying and assessing the nature and amount of work-family interference experienced by women professionals and the damage it causes to women’s well-being, organisational productivity, family cohesion and job satisfaction are therefore important questions for applied psychology. So too is the identification of whatever might attenuate or exacerbate the scale of WFI or its negative impact. Such fundamental knowledge has a vital role in informing action and intervention to improve the occupational, as well as family health of women professionals especially in emerging economies like Ghana.
This thesis is built around three separate studies conducted among Ghanaian professional and their spouses, using face-to-face interviews, open-ended questionnaires and structured questionnaires.
A number of research questions and hypotheses have been addressed in this research. Findings showed that women generally experience work-related stress and work family interference. However receipt of quality supervisor support moderates their experience of work-related stress whiles quality spouse and child support attenuates their experience of work-family interference. Additionally, work-family interference only affected women’s feeling of worn out and tense, but not family satisfaction or job satisfaction. Finally the findings of this research have highlighted the need of using mixed methods in organisational research in developing countries especially where published studies are lacking locally.
This study investigated the parenting practices of middle class, dual-earner couples (N =s 47) who perceive themselves as successful in balancing family and work. Analysis of interview data revealed that couples used four primary strategies in balancingfamily and work: (a) striving to be equally involved parents, (b) working to clar-Shelley ify their values related to parenting, (c) being available and attentive to their children while also spending time as a couple and individually, and (d) utilizing the support of extended family and workplaces. These parenting practices run counter to common societal stereotypes regarding dualearners. Clinical applications for therapists and parent educators of dual-earner couples are offered. [Article copies available for a fee
Dieser Aufsatz analysiert die Darstellung von Finanz- und Geschlechterfragen in U.S.-amerikanischen Romanen, die seit etwa
1980 veröffentlicht wurden. Dabei möchte ich anhand der amerikanischen Beispieltexte deutlich machen, welche spezifischen
Aspekte des Nexus von Ökonomie und Geschlecht ein literatur- und kulturwissenschaftlicher Zugriff genauer beleuchten kann.
Dieser Frage wende ich mich zunächst aus wissenschaftstheoretischer Sicht zu, um im zweiten Abschnitt die ausgewählten Romane
zunächst kurz historisch zu kontextualisieren. In zwei Schritten diskutiere ich dann konkrete Repräsentationen der Thematik
– zunächst Konstruktionen von Geld und Geschlecht in Erzählungen männlicher Autoren, die häufig um die sogenannte Männlichkeitskrise
des späten 20. Jahrhunderts kreisen, und anschließend Darstellungen der Zusammenhänge zwischen Ökonomie und Geschlecht in
Texten von Autorinnen, die eine größere Variationsbreite aufweisen. Ein kurzes Fazit beschließt den Aufsatz.
I examine the interactive processes by which women and men negotiate family time schedules. Based on fifty interviews with seventeen dual-earner couples, I focus on the ways men and women define time in gendered ways, exert different controls over the way time is used, and align their time strategies in the course of managing everyday family life. The results indicate that there are both continuities and discontinuities with the past: women continue to exert more control over the organization of time in families, but time negotiation itself has become a more complex and demanding activity. The way that couples carry out these negotiations reflects a variety of adaptive strategies, with some couples being very reactive in contending with present demands and others being highly structured and seeking to anticipate and control the future. Although some couples worked to negotiate balance in their time responsibilities, it was wives who maintained control over time and, ultimately, the orchestration of family activity.
Using data from the 2002 National Survey of the Changing Workforce, this article examines the effects of schedule control and job autonomy on two forms of work-home role blurring: receiving work-related contact outside of normal work hours and bringing work home. Schedule control is associated positively with the frequency of receiving contact and bringing work home, although those effects are stronger among men. Job autonomy is associated positively with contact among men only, but it is associated positively with bringing work home among both women and men. Schedule control and job autonomy also modify the association between these forms of role blurring and work-to-home conflict: (1) contact is associated positively with work-to-home conflict among individuals with low job autonomy; and (2) bringing work home is associated positively with work-to-home conflict among individuals with greater schedule control. We discuss the theoretical implications of our findings for the linkages among gender, work conditions associated with control, and the work-home interface.
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