The Differential Salience of Family and Community Demands and Resources for Family-to-Work Conflict and Facilitation

This paper examines the differential salience of family and community demands and resources in relation to family-to-work conflict and facilitation. The study used interviews with 1567 employed, married, parents from the 1995 National Survey of Midlife Development (MIDUS). Family demands show relatively strong positive relationships to family-to-work conflict, whereas family resources are relatively important for family-to-work facilitation. Two community demands are positively related to family-to-work conflict and one community resource is positively associated with facilitation. Community demands and resources generally do not moderate relationships between family demands and resources and family-to-work conflict and facilitation. The study suggests that processes associated with demands are relatively important for family-to-work conflict, whereas processes embedded in resources are relatively salient for family-to-work facilitation.     

Social Integration,Work‐Family Conflict and Facilitation,and Job and Marital Quality

This paper examines relationships between 2 dimensions of social integration (community participation and affective community resources) and job and marital quality. Data from the 1995 National Survey of Midlife Development in the United States (n= 1,816) indicate that the level of community participation is unrelated or negatively related to job and marital quality, whereas affective community resources show positive associations with job and marital quality. Relationships between community participation and affective community resources and job stress are partially mediated by work‐to‐family conflict and facilitation. Family‐to‐work conflict and facilitation partially mediate relationships between affective community resources and marital satisfaction and risk. The study takes a beginning step in establishing relationships and exploring processes that make up the work‐community‐family interface.     

A cross‐cultural test of the work‐family interface in 48 countries

This study tests a cross‐cultural model of the work‐family interface. Using multigroup structural equation modeling with IBM survey responses from 48 countries (N= 25,380), results show that the same work‐family interface model that fits the data globally also fits the data in a four‐group model composed of culturally related groups of countries, as well as a two‐group gender model. This supports a transportable rather than a culturally specific or gender‐specific work‐family interface model: notably, job flexibility related to reduced work‐family conflict, reduced family‐work conflict, and enhanced work‐family fit. Work‐family fit related to increased job satisfaction. Findings suggest that investment by multinational companies in job flexibility initiatives may represent a dual‐agenda way to benefit men, women, and businesses in diverse cultures.     

Toward a Conceptualization of Perceived Work‐Family Fit and Balance: A Demands and Resources Approach

Using person‐environment fit theory, this article formulates a conceptual model that links work, family, and boundary‐spanning demands and resources to work and family role performance and quality. Linking mechanisms include 2 dimensions of perceived work‐family fit (work demands–family resources fit and family demands–work resources fit) and a global assessment of perceived work‐family balance. Work, family, and boundary‐spanning demands and resources are associated with the 2 dimensions of fit, which combine with boundary‐spanning strategies to influence work‐family balance, which in turn affects role performance and quality. The model provides a framework for clarifying and integrating previous conceptualizations, measures, and empirical research regarding perceived work‐family fit and balance as linkages between the work‐family interface and outcomes. The article closes with suggestions for further work.     

Work‐Family Enrichment and Conflict: Additive Effects,Buffering, or Balance?

We used data from the Midlife Development in the United States (MIDUS I) (N = 2,031) to compare three models of how work‐family conflict and enrichment might operate to predict well‐being (mental health, life satisfaction, affect balance, partner relationship quality). We found no support for a relative‐difference model in which the conflict‐enrichment balance predicted outcomes. In the work‐to‐family direction, the additive model fit best: Both work‐to‐family conflict and work‐to‐family enrichment were independently linked to outcomes. In the family‐to‐work direction, the interactive model fit best: Family‐to‐work enrichment buffered the negative outcomes ordinarily linked to family‐to‐work conflict. Enrichment is key because with the additive model, it contributed incremental explanatory power, and with the buffering model, it conditioned conflict‐outcome relationships. Work‐to‐family conflict and family‐to‐work enrichment appeared particularly salient for well‐being.     

Work,Family, and Mental Health: Testing Different Models of Work‐Family Fit

Using family resilience theory, this study examined the effects of work‐family conflict and work‐family facilitation on mental health among working adults to gain a better understanding of work‐family fit. Data from the National Survey of Midlife Development in the United States (MIDUS) were used to compare different combinations of work‐family conflict and work‐family facilitation. Results suggest that family to work facilitation is a family protective factor that offsets and buffers the deleterious effects of work‐family conflict on mental health. The results across these outcomes suggest that work‐family conflict and facilitation must be considered separately, and that adult mental health is optimized when family to work facilitation is high and family to work and work to family conflict is low.     

Gender Differences in the Effect of Job Characteristics on Work‐to‐Family Conflict in Japan: Application of the Job Demands‐Resources Model into Japanese Population1

This article uses the job demand‐resources (JD‐R) model to analyze the Japanese population and gender differences in work‐to‐family conflict in Japan. Using data from the International Social Survey Programme in 2015, the study addresses four main questions: (i) does the JD‐R model apply to the Japanese population? (ii) which gender is more likely to experience work‐to‐family conflict? (iii) does gender moderate the relationship between work‐related factors and work‐to‐family conflict? and (iv) do different factors predict work‐to‐family conflict between men and women? The findings show that the JD‐R model applies in part to the Japanese population, and women are more likely to experience a higher level of work‐to‐family conflict than men. There are also different factors predicting work‐to‐family conflict by gender, even though gender does not moderate the relationship between work‐related factors and work‐to‐family conflict. This article points out the peculiar Japanese social and cultural contexts that lead to gender differences in work‐to‐family conflict. It offers two solutions: (i) legal regulations to reduce working hours and the frequency of working on weekends to prevent work from intruding on family life; and (ii) changes to the work environment to make women workers more comfortable at work because of the male‐dominated workplace and Japanese culture on family gender roles in Japan.     

Scaling Back and Finding Flexibility: Gender Differences in Parents' Strategies to Manage Work–Family Conflict

Studies show that fathers report work–family conflict levels comparable to mothers. 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 when compared with 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 when compared with their parent counterparts. The authors situate these findings in the vast literature on the consequences of work–family conflict.     

Change in Work‐Family Conflict Among Employed Parents Between 1977 and 1997

Using data from two national surveys (N = 2,050), this paper examines what accounts for the increase in the sense of work‐family conflict among employed parents between 1977 and 1997. Decomposition analysis indicates that the increases in women’s labor force participation, college education, time pressure in completing one’s job, and the decline in free time were related to the increase. Fathers in dual‐earner marriages experienced a particular increase in work‐family conflict. With the same amount of time spent with children, parents felt greater work‐family conflict in 1997 than in 1977. Although masked by the overall increase, some trends, such as the increases in intrinsic job rewards, time with children, and egalitarian gender attitudes, contributed to a decline in work‐family conflict.     

Exploring a family,work, and community model of work–family gains and strains

Much of the work–family literature focuses on job or family characteristics that impact on work–life interaction. A small body of research takes a wider perspective, highlighting the importance of community characteristics. This study builds on, and extends, this research by examining the way work and community characteristics may interact in their influence on work–family interaction. Building on Voydanoff's work, this study examined whether community demands amplified the impact of work demands on work–family conflict, and whether community resources increased the impact of work resources on work–family facilitation. Data were analyzed from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia survey, distinguishing between residents of higher or lower socioeconomic status (SES) communities. Work demands (work intensity, hours) demonstrated the strongest relationship with work–family interaction. Autonomy and work hours emerged as particularly important predictors of work–family interaction for those living in lower SES areas. Whereas social support (a community resource) was a particularly strong predictor of work–family interaction for those living in higher SES areas. There was also evidence that community demands (lack of safety) are independently associated with work–family interaction and also amplify the effect of job demands (work intensity) on work–family conflict for residents of lower SES areas.     

More Control,Less Conflict? Job Demand–Control,Gender and Work–Family Conflict

The connection between working hours and work‐to‐family conflict has been established in a number of studies. However, it seems what is important is not only the quantity of work but also its quality, as captured by the job demand–control model. Survey data from 800 Swedish employees show that job demands spill over negatively into family life, while job control reduces work‐to‐family conflict. Interestingly, women in jobs with high demands and high control — regarded as the prototype for modern, flexible work life — do not experience more work‐to‐family conflict than men, even when working the same hours.     

Core Self‐Evaluations,Work–Family Conflict,and Burnout

This study investigated how core self‐evaluations relate to work–family (and family–work) conflict and burnout. Drawing from a sample of 289 police officers and civilian staff who were either married or living in a union as common‐law partners, this study advances an empirical integration of work–family and core self‐evaluations research. The results suggested that even when work, nonwork, and demographic variables are controlled for, positive core self‐evaluations (i.e., composite scale, self‐esteem, locus of control, emotional stability) are related to less work–family (and family–work) conflict. The associations between core self‐evaluations and burnout are partially mediated by work–family (and family–work) conflict. Finally, core self‐evaluations moderated the association between work–family conflict and burnout, but not the one between family–work conflict and burnout.     

Taking Pressure Off Families: Child‐Care Subsidies Lessen Mothers’ Work‐Hour Problems

We use the Philadelphia Survey of Child Care and Work to model the effect of child‐care subsidies and other ecological demands and resources on the work hour, shift, and overtime problems of 191 low‐income urban mothers. Comparing subsidy applicants who do and do not receive cash payments for child care, we find that mothers who receive subsidies are 21% less likely to experience at least one work hour–related problem on the job. Our results suggest that child‐care subsidies do more than allow women to enter the labor force. Subsidies help make it easier for mothers in low‐wage labor both to comply with employer demands for additional work hours and to earn the needed wages that accompany them.     

INTERPERSONAL CONTEXT AT WORK AND THE FREQUENCY,APPRAISAL, AND CONSEQUENCES OF BOUNDARY‐SPANNING DEMANDS

Compared to job‐specific conditions, the interpersonal context of work has received less attention from work–family scholars. Using data from a 2007 U.S. survey of workers (N = 1,286), we examine the impact of workplace social support and interpersonal conflict on work–family conflict and exposure to boundary‐spanning demands—as indexed by the frequency that workers receive work‐related contact outside of normal work hours. Findings indicate that workplace social support is associated negatively with work‐to‐family conflict, while interpersonal conflict at work is associated with higher levels of work‐to‐family conflict. Results also indicate that both supportive and conflictive work contexts are associated with more frequent exposure to boundary‐spanning demands. However, workers in supportive contexts are more likely to appraise these demands as beneficial for accomplishing work tasks, and are less likely to appraise them as disruptive to family roles. By contrast, workers in conflictive contexts are more likely to appraise demands as disruptive to family roles, and are less likely to appraise them as beneficial for paid work. Consequently, our findings underscore the resource and demands aspects of interpersonal work contexts and their implications for the work–family interface.     

Role Conflict and Self‐Efficacy Among Employed Parents: Examining Complex Statistical Interactions

In response to growing concerns with explaining how work and family interfere with each other and with statistical approaches that do not capture the way in which predictors interact, this study tested statistical interactions involving personal and social resources of 410 full‐time employed women and men. The results indicate that self‐efficacy is a strong predictor of family interfering with work (FIW) and work interfering with family (WIF). Gender moderates the relation between supervisor support and WIF moderates the impact of efficacy beliefs and instrumental support at home on FIW. Specifically, while supervisor support is negatively related to WIF in women and men, high levels of support more strongly affected men's perceptions of WIF. In low self‐efficacy men, high levels of support at home improved their perceptions of FIW but these perceptions worsened in women. These findings contrast with earlier research that focus predominantly on the predictive value of structural demands (for example, the number of hours worked per week and family size). This study shows that gender plays a critical yet intricate role as a predictor of the successful management of work and family roles: it is not gender per se but its interaction with personal and social variables that informs us about differences in the experience of employed parents.     

Multiple Social Roles — a Resource or a Burden: Is it Possible for Men and Women to Combine Paid Work with Family Life in a Satisfactory Way?

The aim of this article is to study whether multiple social roles can be seen as a resource or a burden, or in other words, if a strong engagement in both paid work and family life is a positive or negative experience for men and women respectively. The main data used are a data set from Statistics Sweden, the so‐called ULF (the study of living conditions), in which nearly 30,000 randomly selected individuals were interviewed. When analysing how the combined family and labour market situation is related to the number of preferred working hours and psychological distress of individuals, the results show that it is primarily cohabiting women with children who work more than 40 hours per week, who want to reduce their working hours. However, the distress level is not relatively high for this category. Results indicate that many women, and some men, who have multiple social roles express a wish to reduce their working hours, but this does not necessarily mean that the levels of distress are higher for these groups. This may be a result of the fact that the alternative resources provided by multiple social roles in some sense outweigh the stressful effects that double demands have on psychological distress.     

Working parent friendly schools: the role of school instrumental support in work–family conflict

Instrumental support can foster or ameliorate parent experiences of work–family conflict. Based on theories relating social support to stress, a framework for considering how school support affects work–family conflict is proposed and tested. Parent experiences of instrumental support (school schedules, school service provision, and staff accessibility) and school demands on parents (volunteer and homework involvement) were investigated in relation to levels of work–family conflict. Work demands were related to both family-interference-with-work and work-interference-with family; family demands related only to time-based family-interference-with-work. Perceptions of school scheduling as supportive were related negatively to both time- and strain-based work-interference-with family, whereas perceptions of school transportation services were related to both time- and strain-based family-interference-with-work. No buffering effects of these types of support were found. Implications for how community organizations can play a role in ameliorating work–family conflict are discussed.     

Daily Spillover of Low‐Income Mothers' Perceived Workload to Mood and Mother–Child Interactions

This study investigated associations of low‐income working mothers' daily perceived workload and their reports of their own mood and their interactions with their young children. Sixty‐one mothers were asked to report on their workload, mood, and interactions with their preschool‐age children every day for 2 weeks (N = 520 work days). Low‐income mothers reported significant day‐to‐day variability in workload. The results revealed a curvilinear pattern of negative work‐to‐family spillover: Both lower‐than‐average and higher‐than‐average workload days were associated with increased negative and tired mood, decreased positive mood, and increased harsh mother–child interactions. Although both younger and older mothers experienced a curvilinear pattern of spillover to daily mood, younger mothers in the period of emerging adulthood also experienced spillover to mother–child interactions, perhaps because they are still learning how to balance work and family demands. Both high and low workload are salient stressors in the daily lives of low‐wage working mothers.     

Family,Work, Work‐Family Spillover,and Problem Drinking During Midlife

Using ecological theory as a theoretical framework, this study systematically examined the associations between multiple dimensions of family relationship quality, work characteristics, work‐family spillover, and problem drinking among a national sample of employed, midlife adults (n= 1,547 ). Multivariate analyses confirmed that work and family microsystem factors were associated with problem drinking above and beyond individual characteristics. Consistent with previous research, results indicated that a higher level of marital disagreement and more work‐related pressure were associated with higher odds of problem drinking. Results also indicated that a higher level of positive spillover from family to work was associated with lower odds of problem drinking, whereas a higher level of positive spillover from work to family was associated with higher odds of problem drinking. Psychological well‐being did not account for the association between work and family factors and problem drinking. Associations were similar for men and women.