Support,Demands, and Gender Ideology: Exploring Work–Family Facilitation and Work–Family Conflict Among Older Workers

Only recently have researchers begun to investigate issues surrounding the work experiences of individuals in late midlife. This article contributes to the literature on work–family facilitation and conflict among older workers. I focus specifically on the extent to which gender ideology is associated with facilitation and conflict and whether that relationship differs for women and men. Using a sample of older workers (n = 2,253), I find that gender traditional respondents are more likely to report work–family conflict than are nontraditional respondents, with no corresponding association for work–family facilitation. There are no sex differences in the effect of gender ideology on facilitation or conflict. Results are discussed in the context of the importance of understanding the work–family interface among older employees.     

Societal Crises–Strategies for Social Work Education

This paper examines existing literature on anticipated role problems by mothers who reenter higher education after marriage and child rearing, and presents data from a study that examined the characteristics, role difficulties, and role satisfactions of a group of women with children who recently completed an MSW program. The findings revealed an absence of major problems for these women, both during and after MSW training. The dominant theme was one of rewarding, ego-enhancing, and relatively easy movement of these women through their MSW training and subsequently into professional positions.     

Work–Family Conflict and Couple Relationship Quality: A Meta-analytic Study

This study examined the association between work–family conflict and couple relationship quality. We conducted a meta-analytic review of 49 samples from 33 papers published between 1986 and 2014. The results indicated that there was a significant negative relationship between work–family conflict and couple relationship quality (r = ?.19, k = 49). Several moderators were included in this analysis: gender, region, parental status, dual-earner status, and the measures used for work–family conflict and marital quality variables. The strength of the relationship varied based on the region of the sample—samples from Europe and Asia had a significantly weaker relationship between work–family conflict and relationship quality than those from North America. In addition, the relationship was significantly weaker in samples of dual-earner couples and when non-standardized scales were used. Implications of the results and directions for future research are suggested.     

Work–Family Conflict and Fertility Intentions: Does Gender Matter?

Fertility among employed women remains far below their desired preferences. Although research has shown that fertility intentions significantly predict subsequent behavior, little is known about the factors that contribute to intentions. We assess the impacts of perceived self and partner work-to-family and family-to-work conflict on the fertility intentions of both women and men. Using a national probability sample of men and women in dual-earner families (N = 630), we find that men’s perceptions of their wives’ work–family conflict significantly predict men’s fertility intentions, even though men’s own work–family conflict does not. Neither women’s own work–family conflict nor their perceptions of their husbands’ work–family conflict predicts women’s fertility intentions.     

The Impact of Resources on Women's Strategies for Coping With Work–Home Conflict: Does Sociocultural Context Matter?

The study examined differences in the impact of resources on strategies for coping with work–home conflict (WHC) among Jewish (n = 59) and Muslim Arab (n = 87) women from dual-earner families in Israel. A distinction was made between three main types of coping strategies: taking initiative, help seeking (active strategies), and redefinition (a passive strategy). The explanatory variables were personal resources (hardiness, gender-role ideology, and income advantage) and environmental resources (support from the husband, egalitarian division of labor, and flexibility in the workplace). The research variables correlated mainly with the strategy of help seeking among the Jewish women and with the strategy of redefinition among the Arab women.     

Social Work and Sustainable Social Development: Teaching and Learning Strategies for ‘Green Social Work’ Curriculum

It is increasingly recognized that social work has a vital role to play in shaping effective responses to environmental degradation, climate change and disasters. Innovative teaching and learning strategies can be used to facilitate understanding of complex, interrelated and systemic social, economic and environmental challenges. This article shares the development and design of a new social work course entitled ‘Social work and sustainable social development’. Teaching methods and strategies are provided including individual and group mind maps, case studies and presentations, guest speakers and evaluation methods. Implications for social work education and the profession are discussed in order to build capacity to address environmental justice and sustainability.     

Social Workers’ Perspectives Regarding the DSM: Implications for Social Work Education

There is a decades-old debate in social work regarding the appropriateness of the use of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) by clinicians in this profession. Despite often contentious perspectives, there has been very little study regarding clinical social workers’ experiences, attitudes, and beliefs about the use of the DSM in their work. In this qualitative inquiry, 20 clinical social workers who had recently completed master’s of social work coursework and were working with children were interviewed using grounded theory methods. Results of the inquiry are presented and implications for social work education are discussed.     

The Experience of Work–Family Conflict Among Divorced Parents in Flanders

This study investigates the difference between married and divorced parents, accounting for gender and relationship status after divorce. It also provides insight into differences within the category of divorced parents. Data from 769 married and 1,424 divorced parents were analyzed using logistic regression analysis. The results identify a complex interplay among marital status, relationship status, and gender. For mothers, both marital and relationship status have an impact on work–family conflict. For fathers, it is the presence of a partner that affects the interference of family with work. Gender, working hours, and child’s presence were identified as important factors influencing work–family conflict among divorced parents.     

Self-Employment,Work–Family Fit and Mental Health Among Female Workers

We used the 2002 National Study of the Changing Workforce to investigate the effects of work type on women’s lives. Specifically, we hypothesized that self-employed women have better work–family fit than organizationally employed women. We also hypothesized that as a result of better work–family fit, self-employed women would report better mental health than organizationally employed women. The analysis shows limited support for the hypotheses. Of the different dimensions of work–family fit, self-employment directly influenced only job to home facilitation. Work type had no direct influence on mental health. It appears that work type may indirectly influence work–family fit and mental health through higher job satisfaction and increased autonomy.

Self- and Spouse-Reported Work–Family Conflict and Dual-Earners’ Job Satisfaction

We add to the literature on job satisfaction by examining the role played by self-reported and spouse-reported work–family conflict for dual-earner husbands and wives (N = 156 couples, 312 individuals), a contagion model of work and family. Two path models of job satisfaction were tested: a spillover model, including the respondent's work-to-family conflict and family-to-work conflict, and a crossover model, including the spouse's perception of the respondent's work-to-family conflict. Workplace and family/respondent characteristics were also included in the models. For wives, job satisfaction is associated with family-to-work conflict (spillover). For husbands, job satisfaction is associated with his spouse's perception of his work-to-family conflict (crossover). For both husbands and wives, coworker support is both directly and indirectly associated with job satisfaction.     

Family Structure, Gender, and the Work–Family Interface: Work-to-Family Conflict Among Single and Partnered Parents

This study examined whether single parents experience greater reductions in work-to-family conflict from using resources than partnered parents do. The question of whether single mothers, single fathers, partnered mothers, or partnered fathers experienced differing levels of work-to-family conflict was also addressed. Data were from the 2002 National Study of the Changing Workforce, and only those respondents with at least one child under the age of 18 living in the household were included in the analysis (N = 1325). Findings indicated that single-parent status was not directly related to work-to-family conflict. Rather single-parent status interacted with other variables, including gender, control over work hours, and the number of other adults in the home, in predicting work-to-family conflict.     

Work and Family over the Life Course: Do Older Workers Differ?

This study explored how older workers (age 55+) differed from middle-aged (ages 35–54) and young workers (<35 years) in their experience of the work–family interface. Data came from a subset of a survey conducted by a multi-national corporation in 79 countries (N = 41,813, n = 2,700). Older workers reported significantly less work-to-family and family-to-work conflict and greater work–family fit, life success, and work success than middle-aged and young workers. They reported significantly greater job flexibility and job satisfaction but were significantly less likely to be aware of and use work–family programs than young workers. Older men reported significantly less awareness and use of work-life programs and less family-to-work conflict than older women. Implications of this research are presented.     

Work–Family Conflict and Perceived Justice as Mediators of Outcomes of Women's Multiple Workload

Negative impacts of work–family conflicts and the imbalanced division of family work on women's relationship satisfaction and well-being have gained substantial attention from the literature over the last years. The current research adds to the literature by testing the experience of work–family conflicts and perceived justice in the division of family work as possible mediators between women's workloads resulting from the familial and professional tasks and women's relationship satisfaction and well-being. The analysis involves both work-to-family and family-to-work conflicts as well as perceptions of procedural and distributive justice in the division of family work. Structural equation modeling analyses of data were performed with a sample of 1,512 women from dual-earner couples with young children taken from seven European countries. Results support the importance of women's family-to-work conflict and perceptions of justice of childcare and household labor as mediator variables between family workloads, relationship satisfaction, and well-being. Time spent on paid work proved to have an effect on women's well-being, via work-to-family conflict.     

Messages to Social Work Education: What Makes Social Workers Continue and Cope in Child Welfare?

This article examines the positive elements which make social workers continue their career with a focus on statutory child welfare. Such analysis is needed, as existing research tends to highlight stress, exhaustion and career break-up issues. The empirical data consist of focus groups of 28 social workers and a questionnaire addressed to 56 professionals in child welfare in two Finnish urban municipalities. The focus groups were targeted at novice, expert and veteran social workers. The analysis presents organisational, person-related and client-work-related positive elements from the point of view of social workers. The results highlight that social work in child welfare may be experienced as being rewarding and professionally challenging. The positive elements vary among novice, expert and veteran social workers, with the latter especially viewing their work as independent expert work with major opportunities to make a change in children's lives. Commitment to care of children is one of the key motivating factors. The study suggests that social work education should recognise that the subjective motivation to do social work may change during one's career and that social work may be simultaneously both stressful and rewarding. Students should learn how to balance these aspects of their work.     

Job–Family Role Strain Among Low-Wage Workers

This exploratory study aimed to identify the personal, family, and job characteristics associated with low-wage employees job–family role strain. Data were collected from both English and non-English speaking workers at one hotel site. Multivariate data analyses revealed that different sets of circumstances create job–family strain for employees. Supervisor support was independently associated with two of the three job–family strain variables while other job factors emerged as significant when interacting with demographic variables. Findings suggest that structural factors associated with managing work and family responsibilities may more accurately measure job–family role strain for this worker population. The study provides further evidence that the concept of job–family role strain is inherently complex, warranting further investigation, especially for employees in low-wage earning jobs.