Role Conflict among Family Childcare Providers in the Bronx

Family childcare (FCC) providers provide childcare for many low‐income families in the United States, and the literature suggests they take on several other support roles as well. The current study consisted of focus groups and interviews in which FCC providers (N = 22) shared successes and challenges in their profession. Using grounded theory we identified four primary FCC roles: teacher, caregiver, social worker and business owner. Conflict within and between roles was related to considerable stress. Because roles varied across a spectrum from entangled to rigid professional relationship boundaries, many FCC providers struggled with the limits of their daily work. Suggestions are made to limit role conflict, re‐establish boundaries and promote FCC providers’ well‐being.     

A mediational model of workplace flexibility,work–family conflict,and perceived stress among caregivers of older adults

As an increasing number of employees become caregivers, the role of workplace resources in supporting caregivers has attracted the attention of researchers, employers, and policy-makers. Workplace flexibility is one type of resource that has attracted particular interest, with research exploring whether flexibility (that is, giving employees some control over when and/or where work gets done) is related to important outcomes for both employees and employers. This investigation develops and tests a mediational model explicating the process through which workplace flexibility – operationalized in three distinct ways – impacts caregiver stress among US employees. Using a sample of 211 caregivers from the National Study of the Changing Workforce (2008), results show that work-to-family conflict mediates the relationship between perceived workplace flexibility and caregiver stress as well as the relationship between access to flexible work options and caregivers stress. However, the mediational model is not supported when flexibility is operationalized as respondents’ formal use of flexible work options. Implications for employers and future research are discussed.     

Employee experiences with family and medical leave: A case study

This article examines employee experiences with family and medical leave policies at an urban public transportation union work site in the United States. The case study focuses on the leave experiences among a sample population of 91 primarily African-American women transit workers, including reasons for taking or not taking leaves, decisions regarding how much leave time to take, and work impacts experienced after returning from leaves. The case study found that all respondents with new babies or ill children took leaves, as did 78% of those with illnesses and 39% of those with ill family members. Among those eligible to take leaves, the most frequent reason for not doing so was the lack of wage replacement. Knowledge of leave policies was minimal and not associated with the likelihood of leave-taking. These findings are discussed in terms of their workplace and community implications, including the need to expand the length and types of family leave coverage, the need for government-mandated paid leave, approaches for increasing employee knowledge of leave rights, and the need for continued research into leave experiences of minority populations.     

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.     

Health-life agreement: Conceptualization of a new construct and measurement

Health-life agreement (HLA) is the ability to meet demands in three life domains (i.e. work, family, and self) to the level of personal satisfaction without experiencing emotions that can affect the self or the others negatively. In this study, the authors developed a scale to measure the construct of HLA. The results of the k-means cluster analysis revealed four different profiles of HLA (i.e. harmonious, carefree, exhausted, and nonharmonious). The authors found that harmonious people scored highest in positive outcomes (i.e. health-promoting lifestyle behaviors and life satisfaction) and nonharmonious group scored highest in negative outcomes (i.e. turnover intention and aggression in relationships).     

Social network and family business: Uncovering hybrid family firms

What does it mean for a private enterprise in China to be embedded in a family? Our purpose here is twofold: (1) use social network analysis to describe what it means for a firm to be embedded in a family, (2) reveal from the application a new kind of firm, not family, yet akin to family. Armed with data on a large probability sample of private enterprises — a third of which meet ownership and employment criteria of being family businesses — we uncover a category of “hybrid family firms” that look modern in the style of firms that exclude family, but operate socially in ways similar to family firms. Our conclusion from summary statistics on the sample is that there are no differences in average performance level or network advantage for the three categories of businesses: family firms, hybrid family firms, and family-excluded firms. The fact that CEOs of family firms and hybrid family firms more often turn to family as key business contacts is a fact about network composition that raises no question about network mechanisms. Whether the CEO turns to more or fewer family contacts, government help is more likely with stronger political connections, and business success and survival are more likely with a large, open network. That said, the look-modern, act-traditional hybrid family firms stand alone in prospering with a CEO embedded in a closed business network. Recognition of hybrid family firms adds to the literature’s illustrations of social network analysis used to distinguish types of businesses and business people, and extends the population of organizations within which governance and strategy are likely to be better understood when viewed through a family logic.     

Launching the workplace flexibility movement: work family research and a program of social change

The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation's Workplace, Work Force & Working Families program was established in 1994 and ended in 2011. Over the course of its 17-year lifespan, this program – through its vision, commitment and unique, pragmatic grant-making strategies – pioneered the interdisciplinary field of work–family research and spearheaded a national movement to create more flexible workplaces that effectively meet the needs of employees and employers. The program's first strategic phase supported high-quality, multidisciplinary research to examine what was happening within working families at all stages of their lives, both at home and at work. Results from these investigations highlighted the structural mismatch between the needs of this diverse workforce – comprised increasingly of working parents and older workers – and the demands of a rigidly structured workplace requiring full-time, full-year work, with little to no flexibility in how, when, or where work gets done. After a decade of scholarly research documenting that the challenges facing American families were not private, individual problems but public, societal concerns, the Sloan Foundation designed and launched in 2003 the National Workplace Flexibility Initiative. Its goals were twofold: to make workplace flexibility a compelling national issue and to establish it as a standard of the American workplace. As a result of the collective efforts of Sloan-supported organizations and people, the stage is now set for a social movement to realign the structure of the American workplace to the needs of the twenty-first century workforce. Lessons for subsequent research-driven social movements close the article.     

Work–family Conflicts and the Organizational Work Culture as Barriers to Women Educational Managers

This article examines perceived barriers and the influence they play in the professional and personal lives of women educational managers in Spain. A survey of 206 female school heads from pre‐primary and primary schools shows that the women administrators face several perceived barriers: a lack of support from the governing educational authority; insufficient preparation and in‐service training and an absence of equity‐based support policies from the government and reconciliation policies to make the dual roles of mother–professional compatible. The study further found that role conflict and certain features of the organizational work culture, particularly the management culture, which was generally perceived as strongly masculine, and the scant appreciation of administrative work compared with teaching, were the factors that contributed to delaying or avoiding accession to the post of headship in schools.     

Strategies for work–family balance in a South African context

ABSTRACT

Finding and maintaining work–family balance has become an increasingly difficult challenge for South African families due to various factors, including economic, political, social and cultural changes that can impact negatively on family well-being. While pathways and strategies for work–family balance have been identified in other contexts, there is little available research on the topic in a South African context. Considering the knowledge that South African social workers have in this regard as a result of their training, qualifications and role in the South African context, South African social workers were selected as participants. The aim of this study was therefore to explore and describe, from the perspective of a group of South African social workers, strategies for work–family balance that can potentially contribute to family well-being in a South African context. A narrative inquiry research design was implemented. Thirteen female social workers between the ages of 23 and 46 who work in different social work contexts across South Africa were recruited by means of purposive and snowball/network sampling. Data were collected by means of written narratives and analysed by thematic analysis. The findings identify the following strategies: Setting clear boundaries, open communication in work and family domains, strengthening personal and professional support systems, planning, time management and prioritising, self-care, reasonable work environment and continuous personal and family assessment. While the findings share similarities with work–family balance strategies identified in other contexts, this study’s significance lies in the fact that it identifies strategies specifically for the South African context and that it does so from the perspective of South African social workers.     

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.     

Work–family conflict: comparing the experiences of Turkish and native Belgian women

ABSTRACT

While research has focused on a number of dimensions of work–family conflict (WFC), hardly any literature exists that analyses how differences in family systems might help to explain variations in WFC experiences. By employing Reher’s typology of strong and weak family ties to integrate existing research and identify unaddressed features, this study finds that researchers have generally understudied the role of structural family ties on WFC. Qualitative data gathered from interviews with highly educated native Belgian and Turkish immigrant women living in Belgium are used to analyse variation in the WFC experiences and coping strategies of these two groups. The results suggest that a number of interconnected factors related to family systems – including internalisation of gender roles, division of family-related responsibilities, support mechanisms and external pressures from family and society, and socialisation processes of minority women in both family structures – are highly significant in explaining variations in women’s WFC experiences.     

The Impact of Social Capital on Men's Mental Health from the Perspective of Social Support Theory

This study examines the effects of social capital as it affects men's mental health in the context of work–family balance. Multivariate analyses of data from National Family Research of Japan 2008 have revealed the following. First, the social capital that men receive from their spouses was found to have a direct effect on their distress. The effect of social capital from family other than a spouse does not have a direct effect on men's mental health. Second, only social capital from a spouse was observed to provide a buffering effect. This result implies that, in contemporary Japan, social capital derived from the spouse functions satisfactorily as a bulwark to mitigate the negative effects that the experience of role conflict between work and family has on men's mental health. Finally, the study examines the effect of social capital with reference to social support theory. Subsequent research might usefully focus on varieties of social capital other than those covered in the current study, which will leverage the unique potential of social capital by examining techniques and units of analysis.     

Double trouble: work–family conflict and well-being for second job holders

The purpose of this study was to provide an initial investigation into the work–family conflict (WFC) experiences of individuals who hold a second job. Specifically, we proposed two opposing theoretical arguments regarding the relationship between WFC and four measures of well-being: life satisfaction, physical health, emotional exhaustion, and exercise for individuals who hold two jobs. In a sample of individuals working two jobs, we tested whether the effects of WFC arising from the first job and from the second job exerted an additive or interactive effect on employee well-being. Our results indicated that for emotional exhaustion, physical symptoms, and life satisfaction, the effects of WFC from two jobs are interactive; but that for exercise, the effects of WFC from two jobs are additive. In both cases, the additional WFC experienced as a result of working a second job contributed to the prediction of employee well-being over and above WFC from the first job. Results are discussed within the context of relevant theory, and suggestions are made for future research.     

Inclusion and Control in Resort Family Businesses: A Developmental Approach to Conflict

This study investigated the relationship between inclusion tension and business and family conflict intensity for 183 couples in resort family businesses. Using path analysis, age, education, role, and decision involvement discrepancy predicted husbands' inclusion tension, and inclusion tension predicted their business and family conflict intensity. Age, locus of control, and gross sales predicted inclusion tension for wives; inclusion tension predicted wives' business and family conflict intensity. Age had an indirect effect for husbands on their inclusion tension and their business conflict intensity, whereas the role involvement discrepancy had an indirect effect on husbands' business conflict intensity. For wives, age had an indirect effect on their business conflict intensity, and locus of control had an indirect effect on wives' business as well as family conflict intensity.     

When work keeps us apart: a thematic analysis of the experience of business travellers

Whilst business travel is deemed important for organisational success and economic outcomes, little is known about the actual process of business travelling from the perspective of individuals who undertake such travel on a regular basis. Thus the current qualitative study examined how business travellers (three women and eight men) attempt to find a balance between work and family, by focusing on how time together and time apart are experienced. The results can be interpreted and framed within work/family border theory in that business travellers' borders are less defined and less permeable, thus requiring them to border-cross more frequently. This necessitates a process of negotiation with key border-keepers (their spouse/partner). Business travellers also undertake compensatory behaviours to make up their time away from family. In order to find a work/family balance, they go through a process of adapting, negotiating and tailoring their lives around their work commitments to alleviate work–life conflict.     

Work-Family Identities and Work-Family Conflicts

Abstract

Using survey data from Utah, we examine the direct and indirect effects of individuals' identification with work and family on work-to-family and family-to-work conflict. Our analysis uncovers two notable indirect effects of family identity. For men, identification with the family is associated with job flexibility, which is associated with a decrease in work-to-family conflict. For women, identification with the family is associated with housework satisfaction, which is associated with a decrease in family-to-work conflict. These indirect effects suggest that family identity may play some role in reducing work-family conflict, albeit in different ways for men and women.     

The neoliberal mom: how a discursive coalition shapes low-income mothers’ labor market participation

Research has elucidated the conflict low-income mothers face when trying to comply with the imperatives of the neoliberalism and mothering discourses. Feminist scholars have argued that low-income mothers’ alternative conceptions of morality and behavior constitute an act of resistance to inferiorizing definitions embedded in these discourses. Drawing on this literature, I offer a new conceptualization of the seemingly contradictory discourses. Based on interviews with 48 low-income Israeli mothers, I suggest that the neoliberal ideology is not limited to the neoliberal discourse, which primarily measures the individual's commitment to the labor market, but rather has diffused into the mothering discourse, which sets the standards for good mothering. This diffusion constructs a discursive coalition of ‘neoliberal moms’, wherein the current hegemonic notion of good mothering and the neoliberal call for personal responsibility intersect and shape mothers’ perceptions and decision-making processes. Moreover, the neoliberal mom constructs an alternative morality: moral motherhood. Accordingly, the moral component of good mothering means taking personal responsibility to act in ways that promote one's children's future inclusion. I argue that the discursive coalition framework helps us to better understand mothers’ labor force entries and exits, and how these constitute a way of negotiating paths to social inclusion.     

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.     

Future perspectives on work and family dynamics in Southern Europe: the importance of culture and regional contexts

The Southern countries model (Portugal, Spain, Italy, and Greece) take a specific family-oriented approach to work–family reconciliation. They are family-oriented in that they entrust the family with more responsibilities that in other countries. Work–family reconciliation is considered as a political action that gives quite limited and unstable support to encourage women’s labour-market participation; this results in the poor development of external services and in few benefits for women, who have to undertake multiple roles inside and outside the family. In these countries, negotiation is left to the private spheres of the couple or local communities, so that each family can decide on the best way to use the existing policies and consider the possibilities available to them. In this sense it is not possible only to apply ‘outside models’ (such as the Nordic, French, German, etc.) to find an effective approach for these countries. The special issue, starting from the current situation explores possibilities for future scenarios in Southern Europe countries concerning work–family dynamics. It includes general comparative papers or case study on work-care arrangements, family and care policies, early childhood education and care (ECEC) with regard to family well-being, gender equality, fertility or father involvement in Southern European countries.     

Assessing the Impact of Office Automation on Employee Productivity and Health

The pressure to increase productivity is driving many industries to automate. By the year 2000 experts foresee that the VDT will be as common as the telephone is today on the desks of office workers. Just as the mechanization of farm and factory work changed our society and economy in the past, so will the automation of white-collar work influence and change the work process and society. This paper will explore the productivity, cultural, health and mental health issues of office automation. We also discuss the role EAP's can play to help business ameliorate or avoid potential problems associated with the darker side of office automation.