Work–Family Conflict Among Employees and the Self-Employed Across Europe

This article examines the level of work–family conflict of self-employed persons, a changing but neglected group in work–life research, compared to employees in Europe. Differences between the two groups are explained by looking at job demands and resources. The inclusion of work–family state support makes it possible to examine differences between countries. Multilevel analysis has been applied to data from the European Social Survey (ESS 2010). The results show that job demands and resources operate differently for employees and the self-employed. The relationship between employment type and WFC is mediated mainly by job demands such as working hours, working at short notice, job insecurity and supervisory work. The results also reveal variation across countries that cannot be explained by state support, signalling the need for a more complete understanding of WFC from a cross-national perspective.     

Reconciling Work, Family and Child Outcomes: What Implications for Family Support Policies?

This paper discusses the potential of family policies to reconcile the multiple objectives that they are expected to serve, over and above their role in offsetting the economic cost of children. We start by emphasizing the need to consider the multiple challenges that family policies in European Union??and/or OECD??countries have to address through a broadening of the standard economic approach to the cost of children. Policies indeed aim to reduce the ??direct?? monetary cost of raising children, but they also aim to minimise the indirect cost arising from the incidence of children on the parents?? work-life balance and on the aggregate level of employment. Moreover, motives for policy intervention such as concerns about child development, gender equity or aggregate fertility levels are not fully captured by cost measurements. We thus analyse how, and to what extent, family policies can successfully reconcile these multidimensional objectives. We offer a holistic approach, pointing out that a coherent family policy mix supporting working parents with preschool children is the only way to reconcile or limit the conflicts between work, family and child outcomes. Three main dichotomies are identified to explain cross-country differences in family policy packages: the emphasis on poverty alleviation; the supposed antagonism between fertility and female employment; and the potential conflict between this latter and child development. Ways to reconcile these objectives and to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of family policies are further discussed.     

Work–Family Conflict and Well-Being Across Europe: The Role of Gender Context

This study analysed whether gender context is important to differences in the relationship between work–family conflict (WFC) and well-being across Europe. We hypothesised that in countries that support equality in work life and where norms support women’s employment, the relationship between WFC and low well-being is weaker than in countries with less support for gender equality. Cohabiting men and women aged 18–65 years from 25 European countries were selected from the European Social Survey. A multilevel analysis was conducted to investigate the relationship between well-being and WFC, and two measurements were used to represent gender context: gender equality in work life and norms regarding women’s employment. Contrary to the hypothesis, the results showed that the negative relationship was stronger in countries with high levels of gender equality in work life and support for women’s employment than in countries with a relatively low level of gender equality in work life and support for traditional gender relations. The context in which gender is constructed may be important when studying the relationship between WFC and well-being. In addition, emphasis should be placed on policies that equalise both the labour market and the work performed at home.     

Social Policies and Families in Stress: Gender and Educational Differences in Work–Family Conflict from a European Perspective

In modern welfare states, family policies may resolve the tension between employment and care-focused demands. However these policies sometimes have adverse consequences for distinct social groups. This study examined gender and educational differences in working parents’ perceived work–family conflict and used a comparative approach to test whether family policies, in particular support for child care and leave from paid work, are capable of reducing work–family conflict as well as the gender and educational gaps in work–family conflict. We use data from the European Social Survey 2010 for 20 countries and 5296 respondents (parents), extended with information on national policies for maternity and parental leave and child care support from the OECD Family Database. Employing multilevel analysis, we find that mothers and the higher educated report most work–family conflict. Policies supporting child care reduce the level of experienced work–family conflict; family leave policy appears to have no alleviating impact on working parents’ work–family conflict. Our findings indicate that family policies appear to be unable to reduce the gender gap in conflict perception and even widen the educational gap in work–family conflict.     

Job Insecurity: Differential Effects of Subjective and Objective Measures on Life Satisfaction Trajectories of Workers Aged 27–30 in Germany

Job insecurity has become increasingly evident in European countries in recent years. In Germany, legislation has increased insecurity through erosion of the standard employment relationship. Fixed-term contracts are central to definitions of insecurity based on atypical or precarious work but there is still limited understanding of what creates insecurity and how it affects workers. Drawing on Bourdieu’s thesis that “insecurity is everywhere”, the relationships between subjective and objective measures of insecurity are examined for their impact on the 5-year trajectories of life satisfaction of men and women in the age group 27–30. Latent growth curve analysis of data from the German Socio-Economic Panel for 2010–2014 highlights the adverse and lasting effects of subjective concerns about job insecurity on life satisfaction trajectories. This association cuts across educational groups, with far reaching implications as subjective concerns about job security permeate young worker’s lives well beyond the objective condition of being employed on a fixed-term contract.     

Trends in Work–Family Context Among U.S. Women by Education Level, 1976 to 2011

This study compares trends in work–family context by education level from 1976 to 2011 among U.S. women. The major aim is to assess whether differences in work–family context by education level widened, narrowed, or persisted. We used data from the 1976–2011 March Current Population Surveys on women aged 25–64 (n = 1,597,914). We compare trends in four work–family forms by education level within three race/ethnic groups. The work–family forms reflect combinations of marital and employment status among women with children at home. Trends in the four work–family forms exhibited substantial heterogeneity by education and race/ethnicity. Educational differences in the work–family forms widened mainly among white women. Compared with more-educated peers, white women without a high school credential became increasingly less likely to be married, to be employed, to have children at home, and to combine these roles. In contrast, educational differences in the work–family forms generally narrowed among black women and were directionally mixed among Hispanic women. Only one form—unmarried and employed with children at home—became more strongly linked to a woman’s education level within all three race/ethnic groups. This form carries an elevated risk of work–family conflict and its prevalence increased moderately during the 35-year period. Taken together, the trends underscore recent calls to elevate work–family policy on the national agenda.     

Family Planning and Reproductive Health in China

Overthepastsixyearssinceitsfounding,thePartnersinitiativehasmadegreatprogressincarryingouttheProgramofActionoftheInternationalConferenceonPopulationandDevelopment(ICPD)inanall-roundway,combiningfamilyplanningwithreproductivehealthservices.Byincorporatingthepreventionofsexuallytransmitteddiseases(STDs)andAIDSintoitsscopeofservices,providingfamilyplanningandreproductivehealthservicestailoredtotheneedsofmen,womenandadolescentsandbringingdownthematernalmorbidityandmortalityrates,thePartners…     

Temporary Work and Insecurity in Britain: A Problem Solved?

Temporary workers in Britain experience lower job quality. However, the proportion of employees on temporary contracts has fallen since a decade ago to just 5.5% in 2005. There have also been qualitative improvements. Many temporary workers now fall under the protection of the Fixed Term Employees’ (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2002, and the relative pay of fixed-term contract workers has since improved. In contrast, the subsequent fortunes of seasonal and casual workers with short contracts have been mixed. Furthermore, the Act excludes agency workers, and the paper calls for additional legislative action to ensure fair treatment for this group.

Supervisor–Subordinate <Emphasis Type="Italic">Guanxi</Emphasis> and Job Satisfaction Among Migrant Workers in China

In urban China, improving rural–urban migrant workers’ subjective wellbeing has become an important goal for workplaces and local governments. Drawing from the social capital theory and using original survey data, we examine the relationship between migrant workers’ guanxi (‘personal relations’ in the Chinese context) with their supervisors and their job satisfaction. Our results show that supervisor–subordinate guanxi is positively related to migrant workers’ job satisfaction. This relationship is mediated by network resources and personal power, which serve as their social resources in workplaces. Our study contributes to the positive psychology literature by understanding the role of guanxi in shaping Chinese migrant workers’ job satisfaction. Implications and future research directions are discussed.     

Family Size,Cognitive Outcomes,and Familial Interaction in Stable,Two-Parent Families: United States, 1997–2002

Measures of children’s time use, particularly with parents and siblings, are used to evaluate three hypotheses in relation to the vocabulary and mathematical skills development: (1) the resource dilution hypothesis, which argues that parental and household resources are diluted in larger families; (2) the confluence hypothesis, which suggests that the intellectual milieu of families is lowered with additional children; and (3) the admixture (“no effect”) hypothesis, which suggests that the negative relationship between family size and achievement is an artifact of cross-sectional research resulting from unobserved heterogeneity. Each hypothesis is tested using within-child estimates of change in cognitive scores over time with the addition of new children to families.     

Technicians and Family Planning Workers Are Most Favoured by Farmers

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Armed Conflict and Fertility in Colombia, 2000–2010

Population Research and Policy Review - This paper looks at the association between the Colombian Armed Internal Conflict (AIC) and fertility for women in the first decade of the 21st century when...     

Improve People＇s Health and Promote Long-term Balanced Development of Population： National Meeting on Health and Family Planning Work 2014 was Held

正On February 10,National Meeting on Health and Family Planning Work was held in Beijing.The meeting had an in-depth study of the spirits of the Eighteenth CPC National Congress and the Third Plenary Session of the Eighteenth Central Committee of the     

Going Nuclear? Family Structure and Young Women’s Health in India, 1992–2006

Demography - Scholars traditionally argued that industrialization, urbanization, and educational expansion lead to a decline in extended families and complementary rise in nuclear families. Some...     

Reflections on Comprehensive Reform in Population and Family Planning Work

As half of the pilot project on comprehensive reform of the population and family planning program has been completed, I think it is time to sum up the experience gathered and lessons learned in the past and provide a basis for improvement in the future.Based on repeated field surveys,I made the following conclusions:     

Work-to-Family Enrichment and Employees’ Well-Being: High Performance Work System and Job Characteristics

Research has demonstrated the importance of job characteristics to explain work-to-family enrichment (WFE) and the value of this enrichment to explain employees’ wellbeing. However, there is no comprehensive framework to explain the relationship between these variables. This study uses the Job Demands-Control-Support model as a guiding framework, and examines the relationship between these job characteristics and WFE and, more interestingly, the WFE as a mechanism for explaining the relationship between job characteristics and employees’ well-being. Furthermore, we analyzed the relationship of employees’ perceptions of High Performance Work System (HPWS) with job characteristics. With a sample of 1,390 employees from a Portuguese bank, job demands were found to be negatively related to WFE while autonomy and supervisor support displayed a positive relation. We also observed that WFE is an important mechanism to explain the relationship between these job characteristics and employees’ well being. As expected, HPWS was a relevant organizational characteristic to explain job characteristics, however, we observed that it was also directly related to WFE.     

Suzhou,Jiangsu:Reform of Population and Family Planning Work Based on Local Conditions

Suzhou is located in the eastern part of China,and has a relatively developed economy. Based on local conditions,the local population and family planning department explored a new focus in the reform of family planning work,based on the goal of providing legalized,personalized, socialized and market-oriented family planning services.The reform employed the following practices.     

National Health and Family Planning Commission Pushes “Nine Prohibitions” in Medical and Health Care Industry

正According to NHFPC website,to strengthen moral construction of medical and health care industry,promote practices in accordance with the law and advocate honest medical practices,National Health and Family Planning Commission(NHFPC)and State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine jointly released in December 26,2013Nine Prohibitions to     

Quality of Parent–Child Relationship, Family Conflict, Peer Pressure, and Drinking Behaviors of Adolescents in an Asian Context: The Case of Singapore

Analyzing data from a probability sample representative of secondary school students in Singapore (N = 1,599), this study examined the independent impact between the quality of mother–child relationship, the quality of father–child relationship and family conflict on the frequency of drinking and drunkenness, and whether each dyadic parent–child relationship quality and family conflict moderate the effect of direct peer pressure on the frequency of drinking and drunkenness among Singaporean adolescents. A series of ordered logit analyses revealed the following results: The quality of father–child relationship had no main effect on either drinking behavior, yet had a moderating effect on the association between direct peer pressure and drunkenness, with the stronger effect of direct peer pressure for adolescents on good terms with their fathers than for those on poor terms with their fathers. Family conflict had a main effect on drunkenness and a moderating effect on the association between direct peer pressure and the frequency of drinking, with the stronger effect of direct peer pressure on the frequency of drinking for adolescents experiencing high family conflict than those experiencing low family conflict. The importance of the father–child relationship quality and family conflict for adolescents’ well-being in Singapore as an Asian context was discussed.