A Qualitative Study on Men’s Experiences of Work-Life Balance: Focusing on Men in Dual-Income Families with Children under the Age of Six

Abstract

This study aimed to examine Korean men’s experiences of work-family balance in dual income families with children under six years of age. We focused on identifying the difficulty of balancing work and family considering their individual, social, and cultural conditions. The method was a qualitative study involving two in-depth interviews with each of 12 men, and analyzing the data through the grounded theory approach. From the results, a model of men’s work-family experience was constructed. It demonstrates the central phenomena (difficulties of balancing), the causal conditions (lacking time for family, seeking support from the employer, and learning husband’s roles insufficiently), the contextual conditions (remaining paternalism and changing husband’s roles), the intervening conditions (workplace, childcare support, and wife characteristics), and strategies (help from relatives, utilizing daycare centers, controlling birth, managing work conditions, and using family polices). We clarify the overall picture of working and family life experiences, and also show how men deal with their problems in their circumstances by balancing working and family life. In conclusion, males have difficulty participating in family life autonomously because of having less decision-making power than the wife. Moreover, the great responsibilities of the breadwinner disturb the work-family balance. Men devote themselves to working to hold a job instead of spending time with their family. However, they ultimately value work-family balance with respect to ‘keeping a peaceful family life’. Keywords: work life balance, dual-income family, grounded theory, qualitative research