Family leave for employed women: Interaction effects of gender discrimination and household responsibilities in South Korea

Abstract

Family leave policies are among the approaches used by employers across the globe to ease work–family strains among employed women, and enhance employee engagement and productivity. Yet some research suggests a critical dilemma facing some women: taking advantage of family leave may improve their ability to maintain both job and family, while lessening their status as valued employees in the eyes of employers that discriminate. This study utilizes secondary data from a sample of 1630 employed women from the 2008 Korean Longitudinal Survey of Women and Families to examine the moderating roles of perceived gender discrimination on the relationships between family leave provisions and work–family conflict; and the moderating role of housework responsibilities on the relationships between family leave provisions and work–family conflict of women employees. The results suggest that the availability of leave policies is more strongly associated with decreased work–family conflict for women employees who report less perceived gender discrimination at the workplace, and who have greater housework responsibilities.