Managing the negative effects of work-to-family and family-to-work conflicts on family satisfaction of working mothers’ in Nigeria: the role of extended family support

Abstract

ABSTRACT The number of dual-income families in Nigeria is on the increase due to economic and educational changes occurring in the country. Despite this shift, the exclusive traditional demands on women in the family are not relaxed. Hence, working mothers face more stress than their male counterparts. Since organizations are not up to speed in formulating family-friendly policies to help working mothers cope with additional responsibilities [Amah, O. E. (2010). Family–work conflict and the availability of work–family friendly policy relationships in married employees: The moderating role of work centrality and career consequence. Research and Practice in Human Resource Management, 18(2), 35–46], working mothers may have to resort to family resources in an attempt to cope with these responsibilities. Extended family support is considered a possible family resource which can be used by working mothers in the absence of organizational support. Data are collected from 300 working mothers across five organizations using cross-sectional research design. Results indicate that extended family support reduced family-to-work conflict and enhanced family satisfaction, while family-to-work conflict reduced family satisfaction. Work-to-family conflict played no significant role in the model tested. The implication is that resources obtained by expanding the definition of the family are useful to working mothers. Hence, it may be necessary for organizations to factor extended family members into their family-friendly policies to enable working mothers manage any unintended negative consequences of utilizing extended family support.