The Canadian family-friendly community resources study for better balance, health and well-being

Abstract

ABSTRACT The Canadian Family-Friendly Community Resources for Better Balance, Health, and Well-Being study (FFCR) is the first study in North America to comprehensively examine the impact of regional community context on work-family conflict, health, and wellbeing. The study was designed to collate data from disparate sources on a variety of community characteristics across Canada over time, including education services, food stores, recreational facilities, religious organizations, police, and fire protection services, for example. These data were then linked to individual-level data from the Canadian Work, Stress and Health study – a longitudinal national sample of Canadians across a myriad of work and family circumstances. These data are more comprehensive than any other dataset attempting to link work, family, and community data. We situate our contribution of the FFCR in literature on ‘work-family conflict’, which is defined as the incompatibility between role obligations. Context-level data were compiled at years corresponding to the individual-level data (2011–2019). Using multilevel analyses based on both cross-sectional and longitudinal data, we find that that resources, like the prevalence of food stores, education resources, recreation facilities, and public safety outlets are negatively associated with residents’ work-family conflict levels. However, these findings are more pronounced across a combination of FFCR overtime.