Family-friendly Work Policies Research Articles

Home-schooling and caring for children during the COVID-19 lockdown in the UK: emotional states, systems of support and coping strategies in working mothers.

We examined the experience of the intensification of home-schooling and/or childcare in working mothers in the United Kingdom during the first national COVID-19 lockdown. Our focus was on understanding how mothers dealt with this challenging period both emotionally and practically. Eligible mothers (n = 47; Mage = 39.6) participated in an anonymous online survey of openended questions. Thematic analysis of responses showed that mothers found home-schooling and/or childcare to be challenging. This was particularly notable in situations where support from partners, schools, and workplaces was limited. For single working mothers, the absence of support resources was especially impactful. Mothers often felt overly stressed trying to balance work and family responsibilities, guilty for not meeting their child's needs, and were worried over their child's well-being and academic progress and over increasing work demands. Common strategies mothers used to cope with the challenges of home-schooling and/or childcare included adopting a positive outlook, implementing flexible family structures, increasing family connectedness, and negotiating alternative partnership models. The intensification of home-schooling and/or childcare during the lockdown in the United Kingdom negatively affected maternal well-being, particularly due to limited support. These findings underscore the importance of prioritizing maternal wellbeing in post-pandemic recovery efforts. Additionally, they highlight the social dimension of maternal wellbeing and suggest a comprehensive approach to support it that includes both timely access to intervention for mental health but also implementing family-friendly work policies and offering support with childcare and children's learning as essential measures.

Education, Employment, Family Formation Behaviors, and the Gender Health Gap: A Cross-National Comparison of Korea, the United States, and Finland

Abstract Despite improvements in the social status of women in recent decades, women still tend to report lower levels of health compared to men. This study examines the role of individual factors (i.e., education, employment, and family formation behaviors) and aggregate factors (i.e., gender context, work cultures, and work-family policy) in the association between gender and health using the cases of Korea, the United States, and Finland. The study’s results indicate that women experience lower levels of health than men in Korea and the United States, especially among younger adults, even after accounting for education, employment, and family status. In Finland, however, women do not have lower levels of health than men. Moreover, among older individuals, Finnish women exhibit a health advantage relative to Finnish men. The findings indicate that traditional gender role expectations, long hours at work, and inadequate work-family balance largely account for gender disparities in health in Korea and the United States. Gender egalitarianism at work, reduced work hours, and more family friendly work policies should help reduce such disparities.

Preventing Childhood Adversity Through Economic Support and Social Norm Strategies

Through the Essentials for Childhood program, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention funds 7 state health departments (states) to address the urgent public health problem of adverse childhood experiences and child abuse and neglect, in particular. Through interviews and document reviews, the paper highlights the early implementation of 2 primary prevention strategies from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's child abuse and neglect technical package with the greatest potential for broad public health impact to prevent adverse childhood experiences-strengthening economic supports and changing social norms. States are focused on advancing family-friendly work policies such as paid family and medical leave, livable wage policies, flexible and consistent work schedules, as well as programs and policies that strengthen household financial security such as increasing access to Earned Income Tax Credit. In addition, states are launching campaigns that focus on reframing the way people think about child abuse and neglect and who is responsible for preventing it. State-level activities such as establishing a diverse coalition of partners, program champions, and state action planning have helped to leverage and align resources needed to implement, evaluate, and sustain programs. States are working to increase awareness and commitment to multisector efforts that reduce adverse childhood experiences and promote safe, stable, nurturing relationships and environments for children. Early learning from this funding opportunity indicates that using a public health approach, states are well positioned to implement comprehensive, primary prevention strategies and approaches to ensure population-level impact for preventing child abuse and neglect and other adverse childhood experience.

“It is ok to be interrupted; it is my job” – perceptions on technology-mediated work-life boundary experiences; a sociomaterial analysis

PurposeThis study aims to explore how and why employees perceive technology-mediated interruptions differently and the role of sociocultural factors in this process using sociomaterial analysis.Design/methodology/approachData were gathered from 34 Sri Lankan knowledge workers using a series of workshop-based activities. The concept of sociomateriality is employed to understand how sociocultural elements are entangled with technology in work-life boundary experiences.FindingsThe findings of the thematic analyses suggest how culture is intertwined in the way employees perceive technology-mediated interruptions and how they manage information communication technologies (ICTs) to balance their work and nonwork demands. Participants have been unable to avoid technology-mediated boundary interruptions from work, as organisations have created norms to keep employees connected to organisations using information communication technologies. Traditional gender roles are specifically found to be entangled in employees' boundary management practices, disadvantaging women more.Practical implicationsThe findings highlight how national culture and gender norms create challenging work-life experiences for female employees than males. This could create a disadvantageous position for female employees in their career progression. It is crucial to consider factors such as boundary preferences and family concerns when deciding on family-friendly work policies. Also, organisations have to consider the development of explicit guidelines on after-hours communication expectations.Originality/valueUsing the lens of sociomateriality, researchers can understand the contextual entanglement of ICTs with national culture and gender norms in creating different work-life boundary experiences. It seems ICTs are creating a disadvantage for female employees when managing work–nonwork boundaries, especially in power distant and collectivist cultures where traditional gender norms are highly valued and largely upheld. This study also contributes to the current discourse on work-life boundaries by providing insights from non-western perspectives.

Trends in U.S. Emergency Department Visits Related to Suspected or Confirmed Child Abuse and Neglect Among Children and Adolescents Aged

Heightened stress, school closures, loss of income, and social isolation resulting from the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic have increased the risk for child abuse and neglect (1). Using National Syndromic Surveillance Program (NSSP) data from January 6, 2019-September 6, 2020, CDC tabulated weekly numbers of emergency department (ED) visits related to child abuse and neglect and calculated the proportions of such visits per 100,000 ED visits, as well as the percentage of suspected or confirmed ED visits related to child abuse and neglect ending in hospitalization, overall and stratified by age group (0-4, 5-11, and 12-17 years). The total number of ED visits related to child abuse and neglect began decreasing below the corresponding 2019 period during week 11 (March 15-March 22, 2020) for all age groups examined, coinciding with the declaration of a national emergency on March 13 (2); simultaneously, the proportion of these visits per 100,000 ED visits began increasing above the 2019 baseline for all age groups. Despite decreases in the weekly number of ED visits related to child abuse and neglect, the weekly number of these visits resulting in hospitalization remained stable in 2020; however, the yearly percentage of ED visits related to child abuse and neglect resulting in hospitalization increased significantly among all age groups. Although the increased proportion of ED visits related to child abuse and neglect might be associated with a decrease in the overall number of ED visits, these findings also suggest that health care-seeking patterns have shifted during the pandemic. Hospitalizations for child abuse and neglect did not decrease in 2020, suggesting that injury severity did not decrease during the pandemic, despite decreased ED visits. Child abuse is preventable; implementation of strategies including strengthening household economic supports and creating family-friendly work policies can reduce stress during difficult times and increase children's opportunities to thrive in safe, stable, and nurturing relationships and environments (3).

Do American mothers use self-employment as a flexible work alternative?

This paper provides evidence that self-employment is a quantitatively important work alternative that American mothers use to gain workplace flexibility. First, I use panel data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) to show that self-employment rates are higher when women have young children at home in a pattern that has remained largely unchanged over the previous three decades. I estimate that women whose youngest child is two years old have 14% higher predicted self-employment rates due to the birth of that child. Second, I show that self-employed women appear to have more flexibility in their work location, hours, and schedule than wage and salary employed women using data from the American Time Use Survey. I find that mothers with young children use self-employment to spend an additional two hours per day with their children. My results suggest that mothers use self-employment to gain more control over their work environment allowing them to better manage their household responsibilities while working. These findings contribute to the ongoing discussion on the importance of family friendly work policies and the rise of alternative work arrangements.

Looking for a Family Man? Norms for Men Are Toppling in Heterosexual Relationships

Gender norms indicate that men should be agentic and work-oriented rather than communal and family-oriented. Yet, this traditional expectation conflicts with findings that communion is highly valued in romantic partners. Moreover, because more women in industrialized countries are pursuing careers, they may increasingly seek family-oriented partners to share the second shift of family tasks. Investigating the attractiveness of communal, family-oriented men, we show that 87 female college students in Belgium evaluate more family-oriented men as generally more attractive (Study 1) and that especially college women in Belgium with high work ambitions seek communion and family orientation in ideal partners (Study 2, n = 224). Lastly, women in 198 Belgian heterosexual dual-earning couples are more satisfied with their lives and experience less work and family conflict the more their partner indicates that he is oriented toward his close family (Study 3). Together, our findings outline the contextualized nature of norms and add to knowledge on norm change, showing how gender equality may be fed through romantic relationships. Moreover, our findings suggest the importance of exploring men’s family orientations in couples therapy, and they call for counselors, as well as policymakers and Human Resources practitioners, to guide men in times of norm change to enable men to be family-oriented and to offer family-friendly work policies.

Role of personality and affect on the social support and work family conflict relationship

The relationship between support and work family conflict has been studied extensively, but previous studies have not examined if personality moderates this relationship. In this research, we examine the moderating influence of personality on the relationship between contextual support and work-family conflict across two studies. In Study 1, we examine if core self-evaluations (CSE) moderate the relationship between four different types of workplace support, 1. family friendly work policies (FFOP), 2. family supportive organizational climate (FSOC), 3. perceived organizational support (POS), and 4. perceived supervisor support (PSS), and work interfering with family conflict (WIF) using a sample of working adults (N=435). In Study 2, we examine if Big Five personality traits and negative affect moderate the relationship between co-worker support and (WIF) using a large national sample (N=1130) of working respondents from the “midlife in the US” (MIDUS) study of health and well-being. Taken together, the current research examines the moderating effect of several key personality variables on the relationship between important forms of social support and work family conflict. Results based on these two samples indicate CSE moderates the relationship between POS and WIF, and PSS and WIF, but does not moderate the relationship between FFOP and WIF, or FSOC and WIF. Further, conscientiousness and agreeableness moderate the relationship between co-worker support and WIF. Co-worker support and WIF is stronger for individuals with higher levels of negative affect. We discuss the implications for research and practice relating to work family conflict.

What Makes a “Good Job”? Gender Role Attitudes and Job Preferences in Sweden

Previous studies have documented an increasing number of women entering into the paid work force, yet little research has examined the gendered meanings of work for men and women. Using a sample of 1986 Swedes from the 2009 Young Adult Panel Study, this paper investigates the effects of gender role attitudes on job attribute preferences in order to understand what makes a “good job” for Swedish men and women. Results show that men and women with more egalitarian attitudes have different perspectives than their more traditional counterparts. More egalitarian women place greater importance on the possibility of advancement and being proud of their work and less importance on family-friendly work policies. On the other hand, more egalitarian men place greater importance on family-friendly work policies and less importance on having a high salary and workplace security. The implications of these findings are discussed, and we suggest that egalitarian women’s emphasis on advancement and pride at work combined with egalitarian men’s de-emphasis on pay and emphasis on family-friendly job attributes point to potential changes in gender norms and roles.

The impact of child-rearing by maids on mother–child attachment

IntroductionThe objective of this study was to assess the perceived negative impact on mother–child attachment of raising children with the help of foreign maids, as practised in Arab Gulf countries. Materials and methods A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted. A convenience sample was recruited from June 2010 to December 2010 from three tertiary hospitals and shopping centres. Five hundred questionnaires were distributed. Of these, 336 with complete data sets were analysed. The study was approved by the Institutional Review Board of the King Fahad Medical City. The analysed data were tabulated in the form of descriptive statistics. Results. Eighty per cent of households had a maid, but only 50% of mothers had careers. The proportion of babies who were not bottle-fed was 31.6%, with 15.7% exclusively breast-fed. Of the 52.8% of babies who were both breast- and bottle-fed, most were usually bottle-fed. The proportions of participants who reported high and low levels of mother–child attachment were 61.9% and 15.6% respectively. Although 22.6% declined to comment on this, questioning revealed a low level of mother–child attachment in this group, and therefore low mother–child attachment totalled 38.2% (15.6% + 22.6%). In 45.2% of cases, mothers stated that bonding was not affected by the maid, whereas 30% stated that bonding was affected. Although 24.2% declined to express their view, further questioning confirmed their discomfort in answering this question; this suggested that they did perceive a lack of bonding, and therefore that this affected a total of 54.2% (24.2% + 30%) of households. Discussion Although only half of the mothers had careers, a larger proportion of households had maids, indicating an overdependence of mothers on domestic aides. The very low proportion of babies who were exclusively breast-fed would suggest that mother–child bonding was affected in a large proportion of households that bottle-fed. However, about two-thirds of the mothers claimed high levels of mother–child bonding, whereas only one-sixth felt that bonding was adversely affected. The remainder were reluctant to discuss this point, suggesting that the problem of low levels of mother–child bonding exists. The study found that almost half of mother–child bonding relationships could be impaired by the presence of maids. Conclusion. This study indicates that mother–child attachment is adversely affected by the presence of maids, which could prove detrimental to the psychosocial development of affected children and the population of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries in the long term. Family-friendly work policies for mothers and education on responsible parenting are recommended.

The Case for Family-Friendly Work Practices in the Australian Construction Industry

Although significant changes at the social, demographic, technological and workforce levelshave transformed the relationship between family and work, these changes have notbeen reflected in the employment practices of many construction companies. Many of thejob and organisational factors found to be negatively associated with family functioning arepertinent to construction professionals. Staff are expected to work long hours in demandingroles and this, combined with job insecurity and frequent relocation, means that familylife and individual well-being can be compromised. A growing body of research has foundthat the implementation of family-friendly work policies and practices can lead to greaterproductivity, lower attrition rates and higher morale in the workplace. In addition providinga work environment that is supportive of workers' family roles can help to alleviate workrelatedmental health problems.This paper outlines the changing demographic trends and societal attitudes that are makingindividuals and organisations question current work cultures and structures. Optionsfor making the construction industry a more family-friendly work environment are considered.All professionals, regardless of their age, gender and family responsibilities, canbenefit from these initiatives. The paper concludes by discussing the implications of theseissues for construction companies and future research work.

직장 유형에 따른 취업주부의 일-가족 균형 지각: 가족친화제도를 중심으로

This study attempts to examine the effect of family friendly work policies on the work-family balance of employed married women with young children. While previous research has investigated the effects of family friendly work policies, the effects has often been confounded with the effects of other covariates such as worker`s and workplace`s characteristics. In this study, we try to distinguish the effects of the family friendly work policies from those of other covariates. We draw a sample of 131 employed married women with children under age 12 from the National Korean Family Survey. We compare the level of work-famiy balance of the women by the type of workplace: public sector, large enterprise, medium enterprise, and small enterprise. The results of this study show that some of the differences in the work-family balance of the women working in the different type of workplace can be attributed to socio-demographic background of the women and the work characteristics of workplace. There is, however, an effect of family friendly policies on the work-family balance between those who work in public sector and in medium enterprise after controlling the effects of the covariates.

PERSISTENCE OF WOMEN IN ENGINEERING CAREERS: A QUALITATIVE STUDY OF CURRENT AND FORMER FEMALE ENGINEERS

In the United States, engineering is a field that has remained stubbornly sex segregated. While nearly 25% of engineering college graduates are women, women make up only 11% of the engineering workforce, a proportion that has remained flat for about 15 years. This study investigated women's variability in persistence in engineering by interviewing 11 former and 14 current engineers. Five domains captured these women's experiences in engineering, including (i) identifying and coping with workplace inequities, (ii) support and/or barriers in work and family, (iii) self-evaluation and identity in a nontraditional work environment, (iv) reasons for and reactions to leaving the field (former engineers only), and (v) compromising future advancement (current engineers only). Women who had left engineering cited as reasons the need to care for their children, movement into roles with more opportunities such as management, and a dislike of engineering tasks or environment. Women who remained in engineering also mentioned family responsibilities as challenges. Many took advantage of family-friendly work policies, and some compromised career advancement due to family responsibilities. Both women who left engineering and women who persisted in engineering described experiences of gender discrimination, although they typically did not label these experiences as gender inequities.

Do working mothers raise couch potato kids? Maternal employment and children's lifestyle behaviours and weight in early childhood

Alarm about the increasing prevalence of childhood obesity has focussed attention on individual lifestyle behaviours that may contribute to unhealthy weight. More distal predictors such as maternal employment may also be implicated since working mothers have less time to supervise children's daily activities. The research reported here used two waves of data from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children to investigate whether mothers' hours in paid work shape young children's television viewing, snacking and physical activity, and through those lifestyle behaviours, children's weight at ages 4-5 years and 6-7 years. At both ages, children's lifestyle behaviours were interrelated and associated with weight status. Cross-sectional analysis confirmed small, direct associations between longer hours of maternal employment and child weight at age 4-5 years, but not with child's weight measured two years later. In both the cross-sectional and prospective analyses, the children of mothers who worked part-time watched less television and were less likely to be overweight than children of mothers who were not employed or who worked full-time. While associations were small, they remained significant after adjustment for maternal weight, household income and other factors. The combination of direct and indirect relationships between mothers' work hours and the weight status of their young children provides additional support to calls for family-friendly work policies as an important means for promoting healthy family lifestyles and early childhood wellbeing.

Talent management, work‐life balance and retention strategies

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the literature relating to retention of good employees and the role that work‐life balance (WLB) issues have in an employee's decision to stay or leave an organisation. The paper begins with a brief overview of the seminal material in the more generic management literature and then tailors the discussion to the hospitality and tourism industry using literature from the hospitality and tourism journals.Design/methodology/approachThe paper provides an overview of the key employee turnover literature within the hospitality and tourism industry for those academics researching in this area, with specific attention given to the role of WLB issues in the turnover decision‐making process. The paper also provides a theoretical and practical framework for industry to develop strategies for reduced employee turnover, with a focus on the role that balancing work and family plays in these strategies.FindingsThe key findings emerging from this literature review focus on job attitudes such as job satisfaction and organisational commitment, personal attributes such as positive and negative affectivity, the role of WLB in employee turnover and, finally, the strategies provided to alleviate high turnover rates.Originality/valueRecommendations to management are presented for both government and organisational consideration. These recommendations include the need for legislation on maximum, as well as minimum working hours, good role models at the workplace, flexible working hours and arrangements, sound recruitment and training opportunities and company family friendly work policies.

How time-flexible work policies can reduce stress, improve health, and save money

Data from the US National Study of the Changing Workforce (a nationally representative sample of working adults) were used to test the hypothesis that employees with time-flexible work policies reported less stress, higher levels of commitment to their employer, and reduced costs to the organization because of fewer absences, fewer days late, and fewer missed deadlines. The model provides persuasive findings for the hypothesized relationship and offers important suggestions to employers who can translate reduced illness into savings and increased commitment into better employees. Contrary to expectations, there were no gender differences in how employees responded to flexible work policies, showing that gender-neutral work policies make financial sense. By showing that time-flexible work policies provide employer benefits, we can hasten the change to a new worker model—one that is family and employer friendly. The business case for family-friendly work policies may prove to be the best tool we have in changing how we live and work. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Inequality between genders in the executive suite in corporate America: moral and ethical issues

We examined the role gender plays in managerial stereotypes and changes that have occurred in the US for executive women in the workforce. We also investigated factors and personality traits that affect advancement into upper management for all executives and those that affect women in particular. Despite increased organisational sensitivity, public policies, and equal rights legislation, women continue to be underrepresented in corporate America. Pay increases and promotions for females have not kept pace with those for men. Study results also indicate that managerial womenwho juggle jobs and family life benefit from these multiple roles, but women who put off marriage and family to build top‐level careers suffer in later years from greatly reduced chances of finding spouses and having children. Further adaptation of organisational culture in the new economy, weakening of the glass ceiling phenomenon, and family friendly work policies may alleviate some of the difficulties experienced by women who want it all.

Work and Family in the Virtual Office: Perceived Influences of Mobile Telework

WORK AND FAMILY IN THE VIRTUAL OFFICE PERCEIVED INFLUENCES OF MOBILE TELEWORK* E. Jeffrey Hill, Alan J. Hawkins, and Brent C. Miller** Telework is a rapidly emerging reality in the workplace. This study explores the influence of mobile telework on family life as reported by teleworkers in a large national corporation (n = 157). In addition, this group is compared to an equivalent group of office workers (n = S9) from the same corporation. Mobile teleworkers reported much greater work flexibility. Some reported that their families thrived because of this flexibility. Others reported that their families struggled because workplace and schedule flexibility blurred the boundaries between work and family life. Suggestions are given for how family life educators might help mobile teleworkers ease the transition from traditional work to the virtual office. Watching masses of peasants scything a field three hundred years ago, only a madman would have dreamed that the time would have come when the fields would be depopulated, when people would crowd into urban factories to earn their daily bread. And only a madman would have been right. Today it takes an act of courage to suggest that our biggest factories and office towers may, within our lifetimes, stand half empty, reduced to use as ghostly warehouses or converted into living space. Yet this is precisely what the new mode of production makes possible: a return to industry on a new, higher, basis, and with it a new emphasis on the home as the center of society. ([my emphasis) Toffler, 1980, p. 210) Since Toffler's (1980) Third Wave, many futurists have written about the promise of the electronic cottage to benefit family life. Advocates for family-friendly work policies have long called upon companies and governments to establish work-at-home programs as part of a flexible work agenda (Galinsky, 1992). The recent advent of truly portable work tools and significant changes in work organizations have created the opportunity for millions of information workers to move into this frontier of flexible work. Still, there has been little research on how flexibility in the timing and location of work affects family life. The impetus for this exploratory study is the need to look at the perceived influence of the virtual office on the personal/family life of the mobile teleworker. The Beginnings of Telework The general term for doing work away from the office via telecommunications equipment is telework (see Bureau of National Affairs, 1992; Callentine, 1995; Nilles, 1994; Olson, 1988; Pitt-Catsouphes & Marchetta, 1991; U.S. Department of Transportation, 1993). Although telework was foreseen as early as 1950, it did not become practical until the advent of personal computers and portable modems in the early 1970s (U.S. Department of Transportation, 1993). In 1973, the term telecommuting was introduced to emphasize that telework could eventually replace the daily commute to the work site (Nilles, 1994). Companies first seriously considered the possibility of telework as a means to make them less vulnerable to fuel shortages during the OPEC oil crisis in the early and mid 1970s (Tolbert & Simons, 1994). During the last decade, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of American teleworkers. Ten years ago there were fewer than one million employees who teleworked away from the office at least 8 hours per week during normal business hours (Callentine, 1995). The number of teleworkers has grown more than eightfold, to about 8.4 million today (Henkoff, 1995). The number is projected to grow about 10% to 20% per year through the end of the 1990s to about 10-20 million (Greengard, 1994). Most early teleworkers were telecommuters who voluntarily worked from home one or more days per week. In recent years, a companymandated virtual office form of telework, sometimes called mobile telework, has been a significant factor in the increase of teleworkers (Greengard, 1994). …