Dynamics of Parental Work Hours, Job Security, and Child Behavioural Problems in Australian Dual-Earner Families

The strong link between parental socioeconomic status (SES) and children’s success in school is well established. However, mechanisms that underpin this association remain a major issue in current research on social inequality. Using data from the Families in Germany Study and structural equation modelling, this study demonstrates that parenting styles and child behavioural problems explain, in part, the association between parental SES and child school grades for mathematics and German between the ages of 9 and 10. We found that parents with a low SES are more likely to be inconsistent in their parenting and to use psychological control with their children more often, these two factors being linked to child behavioural problems. Adverse parenting and behavioural problems are, in turn, associated with low school grades. Our findings also show that behavioural problems in children are associated with lower school grades independent of parenting style. These findings suggest that parenting styles and child behavioural problems and their interplay may be potential pathways that underpin the influence of parental SES on children’s school achievement.

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Too much or too little work? Couples’ actual and preferred employment patterns and work hours mismatches in Europe

Zeitschrift für Familienforschung ◽

10.3224/zff.v30i3.03 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 30 (3-2018) ◽

pp. 269-292 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Nadia Steiber ◽

Barbara Haas

Keyword(s):

Strong Association ◽

European Social Survey ◽

Work Hours ◽

School Age ◽

Social Survey ◽

Demographic Groups ◽

Highly Educated ◽

Dual Earner ◽

Cohabiting Couples ◽

Low Education

The most widely cited European data on work hours mismatches at the couple level date back to the 1990s. The general gist of analyses of these data was that ‘overworked’ dual-earner couples frequently preferred work hours reductions, especially those with childcare responsibilities. This study uses more recent data from the European Social Survey (2010-12) to update the available evidence on actual and preferred breadwinner models and on the occurrence and determinants of work hours mismatches among couples in Europe. The focus is on differences between demographic groups and countries in the degree to which cohabiting couples are either underemployed (working fewer hours than desired) or overemployed (working more hours than desired). Our analyses show that about one third of couples are underemployed, while only one in ten report being overemployed. We identify low education and the presence of children below school age as risk factors for underemployment, whereas highly educated women and fathers of teenagers tend to be overemployed. In a comparison of 16 European countries, we find couples in Greece, Ireland, Slovenia, and Spain to be most at risk of experiencing underemployment – in the countries that were most strongly affected by the recession. The effects of children on the experience of hours mismatches are found to vary across Europe – a particularly strong association of children below school age with parental underemployment is observed in Central and Eastern Europe, Finland, and Germany and a particularly weak one in Great Britain, Greece, Ireland, and Sweden.

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Fighting for time: Spillover and crossover effects of long work hours among dual‐earner couples

Stress and Health ◽

10.1002/smi.2882 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 35 (4) ◽

pp. 491-502 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Xiaohong Xu ◽

Yisheng Peng ◽

Peng Zhao ◽

Richard Hayes ◽

William P. Jimenez

Keyword(s):

Work Hours ◽

Crossover Effects ◽

Dual Earner ◽

Long Work Hours

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Family functioning, parental psychological distress, child behavioural problems, socio-economic disadvantage and fruit and vegetable consumption among 4-12 year-old Victorians, Australia

Health Promotion International ◽

10.1093/heapro/daq054 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 26 (3) ◽

pp. 263-275 ◽

Cited By ~ 30

Author(s):

A. M. N. Renzaho ◽

S. Kumanyika ◽

K. L. Tucker

Keyword(s):

Psychological Distress ◽

Family Functioning ◽

Vegetable Consumption ◽

Fruit And Vegetable Consumption ◽

Behavioural Problems ◽

Economic Disadvantage ◽

Fruit And Vegetable ◽

Child Behavioural Problems

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Women's Jobs and Family Adjustment

Journal of Family Issues ◽

10.1177/0192513x8100200202 ◽

1981 ◽

Vol 2 (2) ◽

pp. 126-147 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Chaya S. Piotrkowski ◽

Paul Crits-Christoph

Keyword(s):

Family Relations ◽

Job Security ◽

Occupational Prestige ◽

Paid Work ◽

Family Adjustment ◽

Work Lives ◽

Work Related ◽

Dual Earner ◽

Multiple Characteristics ◽

The Relationship

THIS study investigated the relationship between multiple characteristics of women's jobs and their family adjustment in a sample of 99 women in dual-earner families. Six work-related variables were considered simultaneously as predictors of family adjustment: intrinsic job gratification, satisfaction with job security, job-related mood, time spent at work, occupational prestige, and salary. The results were consistent with the hypothesis that women's paid work lives influence their family adjustment. Women's experiences of their work were significantly related to two of three measures of family adjustment. Salary was negatively associated with satisfaction with family relations for women in low-status occupations only. Time spent at work and occupational prestige showed no significant associations with reported adjustment. Of the three indicators of family adjustment, marital satisfaction appeared to be relatively immune from work influences. We hypothesized that the marital relationship may be less sensitive to women's paid work than are other aspects of their family relations.

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Working from Home and Changes in Work Characteristics during COVID-19

Socius Sociological Research for a Dynamic World ◽

10.1177/23780231211052784 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 7 ◽

pp. 237802312110527

Author(s):

Gayle Kaufman ◽

Hiromi Taniguchi

Keyword(s):

Job Satisfaction ◽

Job Security ◽

Work Hours ◽

Research Center ◽

Work Characteristics ◽

Working From Home ◽

Family Balance ◽

Employment Trends ◽

Work Family Balance ◽

Work Family

A relatively high proportion of U.S. workers started working from home during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. There has been extensive tracking of employment trends, but it is less clear what kind of impact working from home during the pandemic has had on job experiences. The authors use data from the October 2020 Pew Research Center American Trends Panel. On the basis of a sample of 4,508 respondents, the authors find that working from home improves job satisfaction, flexibility over when to put in one’s work hours, work-family balance, productivity, and work hours. Working from home reduces connectedness to coworkers, job security, and opportunities for advancement. The benefits for both workers and employers of working from home may encourage working from home even after the pandemic.

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ParentWorks: Evaluation of an Online, Father-Inclusive, Universal Parenting Intervention to Reduce Child Conduct Problems

Child Psychiatry & Human Development ◽

10.1007/s10578-019-00934-0 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 51 (4) ◽

pp. 503-513

Author(s):

Patrycja J. Piotrowska ◽

Lucy A. Tully ◽

Daniel A. J. Collins ◽

Vilas Sawrikar ◽

David Hawes ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Conduct Problems ◽

Mixed Model ◽

Mental Health Problems ◽

Child Outcomes ◽

Empirical Support ◽

Parenting Intervention ◽

Behavioural Problems ◽

Program Outcomes ◽

Child Conduct Problems ◽

Child Behavioural Problems

Abstract Evidence-based parenting interventions are effective in reducing conduct problems, yet these interventions have limited reach, and few involve the participation of fathers. This paper describes the outcomes of an open trial of ParentWorks, a universal, online, father-inclusive parenting intervention aiming to decrease childhood behavioural problems and promote positive parenting in mothers and fathers. A total of 388 families (456 individual parents; 36.6% fathers) were included in the study. Mixed model analyses showed significant decreases in child emotional/behavioural problems, dysfunctional parenting, interparental conflict, and parental mental health problems. The baseline severity of child behavioural problems significantly moderated the effects on child outcomes so that children with higher levels of problems benefitted more from the program. Participation of both caregivers in two-parent families, as well as parent sex, did not significantly affect the program outcomes. Results provide initial empirical support for the universal, self-directed, online parenting intervention, in addressing both child behavioural problems and parenting outcomes. Trial registration: ACTRN12616001223426, registered 05/09/2016.

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