scholarly journals Work-Family Conflict in the European Union: The Impact of Organizational and Public Facilities

Author(s):  
Chantal Remery ◽  
Joop Schippers

Today, as an increasing share of women and men is involved in both paid tasks at work and unpaid care tasks for children and other relatives, more people are at risk of work-family conflict, which can be a major threat to well-being and mental, but also physical health. Both organizations and governments invest in arrangements that are meant to support individuals in finding a balance between work and family life. The twofold goal of our article was to establish the level of work-family conflict in the member states of the European Union by gender and to analyze to what extent different arrangements at the organizational level as well the public level help to reduce this. Using the European Working Conditions Survey supplemented with macro-data on work-family facilities and the economic and emancipation climate in a country, we performed multilevel analyses. Our findings show that the intensity of work-family conflict does not vary widely in EU28. In most countries, men experience less work-family conflict than women, although the difference is small. Caring for children and providing informal care increases perceived work-life conflict. The relatively small country differences in work-family conflict show that different combinations of national facilities and organizational arrangements together can have the same impact on individuals; apparently, there are several ways to realize the same goal of work-family conflict reduction.

2020 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-23
Author(s):  
Colin Lopez ◽  
Elizabeth A. Taylor ◽  
Gareth J. Jones ◽  
Matt R. Huml ◽  
Daniel Funk

Research on the experiences of employees has been plentiful over the last decade; however, work examining the experiences of collegiate recreation employees is limited. In order to enhance employee well-being, it is important that management understands the experiences of their employees and can invest in job supports that best suit the needs of their employees. Therefore, this research study examined the impact of work and family conflict, workaholism, work engagement, burnout, and coping on employees within the industry of collegiate recreation. In this study, 2,474 National Intramural and Recreational Sports Association (NIRSA) professional and student members were sent a survey in which 621 participated and 522 were analyzed. Results indicate employees with young children and those in early career positions may experience significant work–family conflict/family–work conflict and burnout.


2013 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tracy J. Opie ◽  
Carolina M. Henn

Orientation: The study investigates factors that impact work-family conflict and work engagement among working mothers.Research purpose: The job demand-resources model is utilised to investigate the moderating role of conscientiousness and neuroticism on the relationship between work-family conflict and work engagement.Motivation for the study: Working mothers are challenged to establish a balance between work and family life. The resulting work-family conflict can negatively affect well-being. It is thus necessary to explore personal factors that relate to work-family conflict, particularly in the South African context.Research design, approach and method: A quantitative, cross-sectional survey design was used. The sample (N = 267) was comprised of working mothers from several organisations. Data was gathered using the work-to-family conflict questionnaire, the Basic Traits Inventory and the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale.Main findings: The results indicated that work-family conflict negatively predicts work engagement. Conscientiousness positively predicts work engagement, and neuroticism negatively predicts work engagement. A significant interaction effect was found for conscientiousness but not for neuroticism. The findings showed that for participants with high levels of conscientiousness, work engagement decreases significantly more with an increase in work-family conflict than for participants with low levels of conscientiousness.Practical/Managerial implications: Organisations should consider those individuals who have high levels of conscientiousness and low levels of neuroticism in the selection and placement of employees. In addition, organisations have a responsibility to provide conscientious women, particularly mothers, with adequate support to ensure that work-family conflict does not adversely impact their levels of work engagement.


2018 ◽  
Vol 40 (5) ◽  
pp. 903-920 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Maria Ferri ◽  
Matteo Pedrini ◽  
Egidio Riva

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore whether and how the actual use of supports available from the state, organisations and families helps workers reduce perceived work–family conflict (WFC), explored from both works interfering with family (WIF) and family interfering with work (FIW) perspectives. Design/methodology/approach The study is based on a survey of 2,029 employees at six large Italian firms. To test hypotheses, a hierarchical regression analysis was performed. Findings WFC should be explored considering its bi-directionality, as supports have different impacts on WIF and FIW. Workplace instrumental support elicits mixed effects on WFC, whereas workplace emotional support and familiar support reduce both FIW and WIF. Research limitations/implications The study is limited to the Italian national context, and data were collected in a single moment of time, which did not allow for observing changes in employees’ lives. Practical implications Human resource managers, as well as policy makers, will find this study’s results useful in designing effective work–life balance policies and supports, in which attention is devoted mainly to promoting workplace emotional supports and facilitating familiar support. Social implications The study highlights that by reducing pressures from work and family responsibilities that generate WFC conditions, organisational and familiar supports elicit different effects, which should be considered carefully when defining policies and interventions. Originality/value This study is one of the few that compare the role of supports provided by actors in different sectors on FIW and WIF, thereby allowing for an understanding of whether the bi-directionality of the conflicts is a relevant perspective.


2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 621-641
Author(s):  
Luka Jurković

Juggling the responsibilities of work and family domains has become a part of everyday life for most working adults. Research has shown that work-family conflict can potentially have negative effects on general well-being, health, relationship quality and job satisfaction. However, the potential effects of work-family conflict on sexual well-being of working adults is presently unknown. The primary aim of this study is to analyze the association between two directions of work-family conflict (work-to-family conflict – WIF, and family-to-work conflict – FIW) and sexual well-being among working adults, while taking into account the mediating role of relationship satisfaction. Data was collected in an online survey on a sample of 584 Croatian men and women that are currently living with a partner. The data was analyzed within a structural equations modelling framework. The analyses show that WIF conflict was negatively associated with sexual well-being, but only among women. On the other hand, relationship satisfaction mediated the relationship between FIW conflict and sexual well-being for both men and women. This study contributes to sparse and inconsistent knowledge on the relationship between work- -family conflict and sexual well-being among working adults.


Author(s):  
Aiswarya Balachandar ◽  
Ramasundaram Gurusamy

The growth rate for women entering the workforce is expected to be greater than for men. Therefore it is possible that the financial well-being of the family may no longer fall to the male, it may be shared between the two partners or may be the sole responsibility of a single parent. These trends potentially increase the chance that work could interfere with family (WIF) or that family could interfere with work (FIW).The study is conducted to test the Impact of Organizational Commitment, Job Autonomy, Job Involvement and Climate as moderating variables on Work Family Conflict of Employed women in India. The sample size of 598 is identified and with the application of statistical tools the relationship among the said variables are estimated and its role on the Work family conflict is studied quantitatively.


2015 ◽  
Vol 34 (8) ◽  
pp. 726-741 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tri Wulida Afrianty ◽  
John Burgess ◽  
Theodora Issa

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the effectiveness of family-friendly programs at the workplace in the Indonesian higher education sector. The focus is the impact that these programs have on employees’ work family conflict. Design/methodology/approach – A survey of academic and non-academic staff from 30 higher education institutions across Indonesia participated in the research. A total of 159 completed questionnaires from 109 academic and 50 from non-academic staff are reported and statistically analysed using SPSS. Findings – Work and family experiences in Indonesia do not positively align with the findings reported in most academic literature pertaining to western societies where the use of family-friendly programs (i.e. flexible work options, specialized leave options and dependent care support) leads to a reduction in employees’ work family conflict. In fact, some of the programs were found to have the opposite effect in the Indonesian context. Research limitations/implications – The design of family-friendly support has to take into account the context in which the policies will operates; these policies are not transferable across countries in terms of their effectiveness. Originality/value – This is one of the first studies that has examined the operation and effectiveness of family-friendly support programs in an Indonesian context.


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