Slide 1
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Sociology 640
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Class 18:
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Work and Family
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Slide 2
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Hours Worked – Int’l Comparison
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2200
Mean Annual Work Hours
2000
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1800
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1600
1400
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1200
1000
Sweden
Germany
France
UK
Canada
Australia
Japan
US
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Slide 3
Life Course Framework –
a digression
A very general framework for analyzing
individual and family behavior.
• Timing and sequence of family transitions
• Influence of social, economic, etc. forces
• Influence of overlap in different spheres of
life (e.g., work, school, family, etc.)
• Influence of previous events – cumulative
• Interdependence of family members –
“mutually contingent careers”
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Slide 4
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Work-Family Interface
• Competing demands of work and family
• Allocation of time is of interest
• Interested in how:
– work characteristics influence family outcomes
– family characteristics influence work outcomes
– family and work characteristics influence other
outcomes (e.g., psychological well-being)
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Slide 5
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Balancing Strategies
• When children are young
– Not work for a period (42%)
– Part-time work (24%)
– Work full-time, year-round (34%)
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•
•
•
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Placing limits
Job vs. career
Trading off
Support from spouses – renegotiation
Use of workplace support
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Slide 6
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Work-Family conflict
• Subjective perceptions of extent to which work
(family) negatively impacts family (work)
• Key distinction between W-F spillover and FW spillover
• Type of stress appears to be very similar for
men and women
• Levels of stress appear to be higher among
women
• Note also the idea of work-family enhancement
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Slide 7
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Perceived Success in Balancing
Work and Family
100%
80%
7
5
33
33
45
45
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9
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35
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60%
40%
48
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20%
0%
13
13
2
4
Men
8
0
Women - PT
Women - FT
Not at all
Not very
Somewhat
Very
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Completely
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Slide 8
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Adjustments due to WF conflict
41
Unable to do normal hwk
Unable to care for sick kid
18
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55
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25
37
Missed family occasion
62
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32
32
Cut back on work
Refused overtime
30
33
41
Took on additional work
15
Refused promotion
0
10
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54
17
20
30
40
Men
Women
50
60
70
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Slide 9
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Work across the life course
• Men working less – earlier retirement
• Women working more
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–
–
–
More mothers working
More single mother families
Greater risk of marital dissolution
Childrearing period is shorter
• First cohorts of women with substantial
work histories now approaching retirement
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Slide 10
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Work-Family Interface at Older Ages
• “Sandwich generation”
• Gender differences in influence of family
on work at middle and later life
• Family influences on retirement process
• Mutual influences of spouses
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Slide 11
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Implications
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•
•
•
Career, retirement
Psychological well-being
Problem behaviors
Marital quality
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