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Linkages Between Work and Family
One of the questions motivating this study is to what extent changing
family structures and employment patterns (discussed in Chapter 2) have
interacted to create problems in the workplace and in the family. A particu-
lar concern is the effects on children. Historically, researchers as well as
employers tended to treat work and family as separate worlds (Kanter,
1977b). In the past decade, however, there has been increasing recognition
of the multiple levels of interdependence between work and family (Voy-
danoff, 1987; Baca-Zinn and Eitzen, 1990~. The relationship, although it
has changed over time, has always had both positive and negative aspects.
Employment is a major component of family well-being. It is the pri-
mary source not only of income and various types of social insurance (in-
cluding health insurance, Social Security, private pensions, disability and
unemployment insurance) but also of other benefits, such as self-esteem.
Thus it is one of the most essential sources of both economic and psycho-
logical security. The need for financial security increases when one has a
family. Married men, in particular, have substantially higher labor force
participation rates than do unmarried men.
Long hours, rigid schedules, and an excessively high level of involve-
ment in work, however, can also have negative consequences both for the
individuals involved and for their families. Among other things, they may
reduce the quality of care available from working family members for their
dependents. Similarly, the responsibilities of caring for family members
can affect work performance in a number of ways.
In this chapter we review what is known about the linkages between
work and family: how they fit together and how they conflict. To the
extent possible we summarize the workplace issues for women and men
42
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LINKAGES BETWEEN WORK AND FAMILY
43
with different racial and ethnic backgrounds, in different kinds of work-
places, and for different family structures. For example, the pressures gen-
erated by time spent at work and scheduling conflicts precipitate different
stresses and coping responses in female-headed households, dual-earner
households, and male-earner, two-parent households (Piotrkowski, 1979~.
Although men and women are both vulnerable to stress when they are
employed and have household responsibilities, women are at greater risk
because they perform the bulk of household tasks. Men have been increas-
ing the time they spend in housework and child care (fleck, 1989), particu-
larly husbands who care for children during mothers' working hours (Presser,
1989~. Data show, however, that women continue to bear most of the re-
sponsibility for children and elders, whether or not they work for pay,
and employed women, especially mothers, have less leisure time than men
(Staines and Fleck, 1983; unpublished data, Institute for Social Research,
University of Michigan, 1989~. For example, in a study of 1,500 employees
in two companies, the combined time spent on work, home chores, and
child care in a week was, on average, 84 hours for married mothers, 79
hours for unmarried mothers, and 72 hours for fathers, married or unmar-
ried (Burden and Googins, 1987~. It has been suggested that employed
women with a family tend to have two jobs, one in the workplace and one
at home, while it is still assumed that men's primary responsibility is their
paid work.
Multiple levels of interdependence make it impossible to consider the
sphere of family and the sphere of employment as separate worlds (Baca-
Zinn and Eitzen, 1990~. The precise nature of the linkages varies consider-
ably, depending on the structural features of both household and work set-
tings (Voydanoff, 1987~. Therefore, we assess the effect of labor force
participation on the family, of family characteristics on performance in the
workplace, and the combined effects of multiple roles and quality of life.
We first examine studies concerned with various aspects of workplace con-
ditions, especially those over which employers have some control, such as
schedules and leaves, and their impact on employees and their dependents.
We then review research on the effect of domestic circumstances, such as a
breakdown in child care arrangements, on job performance. We also con-
sider the interaction and feedback, stressful or satisfying, between family
and work.
Existing investigations range from descriptive case studies, based on
small nonrandom samples or employees of one firm, to research using na-
tional samples. Each approach has its strengths and limitations. Case
studies provide in-depth information about particular groups, members of a
single occupation, or employees of one firm, but they are primarily descrip-
tive and do not provide a sound basis for generalizations or for conclusions
about causal relationships (for reviews see, for example, Friedman, 1989b;
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44
WORK AND FAMILY: POLICIES FOR A CHANGING WORK FORCE
Galinsky, 1989b). National survey data based on representative samples
allow generalizations and some inferences about causality, especially if
longitudinal data are available, but individuals are usually the unit of analy-
sis, with little or no link to a particular enterprise; such data are therefore
often not suitable for investigations of employer policies and their impact
on the workplace (for reviews see, for example, Fleck, 1983; Repetti et al.,
1989; Hayes et al., 1990~. Drawing conclusions from such diverse research,
based on vastly different data and methodology, is often difficult.
EFFECTS OF WORK ON FAMILY
Employees sometimes report that family responsibilities interfere
with their work, but even more so that work interferes with their family. In
a survey of two-earner families with children age 12 or under (done for
Fortune magazine), 16 percent of men and 18 percent of women reported
family interference, while 32 percent of men and 41 percent of women
reported that paid work interfered with their family life (Galinsky and
Hughes, 1987~. There is also evidence that people believe they perform
better at work than at home: Burden and Googins (1987) found that 86
percent of people questioned in their two-company study rated their job
performance as "good or unusually good"; only 59 percent rated their fam-
ily performance that way. Their interpretation is that jobs take priority. It
may also be the case, however, that people set higher standards for them-
selves at home than on the job.
Research in this field has focused on the effects of employment on fami-
lies, specifically the impact of women's labor force participation, presum-
ably because men were expected to work for pay, while women were still
expected to be responsible for homemaking. Initially, research attention
centered almost entirely on potential negative effects on marriage and chil-
dren of women's employment (see, for example, Hoffman and Nye, 1974;
Spitze, 1988~. Recently, however, scholars have broadened their studies to
encompass the complex interactions between work and family, as well as
the multidimensional characteristics of jobs, families, and individuals.
Income and Identity
Men's employment has been taken for granted because it has been the
major source of income for the vast majority of families. Income is crucial
to family well-being for several reasons. Not only does it determine the
basic standard of living, but also a minimum amount of steady income is
required to maintain family stability and cohesion (Cherlin, 1979; Fursten-
berg, 1974; Rodman, 1971~. In addition, employment is a central part of
the personal identity of most men. Therefore, when a man is not employed,
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LINKAGES BETWEEN WORK AND FAMILY
45
he and his family are likely to have problems. (For a discussion of the
negative effects of men's unemployment, especially on children, see Voydan-
off, 1987).
Only recently have researchers clearly recognized the importance of wo-
men's employment in increasing family income; employed wives often help
keep their families out of poverty (Blau and Ferber, 1986~. When both
spouses work full time all year, wives' earnings, on average, constitute 39
percent of family income (Bureau of the Census, 1986~. Women's employ-
ment also tends to raise their status in the eyes of other family members, as
well as their own. For instance, husbands are more likely to respect work-
ing wives' decision-making ability and to listen to their opinions (Blum-
stein and Schwartz, 1983~. About half of all employed women are not
married, and they usually depend on their job to support themselves as well
as a source of social support (Repetti et al., 1989~.
Health
Both longitudinal and cross-sectional studies suggest that in general em-
ployment does not have negative effects on women's physical or mental
health, despite frequent problems of role conflict and overload (see Repetti
et al., 1989, for a review). It appears to have beneficial effects on physical
health particularly for unmarried women, black women, and Mexican Ameri-
can women. Some, though not all, studies have also found employed women
to be less depressed than nonemployed women.
Positive findings from cross-sectional studies, however, must be dis-
counted because there is substantial evidence that healthier women are more
likely to enter the labor force. The causal relationships between employ-
ment and health are not clear. Preliminary findings from a national longitu-
dinal survey suggest that health is an important determinant of labor force
participation (Mares, 1982~. Women who are not employed frequently re-
port poor health as a reason for not working (e.g., Kessler and McRae,
19821; however, when homemakers reporting poor health as a reason for not
working were excluded from the analysis, Jennings et al. (1984) found that
homemakers reported better health than employed women. Repetti et al.
(1989) conclude that more longitudinal data and more appropriate methods
of analysis are needed to distinguish between the effects of health on em-
ployment and the effects of employment on health.
More sophisticated studies indicate that it may not be employment
status per se but the sense of independence and control brought about by
work that contributes to the positive outlook of employed women. Rosenfield
(1989) suggests that perceived control influences the relationship between
employment and role strain. That is, employment is not always a mental
health benefit for women when it trades one source of low control (house
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WORK AND FAMILY: POLICIES FOR A CHANGING WORK FORCE
wife status) for another (a job with little power). A key factor appears to be
the woman's preference: two reviews conclude that there are positive effects
on women's health when there is congruence between what she is doing and
what she would like to be doing (Repetti et al., 1989; Spitze, 1988~.
There is also a modest amount of evidence on the relationship between
family responsibilities and health. Women who care for dependents most
of all those with a dependent spouse- have been found to be more prone to
depression than other women, especially if they have to give up their job
(Holmes and Rahe, 1976; Kanner et al., 1981~. Men also suffer depression
when caring for elders, particularly spouses (McLanahan and Monson, 1989~.
Marital Satisfaction
The interaction effects between women's employment and marital status
are mixed. Women's employment is associated with higher divorce rates:
this might be interpreted to mean that such marriages are worse or, alterna-
tively, that divorce is more affordable. Entering employment could intro-
duce strain, or wives may enter the labor force when the marriage is shaky.
Some studies have shown that husbands of employed women are more likely
to be depressed and experience greater job pressures (Kessler and McRae,
19821. Others found that both spouses experience greater marital satisfac-
tion (e.g., Simpson and England, 1982~. Recent research has also found
that, as the proportion of dual-earner couples rose, there was increased
emphasis in families on conversation, shared leisure time activities, em-
pathy, and companionship (England and Parkas, 1986), and the proportion
of respondents who said that their marriage was either very happy or above
average rose from 68 percent in 1957 to 80 percent in 1976 (Thornton and
Freedman, 1983~.
Clearly, the effect of wife's employment on marital satisfaction depends
on a variety of factors. For example, according to one small survey, greater
financial security, older age of children, and higher levels of community
involvement are all associated with more satisfaction (Thomas et al., 19841.
In general, favorable outcomes are most likely to prevail when wives' em-
ployment is consistent with both partners' preferences (Ross et al., 1983~.
When husbands' preferences are inconsistent with wives' employment sta-
tus, women show lower self-esteem and increased depression (Kessler and
McRae, 1982~. Research results regarding the effects of employment on
marriage continue to be mixed depending on how the questions are ap-
proached. In a comprehensive review of the literature, Spitze (1988) re-
ports that recent studies using large national samples find no overall effects
of wives' employment on the marital satisfaction of either husbands or
wives. She also concludes that causal ordering with respect to employment
and marital satisfaction or dissolution is not clear.
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LINKAGES BETWEEN WORK AND FAMILY
47
Children's Well-Being
There is general consensus that a mother's work status per se has no
predictable effects on her children's development (Kamerman and Hayes,
1982; Hayes et al., 1990~. Rather, a variety of specific factors interact with
. ~ . ~ . . .
mother7s employment In determining the outcomes. In general, when moth-
ers work by choice and child care is satisfactory, family stress is not too
great and their children are as well adjusted as those with mothers at home.
For infants, a small number of stable caretakers to whom the child can
become attached is also important (Zigler and Frank, 1988~. Although less
research has been done on the effects for older children, there is evidence
that much depends on what mothers do and how they feel about it (Bloom-
Feshbach et al., 19821.
Children of employed mothers are less likely to subscribe to traditional
gender stereotypes and in general have more positive views of themselves
and their families (Hoffman, 1987~. When mothers work by personal choice,
daughters are likely to view both parents with admiration; however, sons of
working mothers in low-income families tend to be more critical of their
fathers. When mothers work in nontraditional occupations, their daughters
in college are more inclined to aspire to such occupations (Heyns, 1982~.
Sons of employed middle-class mothers tend to do less well in school than
their counterparts with nonemployed mothers, but this does not hold for
lower-class sons (Bronfenbrenner and Crouter, 1982~. In her review of
the literature, Hoffman (1987) finds that dissatisfied mothers, whether em-
ployed or not, appear to have more poorly adjusted children, suggesting
that mothers' satisfaction, rather than employment status, may influence
children's adjustment.
Research on employed minority mothers, although sparse, shows consis-
tently favorable effects on children's achievement except when arrange-
ments for their care are inadequate (Heyns, 19821. One study focusing
largely on minority children suggested that, when mothers' work is highly
regulated and demanding, children are more likely to conform to school
requirements and to study more diligently (Piotrkowski and Katz, 19821.
A mediating factor for the effects of parental employment on children's
well-being is the quality of child care
1 ~
Despite earlier fears, there is no
evidence that high-quality out-of-home care is harmful to children over age
1, and in some cases positive effects have been documented. For infants,
the evidence is mixed. Group sizes, staff/child ratios, caregivers' training,
stability of care, daily routine, and organization of classroom space are
factors in quality care (for extensive reviews of the developmental literature,
see Hayes et al., 1990; Phillips, 19871. For instance, children's cognitive and
social development has been found to be positively related to group
size, teacher qualifications, and the goals of the program, such as focus on
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WORK AND FAMILY: POLICIES FOR A CHANGING WORK FORCE
cognitive development (Ruopp et al., 1979~. Particularly for children from
low-income families, high-quality programs appear to have a positive
effect on intellectual development, perhaps because they compensate for
poor family environment (Slaughter, 1983; Ramey et al., 19851.
With respect to infants, research so far has been inconclusive. Stress in
the form of role overload and role conflict appears to be most strongly felt
by employed women with infants. A Swedish study shows that employed
mothers report more daily fatigue and psychological distress after the birth
of a first child (Moen, 1989~. Limited evidence suggests that the stress felt
by some employed mothers may have negative effects on the relationship
with and the development of their infants (Zigler and Frank, 1988; Moen,
1989; Brazelton, 1986; Clarke-Stewart and Fein, 1983~.
It is clear that infants need high-quality care from a small number of
caretakers, with adequate opportunity to establish close bonds in order to
enhance healthy emotional development (Zigler and Frank, 19881. Full-
time purchased child care in the first year appears to be associated in some
children with insecure attachment to their mothers, often considered an
important component in healthy development. Reliance on only one mea-
sure, however, as well as other methodological constraints, makes interpre-
tation of the finding difficult (Hayes et al., 1990~. Studies also find that
group day care at this early age seems to lead to greater orientation toward
peers and more competence in interacting with them (Clarke-Stewart and
Fein, 1983) but to decreased responsiveness toward adults (Belsky, 1988~.
The physical health and safety of children in child care centers are also
important issues. A comprehensive review (Jarman and Kohlenberg, 1988)
of over 200 existing studies is generally reassuring, but there is agreement
that more research is needed on health and safety. Preschool-age children
in centers were found to be more likely to contract common infectious
diseases than children at home, although there tend to be no unfavorable
long-term effects. Group child care also increases the risk of several seri-
ous but very rare infectious diseases. Based on more limited research, no
evidence has been found of increased risk of neglect, injury, or any kind of
abuse in child care centers. The National Research Council's Panel on
Child Care Policy (Hayes et al., 1990) concluded that organized care does
not involve major risks to children's health.
Other Dependents
With rising life expectancy, the number of elderly parents and spouses in
need of care has been increasing. The continued influx of women into the
labor market has raised questions about possible declines in the availa-
bility of services needed by these people, as well as by a smaller group of
disabled working-age adults.
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LINKAGES BETWEEN WORK AND FAMILY
49
Existing evidence on the effects of women's labor force participation
on disabled and elderly dependents is inconclusive. Some studies show that
women's employment limits caregiving for elderly parents (Lang and
Brody, 1983; Brody and Schoonover, 1986~. Other studies have found no
effect on the helping behavior of daughters (Cicirelli, 1981; Stoller, 1983~.
There is little evidence on caring for a disabled spouse, who may or may
not be elderly. An early study, however, shows that wives of disabled men
are likely to enter the labor force in response to the illness and related
economic loss (Franklin, 1977~. Thus, employment may offer economic
relief and make possible the purchase of care. It may also provide some
psychological relief from the demands of caring, which causes depression,
as discussed earlier. At the same time, the additional demands of employ-
ment add to the mental and physical stress of caregivers and potentially
reduce the quality of care for the disabled and the elderly.
Minority Families
Although research specifically on the linkages between work and minor-
ity families is sparse, there is evidence of differences between minority and
majority families, as well as among various minority groups (Harrison,
1989; Gerstel and Gross, 1987~. Primarily, studies have shown that the
generally poorer jobs and lower incomes of minorities have a negative ef-
fect on their families.
Recent investigations suggest that deteriorating economic conditions
have had a major impact on family structure. Wilson (1987) documents
relationships between male joblessness and high divorce rates, low remar-
riage rates, and high ratios of births to unmarried mothers. He concludes
that the explosive growth of black families headed by women has been
mainly an outgrowth of changes in the U.S. economy, which resulted in
declining employment opportunities for inner-city blacks, particularly men.
Among Hispanic communities, important variations exist in economic
conditions. While economic conditions for Puerto Ricans have deteriorated
in the past decade, the well-being of Cuban Americans has improved con-
siderably, and there has been little change for Mexican Americans (Bean
and Tienda, 19881. Understandably, then, there is little evidence of consis-
tent changes in family structure for the Hispanic community as a whole
(Baca-Zinn, 1989; Moore, 1989~. Structural changes have been greatest for
the groups that experienced the most serious economic dislocations. In
some cities, Puerto Rican unemployment, poverty rates, and the proportion
of families with female heads is reaching or exceeding those of blacks.
Variations in childrearing strategies, value socialization, extended kin-
ship ties, and sex roles may also contribute to different perspectives on
work and family (Harrison, 19891. Hence, family care supports and prob
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WORK AND FAMILY: POLICIES FOR A CHANGING WORK FORCE
lems tend to vary, and it cannot be taken for granted that findings from
studies not specifically focusing on these groups are applicable to them.
Using three national data sets on blacks, whites, and Americans of Mexi-
can descent, Jackson and Antonucci (1989) found that the relationship be-
tween roles and well-being or happiness is complicated for each of the
populations. While most people reported being satisfied with their lives,
the level of satisfaction was influenced by many factors, including gender,
race, and employment status. In general, blacks experienced the highest
levels of stress, job related and otherwise, and also had the most chronic
health problems.
Other smaller studies did not find some of the same differences. Among
a sample of black inner-city mothers, approximately 29 percent indicated
experiencing moderate to severe family-work conflict (Katz and Piotrkowski,
1983), a figure comparable to that found in a representative national sample
by Pleck et al. (1980~. Job autonomy and job demands, not income, were
the key correlates of strain among the inner-city sample. Similarly, Fernan-
dez (1986) reported no differences in levels of stress among men in various
racial and ethnic groups. More surprisingly, he also reported that black
women felt less family-work stress than did either white women or other
women of color.
An examination of the effects of employment and parental and marital
status on the health of a sample of 712 Americans of Mexican descent
showed that employment was associated with less illness for both men and
women and parenthood with less chronic illness for women (Krause and
Markides, 1985~. For women there were also interesting interactions be-
tween employment and marital status, suggesting that earnings and the
greater self-esteem associated with employment are particularly important
for single women.
Work Characteristics
Schedules
The 8-hour day and the 40-hour week have been the typical work pattern
in the United States for the last several decades. As we saw in Chapter 2,
however, a substantial and growing minority of workers are employed part
time. Married women constitute the largest group of part-time workers.
Married men, in contrast, are most likely to work extended hours and to
hold more than one job, slightly more so when their wives are not employed
(Moony, 1981; Moen and Moorehouse, 1983~. In addition, 13 percent of
women and almost 16 percent of men work fixed nonday shifts, while 4
percent of women and 9 percent of men work rotating shifts (Presser, 1989~.
Almost one-fifth of workers in the 1977 Quality of Employment Survey
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LINKAGES BETWEEN WORK AND FAMILY
51
complained about excessive work hours (Staines and Pleck, 1983~. Several
studies, using different data sets, have concluded that long hours are associ-
ated with higher levels of family-work conflict and strain for both male and
female workers (Burke et al., 1980; Mortimer, 1980; Staines and Pleck,
1983; Voydanoff, 1984; Voydanoff and Kelly, 1984) and at times for the
worker's spouse (Keith and Schafer, 1980~. One study concluded that the
number of hours that wives work increases the divorce rate when the hus-
band disapproves of her working (Spitze and South, 1985~. No evidence of
negative effects of long hours on marital satisfaction, however, has been
found by several other researchers who investigated that question (Piotrkow-
ski and Crits-Christoph, 1982; Staines and Pleck, 1983; Voydanoff, 1984~.
Husbands of women working part time tend to experience higher levels
of marital satisfaction than those married to full-time workers or full-time
homemakers (Moore and Hofferth, 1979; Railings and Nye, 1979~. Also,
these women themselves tend to be particularly happy with their children
(Hoffman, 1987~. Part-time workers, however, often are poorly paid, re-
ceive fewer or no benefits, have less interesting and less satisfying work,
and have little opportunity for promotion; Repetti et al. (1989) and Hoffman
(1987) find that this may contribute to stress and other negative outcomes.
The amount of time worked does not by itself account for all the effects
of work. How the time is arranged how many hours per day, how many
days per week, how many weeks per year, weekdays or weekends, day shift
or night shift, regular hours or shifting schedules and the rigidity of the
schedule are also important. According to a national survey, 27 percent of
workers claimed that schedules interfered with their family life, and 42
percent complained about such other problems as irregular or unpredict-
able schedules, early starting time, or late leaving time (Quinn and Staines,
1979~. Women were more likely to report problems with schedules; men
were more likely to report problems with amount of time worked (Staines
and Pleck, 1983~.
Research on men working shifts found generally negative effects, both
with respect to health and their family life (fleck, 19831. Night shifts were
likely to cause problems with husband-wife relationships; afternoon shifts
caused problems with parent-child relationships (Most et al., 1965~. The
effects of shift work on families is also influenced by the degree of control
people have and the predictability of the schedules. For example, Staines
and Pleck (1983) found that the negative relationships between nonstandard
work schedules and the quality of family life are strongest when workers
have the least control over their schedules that is, working an afternoon
shift decreases time spent with children when they have little control over
their schedule, but increases parental time when they have medium and high
control. A small study of nurses found unpredictability of schedules to be a
problem. Women reported that hours and days off continually changed,
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WORK AND FAMILY: POLICIES FOR A CHANGING WORK FORCE
with very little advance notice, making care arrangements difficult (Sexton,
19821.
More recent studies show an increase in child care by fathers related to
shift work (Presser, 19891. As noted above, parents with young children
appear to use shift work in order to provide personal care for their children.
Presser finds that this strategy increases positive interaction between fathers
and children (Presser, 1988; Presser and Cain, 1983~.
.Iob Demands
Family ties may inhibit geographic mobility, and family members are
often negatively affected by a move. A spouse may have to give up a job
and may have problems finding an equivalent one in the new location.
Children will have to change schools, which is often a painful experience,
especially for teenagers. All of them will be uprooted from a familiar
community, and they are likely to leave valued friends behind. These are
real costs, although difficult to measure. And yet, if earnings increase be-
cause of a move, the family as well as the worker benefits.
Frequent job-related travels also are likely to put strains on family life
and tend to interfere with regular household responsibilities. Traveling
salespersons, long-distance truck drivers, flight attendants, and military per-
sonnel are obviously affected, but so are many others, such as public offi-
cials and managers in multiplant businesses. Research has been done on how
families of corporate executives and military personnel cope under these
circumstances. In a review, Voydanoff (1987) concludes that moves and
traveling have negative effects, but they are mitigated by factors such as
family cohesion before the move, spousal attitude, and coping strategies.
The extent to which the demands and gratifications of a job (both physi-
cal and psychological) match the abilities and aspirations of the worker will
contribute to work-family satisfaction when there is a good fit and to work-
family conflict when there is a bad fit. Only a small minority of workers,
mostly highly educated professionals and managers, seem to be more in-
volved in work than in family (fleck and Lang, 19781. Such high involve-
ment can cause strain in dual-career couples (Bailyn, 1970; Ridley, 1973)
and can cause conflict between work and family responsibilities for men
(Young and Wilmott, 1973~. However, high job satisfaction has also been
found to reduce depression and to increase levels of health and energy
(Burden and Googins, 19871. This outcome is frequently found for married
women and single mothers. Again, however, interpreting the relationship
between employment and health requires caution.
More broadly, it is not the number of roles that people are filling such
as worker, homemaker, and caregiver that causes problems. Several ex-
perts have found that multiple roles are beneficial (Baruch et al., 1987
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LINKAGES BETWEEN WORK AND FAMILY
53
Epstein, 1987;GoveandZeiss, 1987;PiotrkowskiandRepetti, 1984). For
example, a 1978 multistage probability sample of 700 white adults in the
Detroit metropolitan area found that the number of roles individuals were
involved in did not diminish physical health (Verbrugge, 1987~. On the
contrary, there was a positive relationship for both men and women be-
tween number of roles and health, although the subjective perception of
great role burdens had a negative relation to health outcomes. Indicators of
the quality of roles, using occupational stressors, such as a heavy workload
or lack of control, and home stressors, such as the number of children,
have been found to be associated with various physical and mental prob-
lems for women (Repetti et al., 1989~. For example, longitudinal data
from the Framingham Heart Study show that mothers in clerical jobs
who have three or more children are at increased risk of coronary heart
disease (LaCroix and Haynes, 1987~.
Employer Support
In addition to job characteristics, the attitudes and actions of managers
and coworkers, perhaps independent of official company policies, may
also affect workers and their families. Support includes an understanding
environment, as well as specific actions to help solve problems, such as
access to a telephone in the afternoon so that parents can be in touch with
children after school. Support is part of the workplace culture (discussed in
Chapter 6), the set of norms, values, and informal mechanisms that shape
day-to-day life in an organization. For example, just being able to discuss a
family problem with supervisors or coworkers may provide an environment
that people find helpful. Lack of support is illustrated by such behavior as
making it clear that personal problems are to be handled away from work
or prohibiting the use of leave time for family matters.
In general, lack of social support at work has been associated with de-
pression, hospitalization days, and physical complaints. Supervisors who
are not understanding of family problems contribute to increased risk of
coronary heart disease for clerical workers (Haynes et al., 1984) and, more
broadly, to conflict, stress, and health problems (Galinsky and Hughes,
1987; Galinsky et al., 19871. Increased depression among women bank
tellers was related to rigid social climates at work (Repetti, 19871.
In one study probing business changes that would reduce child care prob-
lems, 56 percent of respondents identified training to sensitize managers
(Galinsky and Hughes, 1987~. Lack of employer sensitivity and/or accep-
tance may reduce the extent to which programs such as parental leave are
used. One U.S. study showed that 63 percent of all employers, and 41
percent of those at companies with a leave policy, thought fathers should
not have any leave when their wives gave birth (Catalyst, 19861. Pleck
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WORK AND FAMILY: POLICIES FOR A CHANGING WORK FORCE
(1988, 1989) and Stoiber (1989) report some negative attitudes among
Swedish employers and colleagues toward fathers who take parental leave.
This may help explain why relatively few fathers have taken such leaves
and the proportion is not increasing more rapidly.
There appear to be differences in corporate support for employees even
among companies that are quite similar in their benefits and policies. Bur-
den and Googins (1987), for instance, report that respondents in one com-
pany were twice as likely to consider the corporation sensitive to their
needs as were those in a second company. The authors attribute the differ-
ence to a set of messages that are transmitted through the corporate culture
that are more intangible than the policies and programs.
EFFECTS OF FAMILY ON WORK
In the past, researchers paid little attention to the effects of family re-
sponsibility on people's performance at work. As more people assume dual
responsibilities, however, employers are increasingly concerned with the
effects that families have on worker performance, particularly on recruit-
ment, retention, mobility, absenteeism, and tardiness. New research now
focuses on the possible conflict for men and women among dependent care,
housework, and jobs that may create stress and hence have a negative im-
pact on the discharge of their duties at work.
Stress is defined as "any event in which environmental demands, inter-
nal demands, or both, tax or exceed the adaptive resources of an individual"
(Monet and Lazarus, 1977~. Both major life events, such as the birth of a
child (Holmes and Rahe, 1976), and minor events or daily hassles, such as
being unable to get the family out the door on time in the morning (Kanner
et al., 1981), can tax individuals' resources, leading to anxiety and depres-
sion and hence to less than optimal functioning at work and at home. Care
for adult dependents, for example, can lead to increased depression and
emotional and physical strain (National Long-Term Care Survey, in U.S.
Congress, House, 1987; Brody, 1981; McLanahan and Monson, 1989~. At
the same time, there is also evidence that caring for children, a spouse, or a
parent may provide the caregiver with satisfaction, a renewed sense of use-
fulness, and self-worth (U.S. Congress, House, 1987~.
Numerous studies have reported the existence of some work-family in-
terference or conflict that may result in stress. For instance, working long
hours limits the time a person is available for family activities; caring for a
sick child means there is less time to carry out work responsibilities. Staines
and Pleck (1983) found that one-third of both men and women in the 1977
Quality of Employment Survey claimed some or a lot of such interference
when asked, "How much do your job and your family life interfere with
each other a lot, somewhat, not too much, or not at all?" Similarly, Voydanoff
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LINKAGES BETWEEN WORK AND FAMILY
55
(1988), using the same data set, showed that mean interference or conflict,
ranging from 1 (low) to 4 (high), was 2.21 for men and 2.22 for women.
Reviewing eight company studies, Friedman (1989b) found that the propor-
tion of workers who reported encountering conflict ranged from 23 to 64
percent. In a study of 166 married couples in the Detroit metropolitan area,
men and women reported stress on almost one-third of the days worked
during a 6-week period (Bolger et al., 19891.
Although people are more likely to report that work interferes with fam-
ily, they also report that family interferes with work. Among four em-
ployer-based studies, estimates of family interference with work ranged
from 13 percent of men (Galinsky and Hughes, 1987) to 39 percent of
women (Fernandez, 1986~. Crouter (1984) found home-to-work negative
spillover more likely for wives than husbands. Based on evidence from a
national sample of 500 couples, Staines and Pleck (1983), however, re-
ported similar responses for women and men. Burden and Googins (1987)
found no sex difference when domestic roles of men and women were held
constant. Bolger et al. (1989), using longitudinal data and seven measures
of stress, found negative home-to-work spillover significant for men but
not for women, even when controlling for work characteristics.
It is clear from these studies that at least some workers perceive a nega-
tive impact of family responsibilities on work. There is considerable evi-
dence that the conflict is greater for parents than for people without chil-
dren at home and especially for single parents, but conflicting evidence
whether it is greater for women than for men. Since women do have more
family responsibilities, they would be expected to report more such con-
flict; to the extent they do not, it may be that they have developed better
mechanisms for coping with such stress.
Labor Force Participation
There are several indications that men with family responsibilities are
more likely to be in the labor force and are more highly motivated. The
labor force participation rate of men with children in their household is
96 percent (Hayghe and Haugen, 1987), that of male heads of single-parent
families is 88 percent (Norton and Glick, 1986), substantially higher than
for all men. Married men are also the group most likely to work overtime
and to hold more than one job. The number of hours they work increases
with the number of children they have (Smith, 1983~. Similarly, a study of
white-collar workers found that married fathers and sole male providers
are more involved in their work than other men (Gould and Werbel, 1983~.
It has been suggested that this explains why married men earn more than
single men even when a number of characteristics are controlled for (Hill,
1979; Bartlett and Callahan, 1984~.
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WORK AND FAMILY: POLICIES FOR A CHANGING WORK FORCE
A very different picture emerges for married women, particularly for
those with children. Almost none of these women has a spouse who is a
homemaker, and although their labor force participation has increased
rapidly in recent decades, it nonetheless remains lower than that of other
women. Married women with children are also more likely to work part
time. This pattern is at times regarded as evidence of their weak commit-
ment to work, but many of them-particularly low-income women say
they would work full time if reliable child care were available (Kisker et
al., 1989; O'Connell and Rogers, 19831.
Over the last 20 years the effect of maternity on women's labor force
participation has changed considerably. Using data from the national Sur-
vey of Income and Program Participation, O'Connell (1990) found that
the proportion of women who worked during their first pregnancy rose from
44 percent in 1961 - 1965 to 65 percent in 1982- 1985. Fully 80-90 percent
of these women worked full time. Only 28 percent of them quit their job
after becoming pregnant in the 1980s, compared with 66 percent during
the 1960s, and half of those who quit returned to work within a year after
the child's birth.
Teenagers, high school dropouts, and minority women were least likely
to be employed when pregnant, and those that were employed were also
least likely to return to work within 6 months. The two main factors deter-
mining mothers' return to work, however, were how long they had worked
before the birth and whether their employers provided maternity leave.
Single mothers appear to be strongly motivated to work (O'Connell, 1990),
even though very poor mothers of young children continue to be eligible
for Aid to Families with Dependent Children.
A number of studies have found that the cost of child care also influ-
ences the decision to return to work and the number of hours worked (Presser
and Baldwin, 1980; O'Connell and Rogers, 1983; Leibowitz and Waite,
1988; General Accounting Office, 1987b; Blau and Robins, 1986~. Several
of these studies further showed that cost was especially important for
low-income women, single women, and black women. Not surprisingly,
availability of child care is an even more serious constraint among young,
low-income couples, although it is not uncommon for spouses to work dif-
ferent shifts so that they do not need out-of-home child care (Presser and
Cain, 1983; Presser, 1989~. Sonenstein and Wolf (1988) also found that
some mothers took shift jobs, while their children are cared for by rela-
tives. It is not clear, however, whether they accept shift work in order to
accommodate child care or whether those were the only jobs they could
find. For nonstandard work hours, there is almost no nonfamily care avail-
able (Hayes et al., 1990~.
Needless to say, not only the availability of child care but also the avail
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LINKAGES BETWEEN WORK AND FAMILY
57
ability of jobs determines how much women and men work, for they are not
always able to find employment that enables them to work the preferred
number of hours. Over the past 20 years the percentage of household heads
reporting in the Current Population Survey (CPS) that they would like to
work more or fewer hours during the year has remained stable, at approxi-
mately 15 percent and 5 percent, respectively (unpublished data, Panel
Study of Income Dynamics, 1990~. In the 1977 Quality of Employment
Survey, however, 53 percent of mothers and 38 percent of fathers claimed
they would prefer to work fewer hours even if it meant less income
(Moen and Dempster-McClain, 1987~. According to Presser (1989), the
1985 CPS data showed that these proportions had become considerably
smaller, but the change may have been due to different wording of the
question. Also, 17 percent of mothers and 28 percent of fathers who
were fully employed indicated they would prefer to work longer hours in
order to earn more. On the whole, these findings are consistent with a
shift toward greater preference for income at the expense of home time.
Although there is considerably less research on the relationship of em-
ployment and providing care for dependents other than children, the data
that are available show some interesting correlations. The National Survey
of Caregivers found that 9 percent of persons in the sample who had been
working full time left the work force to care for a disabled friend or rela-
tive: 12 percent of daughters and 5 percent of sons left their jobs to become
caregivers. Of the 1 million caregivers who had been employed during the
caregiving experience, 20 percent cut back on hours, 29 percent rearranged
schedules, and 19 percent took time off without pay (Stone et al., 1987~.
McLanahan and Monson (1989) found that married women, but not single
women, reduced their labor force participation to care for parents.
The fact that married women and those with higher incomes are more
inclined than others to drop out of the labor force or to work part time is
often taken as showing lack of commitment to work. Moen and Smith
(1986), however, argue that behavior is not an appropriate measure of atti-
tude, but that psychological commitment or involvement in work is a sub-
jective orientation measured by questions about continuing to work if there
were no financial need. Using data from the 1976 Panel Study of Income
Dynamics they found that a majority of women claim they would work
even if they did not need the money; commitment is very strong among
those who work part time, and even among those who temporarily give up
paid employment. Mothers of preschoolers who did work full time often
did not show strong commitment but worked for financial reasons. It ap-
pears that factors such as other obligations, inability to make satisfactory
arrangements for dependents, and cultural beliefs about care, in addition to
commitment to work, affect labor force participation.
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WORK AND FAMILY: POLICIES FOR A CHANGING WORK FORCE
Absenteeism and Tardiness
Absenteeism and tardiness are two of the most readily measured effects
of family on work. Recent studies (e.g., Bonilla, 1989) conclude that gen-
der per se does not influence absenteeism rates. Rather, they are related to
children and family responsibilities. Because women are more likely to
have these responsibilities, they have increased rates of absenteeism. Three
primary sources of family-related absence are illness of another family mem-
ber, finding care arrangements for dependents, and making alternative ar-
rangements when the usual ones fail.
Overall, the number of days lost for these reasons is small, as reported in
national surveys. The reports may be inaccurate, however, because people
may falsely report themselves ill in order to care for a family member.
While the reported loss is small, the differences by family status are infor-
mative. Analysis of data for the period 1979 to 1983 from the Panel Study
of Income Dynamics (unpublished data) suggests that workers lose an
average of approximately 1 day per year because of the illness of another
family member. Only men with a nonemployed wife lost less time; other
people with children lost more time. In 1983, the largest losses, almost 4
days per year, were for single women with children under 5. The number of
hours lost increased with the number of children. Also, blacks with young
children lost more hours due to the illness of others than did other groups.
We can only speculate that this difference may be related to poor health,
lower income, and less medical care.
Corporate surveys corroborate these findings and provide additional in-
formation (for summaries see Creedon, 1989, on elder care; Friedman, 1989b,
on child care). In a study of 5,000 employees in five companies, 67 percent
reported that child care interfered with work and that absenteeism was one
of the main results (Fernandez, 1986~. In addition, medical and dental
appointments for children were found to be a problem, often resulting in
absenteeism. The highest rate of work interference was reported by parents
of children ages 2 to 5: 50 percent of women and 26 percent of men
reported such interference. In one employer survey, 75 percent of the re-
spondents noted lateness and unscheduled days off among the work-
related effects of caregiving (Lucas, 19861.
The illness of dependents, especially children, is likely to cause work
interference (Galinsky and Hughes, 1987; Fernandez, 1986~. Children's
illness was involved for 56 percent of mothers who were absent for 1 to 3
days during the year, 78 percent of those absent 4 to 6 days, and 82 percent
of those absent longer than 6 days (Fernandez, 1986~. Based on National
Health Interview Survey data, the General Accounting Office (1989) esti-
mates that the number of workers eliglible to take leave for seriously ill
children at 66,OOO, for seriously ill parents at 182,000, and for seriously ill
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LINKAGES BETWEEN WORK AND FAMILY
59
spouses at 746,000 (firms with 35 or more employees and serious illness
defined as 31 or more days of bed rest in a year).
Maintaining child care arrangements is the second major problem related
to absenteeism. Of mothers with at least one child under age 15, 5.9 per-
cent reported missing some work during the month prior to the survey as a
result of a failure in child care arrangements (Bureau of the Census, 1987~.
Analysis of data from the 1979 Panel Study of Income Dynamics showed
that 3.2 percent of husband-and-wife couples reported that someone had
to stay home because child care arrangements broke down in the past year,
for an average of 4.1 days. The highest rate of disruptions, 7.8 percent, was
found for those who place children in another home as the primary means
of care.
Employers who have studied these issues report a higher incidence of
child care arrangements failing and affecting absenteeism. In one study,
within the 3 months previous to the interview, 40 percent of the parents had
experienced a disruption in their child care arrangements, 20 percent of
them three or more times. And 39 percent of the parents whose child care
arrangements had failed said they had come to work late or left early (Gal-
insky and Hughes, 1987~. Resulting absences were reported more frequently
for women than for men and more frequently for families using out-of-
home care, with lower incomes, and with fewer children. In larger families,
older children may take care of younger ones. Emlen (1987), however,
found the greatest number of disruptions for parents at work resulted from
children looking after themselves.
The third problem is finding child care. In one study, 25 percent of the
women and 10 percent of the men thought that finding quality child care
was somewhat of a problem or a big problem (Fernandez, 1986~. The For-
tune study found that people who had a problem finding care were also
more likely to be absent (Galinsky and Hughes, 1987~. In a survey of 4,000
-
DuPont employees (DuPont Co., 1989), over 25 percent depended on child
care. Although women were only one-third of the sample, they constituted
half of the child care users. The substantial number of men using child
care, however, suggests that it is not only a concern for women. A majority
of the parents reported having difficulties finding child care, particularly
for infants, and after-school and summer care for school-age children. In
view of all these difficulties, it is not surprising that parents occasionally
bring children to work. In one firm, the number of children at work became
so numerous that the practice was prohibited (Burden and Googins, 1987~.
Other Effects on Work
Family characteristics influence not only labor force participation, ab-
senteeism, and tardiness, but also many other workplace issues, such as
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WORK AND FAMILY: POLICIES FOR A CHANGING WORK FORCE
unproductive time at work, energy expended on the job, motivation, and
geographic mobility. Although relatively little evidence is available on any
of these, they should be mentioned.
Unproductive time spent on the job because of responsibility for other
family members, especially children, appears to be rather common. Even
parents who do not report problems with child care acknowledge interrup-
tions at work. Although these become less frequent as children grow older,
39 percent of women and 17 percent of men with children between ages 15
and 18 still report such interference (Fernandez, 1986~. Workers are also
likely to spend time worrying about dependents. However, Fernandez points
out that people often make up for lost time during lunch breaks, evenings,
and weekends.
It has been suggested, most notably by Becker (1985), that women spend
less energy on paid work because they use so much energy on their
household responsibilities. No proof of this hypothesis has ever been of-
fered, however, and at least one study (Bielby and Bielby, 1985) claimed
that the opposite appears to be true. Because their conclusion is based on
subjective self-reporting, it is also open to challenge.
Somewhat related to the question of energy is the issue of motivation.
Married men, who are generally seen to be the family's primary wage earner,
are expected to be more eager to obtain training, to work hard, and to
compete for promotions than married women, who are often viewed as
secondary wage earners and also likely to spend less time in the labor
force. This line of reasoning tends to be part of the traditional explanation
of occupational segregation by gender (Polachek, 1979, 19811.
A great deal of the literature in this area has focused on the problems of
people in professional or managerial jobs, especially when both spouses
are in such occupations. Although such couples may be less in need of
assistance than other kinds of families, they are frequently the focus of
employer policies. High-level jobs are associated with more intense re-
sponsibilities, causing more stress (Shine et al., 1987; Fernandez, 19861.
Very high income, as well as low income, appears to be related to increased
vulnerability to stress for women with children. We have not, however,
found evidence in the published employer studies of the turnover and result-
ing costs to employers reported by Schwartz (1989) on the basis of her
unpublished work.
In a review of the status of women scientists and engineers, Zuckerman
(1987) concludes that marriage and motherhood do not have consistently
negative effects on employment status, publication rates, and salaries.
While most people with doctoral degrees work full time, a survey of Ph.D.s
in science and engineering found that, of those working part time, 37 per-
cent of women, compared with 4 percent of men, gave family responsibili-
ties as the reason (Office of Scientific and Engineering Personnel, 19891.
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LINKAGES BETWEEN WORK AND FAMILY
61
There also continue to be some differences between women and men in
management and the professions in their willingness to permit location of
the workplace to determine their residence. Traditionally, men tended to
follow jobs, and women followed men. Employers could expect to recruit
highly qualified men from throughout the country and to move them to
different locations as the occasion arose. In the 1970s, a study of people
with Ph.D.s found that, even among this highly educated, professionally
oriented group, men were far more likely than women to move, or refuse to
move, in order to further their own career rather than that of their spouse
(Ferber and Kardick, 1978~.
This pattern may have changed somewhat in recent years. From the
point of view of business, however, this may not be an improvement, for
men would then be less likely to put job before family. Men's decisions are
also influenced by other family considerations. Men with school-age chil-
dren are less likely to move than others (Bureau of the Census, 1983), and
among men between the ages of 30 and 39, the probability of moving
declines most among married men with children (Sandefur, 1985~. Also, in
a DuPont survey (1989), 20 percent of child care users said they avoid
jobs involving travel or relocation.
Recently, a considerable controversy has arisen because Schwartz (1989),
accepting the view that most mothers cannot be expected to make a strong
career commitment, proposed a separate family-oriented track, now popu-
larly referred to as the "Mommy track," to avoid possible problems of high
turnover of management women in large corporations. Such an approach
would require couples to make a choice, and make it very early in their
lives, whether the wife should have children or a high-level career. Among
the objections that have been raised to this approach are that it perpetuates
the traditional notion that only women have family responsibilities and ig-
nores the fact that many women are successfully combining family and
high-level careers. Furthermore, there is reason to look askance at a society
that divides people into two distinct and separate types, family oriented or
career oriented (Spitze, 1988~.
Couples in which both partners have careers, however, represent a rela-
tively small proportion of families. In the Quality of Employment Survey
they constituted only 13 percent of the sample, compared with 59 percent in
which neither spouse was in a professional or managerial job. There is
need for more research on single parents, minority couples, and dual-earner
couples in which spouses are blue-collar and service workers; such families
tend to have far fewer resources either to pay for the care that is available
or to buffer the stress that can come from less desirable work (Spitze, 1988;
Ferree, 1987; Fernandez, 1986~. One British survey of 304 couples with
low occupational status, for example, shows that, among other factors, low
work commitment and low aspirations were significant predictors of stress
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WORK AND FAMILY: POLICIES FOR A CHANGING WORK FORCE
(Lewis and Cooper, 1987~. The authors concluded that high-status careers
enable people to secure high-quality care for their families and satisfaction
from their jobs, which are likely to protect them from pressures. Employer
studies in the United States have also found that women in nonmanagement
jobs, particularly single parents and low-income women, report more work-
family interference with negative consequences on the job. Furthermore,
low incomes were related to greater conflict and child-care-related absen-
teeism for men (Fernandez, 1986; Shinn et al., 1987~.
CONCLUSIONS
Early research on work and family focused on the negative effects of
women's employment on children and families and emphasized the con-
flicts for dual-career couples. Newer studies have expanded their focus
to investigate both positive and negative aspects of men's as well as
women's employment on work and family life; they have shown that the
spillover from workplace to family and from family to workplace is com-
plex and that the direction of causality is not always clear. Although there
is still much to be learned particularly about the long-term impact of dif-
ferent types of care on the development of children and on the effect of
stress on work performance-several conclusions can be drawn that bear
directly on the issues before this panel.
We conclude from the evidence reviewed here that women's influx
into the labor force, and the attendant changes in the family and the work-
place, have had both positive and negative consequences for all concerned.
For women, being employed is related to better physical and mental health
(although this correlation may be in part because healthier women are more
likely to enter the labor force). In general, favorable effects seem most
pronounced when women work by choice. Wives are held in higher esteem
by their families, and other family members benefit from the additional
income. The effect on the well-being of children depends largely on the
care they receive, in or out of the home. Among the negative effects of
women's growing labor force participation is that men as well as women
increasingly find that work and family responsibilities impinge on each
other. Also, when women work because of economic necessity, their pay is
usually low, their jobs are frequently not rewarding, and their work and
family schedules often conflict. When they have little control over their
schedules, they are particularly likely to be subject to considerable stress.
The limited research that has been done suggests that family responsi-
bilities are likely to increase labor force turnover and may have some nega-
tive effects on work performance. There is, for instance, evidence of rela-
tionships to absenteeism and tardiness, geographic mobility, and disruptions
at work. Although problems appear to be somewhat different depending on
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LINKAGES BETWEEN WORK AND FAMILY
63
occupation, they are not confined to any one group. Much more informa-
tion is needed on both the positive and the negative effects of dual work and
family roles for low-income couples, single parents, and members of racial
and ethnic minority groups. It is evident that managers, supervisors, and
peers play a large part in facilitating or inhibiting the adjustment of work-
ers to their dual responsibilities. Most significantly, permitting employees
some choice and some control tends to reduce the negative consequences
of combining work and family responsibilities.
Representative terms from entire chapter:
labor force
