'Work-family balance', or WFB, is the topic that has garnered the interests of academicians, management Tsars, and researchers. With growing competition and stress in the business environment, family life is likely to get affected thereby putting a negative impact on the work productivity. Thus, making a balance between work schedule and family life is of utmost importance if one wishes to have an overall satisfied life. However, identifying related family-specific variables and studying their impact on work-family conflict ( WFC) are some of the pre-requisites to boil down to the balancing part. This paper aims to review the available literature to present deep insights into the topic. The detailed discussion is likely to build a holistic understanding of the readers.
Multiple family-specific factors that are likely to have a substantial say in maintaining work-family balance include spousal support, spouse working schedule, number of children, home responsibilities, and parental responsibilities. Taking a cue from the conservation of resources theory, it can be confidently asserted that stress and conflict occur if various resources(money, house, quality of relationship, external support, positive outlook etc.) are threatened.
Having reviewed most of the studies, it is apparent that the scholars have clearly emphasized on three primary areas, i.e., children, spousal support, and an overall family support. Nonetheless, different authors have emphasized on different variables as per their own perception.
Loerch et al. (1989) identified three primary sources of family conflict as behavior, strain, and time. His survey included 156 men and women and results provided an evidence of work-family conflict based on different aspects. For instance, family intrusions best explained time-based conflicts. While his survey showed no notable correlation between time-based ( number of children, spousal working hours), and behavior based antecedent( role congruity) and family conflict, strain-based antecedent, i.e., the internal family conflict was found to have a positive connection with the work-family conflict.
Loerch research was quite extensive that also guided further studies to an extent. Supporting to the Loerch's results, Frone et al. (1997) reported that family support is likely to reduce work conflict by minimizing the family distress. He mentioned the rapid changes in the business environment and stated that an extreme work pressure can cause employees' burnout if they are not well-supported at home.
In the same vein, Adams et al. (1996) aptly pinpointed the positive connection between emotional support and work-family balance. They vindicated that family conflict leads to high stress level, depression, physical ailments, and lower life satisfaction. Examining the role of 'family interference', Adams stated that interfered work causes employee burnout, enhances stress levels, and job dissatisfaction. Along with spousal conflict, parental demands and expectations appeared as major themes in his studies, and it was found to be negatively linked with work-family balance. Furthermore, he correlated the number of children to increased pressure on married couples and lower well-being.
Succinctly, almost all major research studies have unanimously endorsed the direct role of children, family interference, family support, and spousal support. In line with Adams, other scholars have strongly pinpointed that number of children is positively related with WFC. A Norwegian study indicated that conflicts in work and family domains are usually more intense for couples with children. However, the conflict because of children was found to be higher in married couples than non-married couples.
Family support and spousal support were identified to reduce the intensity of WCF. These outcomes, though, reflected a tinge of gender difference. While criticisms from the family caused conflict and negativity for women, this factor was insignificant for men. However, men experienced negative spillovers on less affectual support from the family members. Halbesleben(2012) further posited that the spousal support decreased all three constructs of WCF as pinpointed by Loerch.
Spousal support, a primary direction of research related to WCF, engulfs a lot of sub-variables as a spousal job, spouse's working hours, spouses' working schedules, and the like. While no strong association was identified between WCF and spousal job, studies indirectly indicated that spousal job and working hours may play a negative role if they affect the intimate relationships, time being spent together, and perception towards each other. For example, while job of the spouse( preferable women) may hinder the normal functioning of the home and taking care of children, it may assist men with financial support and advice. So, no negative correlation can be drawn between WCF and spousal job. Taking a hint from expansionist theories, it can be posited that multiple role occupancies are quite beneficial. That is, conflict is likely to get reduced if men also assume the family role in sync with women putting on worker's role. It leads to work-family enrichment, quality, and a positive spillover. However, the connection between the spousal job and WFB has multiple and meandering dimensions that need to be studied separately to reach a conclusion. As of now, none of the studies has explicitly identified a positive/negative relationship between these two. The outcome, rather, depends on the consequences of the spousal job.
Last but not the least, interference is an important aspect that has found room in many research papers. Gutek, Searle, and Klepa(1991) examined the bi-directionality of WCF, that conflict can occur if work 'interferes' with the family or the family 'interferes' with the work. While work-related factors were found to be important for work-to-family conflict, family characteristics were considered notable for family-to-work conflict. In both directions nonetheless, family stress and family conflict were found to be strongly associated with deteriorated work-family balance.
Review
Having reviewed these various opinion, it is clear that there are no conflicting ideas among scholars with regard to family characteristics and work-family balance except the spousal role. While features of work-family balance and conflict are almost clear, spousal job carries a tinge of doubt and confusion. Still, while some researchers have pointed out spousal job as bringing in negativity to the family, many authors have reported that working mothers exhibit better psychological status than stay-at-home mothers. Other than that, almost all scholars have pinpointed similar features that can reduce or increase the work-family balance.
Some authors have also taken stock of cultural and societal aspects while discussing WCF. For example, a study conducted in Hong Kong revealed that married females reported a high intensity of WCF compared to their male counterparts. Insufficient time to spend with children and taking care of their needs substantially reduced the satisfaction in life. Several other studies conducted in Singapore, Japan, and Malaysia endorsed that parental demands put more pressure on women than men. As such, women experience an intense WCF and tend to juggle between their family life and career pursuits.
Nevertheless, there are gaps in the sense that most of the studies till now have fathomed the work aspects of work-family balance. Only a few are there who have dared to examine the family aspects of work-family balance. Moreover, most of the studies have neglected the roles of culture, society, race, and ethnicity in deciding the outcomes. For instance, while family interference and criticism may affect Asian women hardly, the incidence of these factors is less likely to be severe in developed nations like America and Europe. Likewise, while marital status is a stressor in conservative cultures, it may not find significance in open cultures. Had these aspects been considered, the literature would have been more promising and profound.
Current literature also exhibits some more limitations. Firstly, most of the researchers have relied on self-reports that can affect the outcomes. The causal relationship between work-family conflict and outcome variables has been tested with cross-sectional data; longitudinal designs and multiple data sources can overcome this demerit.
References
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Bhargava, S., & Baral, R. (2009). Antecedents and Consequences of Work-family Enrichment Among Indian Managers . Psychological Studies , 213-225.
Frone, M., Yardley, J., & Markel, K. (1997). Developing and Testing an Integrative Model of the Work Family Interface. Journal of Vocational Behavior , 145-167.
Gutek, B., Searle, S., & Klepa, L. (1991). Rational Versus Gender Role Explanations for Work-family Conflict. Journal of Applied Psychology , 560-68.
Halbeselben, J., Wheeler, A., & Rossi, A. (2012). The Costs and Benefits of Working with One's Spouse: A Two-sample Examination of Spousal Support, Work-Family Conflict, and Emotional Exhaustion in Work-linked Relationships. Journal of Organizational Behavior , 597-615.
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