The Role of House Helps in Work–Family Balance of Women Employed in the Formal Sector in Kenya

Muasya, Gladys

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-01237-7_9

Cited by 15 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…The road infrastructure in most urban areas in Kenya is poor and prone to vehicle congestion, especially during rush hours. Thus, employees have to leave their houses for work at dawn, and usually arrive after 6:00 p.m. in the evening due to traffic delays (Muasya, 2014). This has exacerbated the work-family challenges that women face, particularly those who have young children.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As families pursue formal employment in the urban areas, they lose or cannot afford work-family support, and they adopt the nuclear model of family (Aryee, 2005;Noyoo, 2014). Most women in the formal sector are part of dual working couples and have fixed job schedules that go from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.; therefore, many families hire domestic workers (Muasya, 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Work–Family Balance Choices of Women Working in Kenyan Universities

Muasya

2016

SAGE Open

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The proportion of women working in the formal sector in Sub-Saharan Africa has increased in recent years. The kinship networks are weakening, leading to a decline in the traditional forms of support for child care and housework. This study examined the work-family balance options of women working in Kenyan universities within the context of changing national domestic workers' legislation. Data were collected by use of surveys in two universities. Results showed that as the cost of hiring domestic workers increased, women became indifferent in their choice between employing domestic workers and using daycare centers. Women with older children who employed day domestic workers were more likely to use daycare centers than women with younger children who employed live-in domestic workers. Women with young children in preschool and primary school found their universities less accommodating in helping them balance work and family demands. Employers perceived that the domestic workers' legislation led to a drop in morale among domestic workers, and demands of pay raises as they became choosier and more inclined to search for better paying employers. It also resulted in a shift of work-family balance strategy for women who opted to hire domestic workers on an "as-needed" or "weekend basis." Some women stopped hiring them altogether and instead started taking their young children to daycare centers. Cost and affordability determined the use of domestic workers. These women suggested that their employers should increase their job flexibility and put up subsidized daycare centers.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Work–Family Balance Choices of Women Working in Kenyan Universities

Muasya

2016

SAGE Open

Self Cite

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“…Women travel long distances searching for water for domestic use apart from caring for the family Also, unlike urban areas where working class women hire house helps to assist with child care and other family chores (Muasya 2014), women in rural areas grapple with insufficient resources for survival, meaning they have to bear the burden of child and family care demands. Previous studies have shown that where husbands are present, they provide some support in these tasks reducing stress related to child/ family care and work-balance conflicts (Muasya 2016).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gendered Vulnerability to Climate Change Impacts in Selected Counties in Kenya

Nzengya

Maguta

2021

African Handbook of Climate Change Adaptation

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Extreme climate change events such as frequent and prolonged droughts or floods associated with climate change can be very disruptive to peoples’ livelihoods particularly in rural settings, where people rely on the immediate environment for livelihood. Shocks in the people’s livelihoods can trigger diverse responses that include migration as a coping or adaption strategy. Migration takes many forms depending on the context and resources availability. Very few studies in Kenya have used qualitative analysis to bring up women’s voices in relation to gender, climate change, and migration, especially along hydrological gradient. This chapter presents results of qualitative research conducted from 58 participants in 2018 in three counties in Kenya, namely, Kiambu County, Machakos, and Makueni. The study sought to examine gender perceptions related to climate-induced migration, that is: whether climate change is perceived to be affecting women’s livelihood differently from that of men; examine in what ways experiences of climate induced migration differed for men and women; explore perceptions on the county government efforts to cope with climate-induced migration; and examine perceptions of the role of nongovernmental agencies in helping citizens cope with climate change. From the results obtained on ways in which climate change affected women livelihoods more than men had four themes: (1) women exerted more strain in domestic chores, child/family care, and in the farm labor; (2) women also experienced more time demands. The sources of water and firewood were getting more scarce leading to women travel long distances in search to fetch water and firewood; (3) reduced farm yields, hence inadequate food supply; and (4) the effects of time and strain demands on women was a contributory factor to women poor health and domestic conflicts. Several measures that the county government could take to assist women to cope with climate change-induced migration had five themes which include the following: (1) developing climate change mitigations, and reducing deforestation; (2) increasing water harvesting and storage; (3) develop smart agriculture through the use of drought-resistant crops and drought mitigation education; (4) encourage diversification of livelihoods; and finally (5) providing humanitarian assistance to the most vulnerable populations such as orphans and the very poor. Thirdly, the measures mentioned that NGO’s could take to assist rural communities to cope with climate change-induced migration did not vary significantly from those mentioned for county government, except probably for a new theme of increasing advocacy for climate adaption policies.

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“…Effective communication is crucial in the negotiation process. Sense of dignity and empathetic understanding the other parties' interest and concern derived from the parties' willingness to listening to each other and meaningful relationship (Muasya, 2014). Various sources of social support at work (organization, supervisor and coworker) activate the family-friendly policy use and reducing work-family conflict through open and trustworthy communication (Schulz-Knappe & Ter Hoeven, 2020).…”

Section: Moderating Effect Of Work-family Boundary Negotiationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Family-Friendly Policy and Work-Family Conflict Mitigation: The Role of Work-Family Boundary Negotiation

Khor

Effendi

2021

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Family-friendly policy is impossible to fit all working individuals. The circumstance has been revealed in work-family literature which relationship between the policy use and the work-family conflict mitigation has been found inconsistent. Little focus is given in the past studies to ensure the human resource policy is truly useful in meeting individuals’ needs. Work, family or both work and family life could be important to individuals. The distinctive life centrality requires individuals to negotiate with the significant others who have influence on their work and family life arrangements to access and use the preferred and needed family-friendly policy. Boundary management practices seem to be useful for working individuals to reduce work-family conflict. This conceptual paper aims to propose work-family boundary negotiation to buffer the relationship of family-friendly policy use and work-family conflict. Boundary theory is the underlying theory embedded to explain the phenomena. Boundary negotiation style that could be employed for accessing the policy and managing work-family boundary effectively is identified. Future directions and implications for research on negotiation in dealing with work-family issue are discussed.

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The Role of House Helps in Work–Family Balance of Women Employed in the Formal Sector in Kenya

Cited by 15 publications

References 7 publications

Work–Family Balance Choices of Women Working in Kenyan Universities

Work–Family Balance Choices of Women Working in Kenyan Universities

Gendered Vulnerability to Climate Change Impacts in Selected Counties in Kenya

Family-Friendly Policy and Work-Family Conflict Mitigation: The Role of Work-Family Boundary Negotiation

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