Work-family conflict, self-reported general health and work-family reconciliation policies in Europe: Results from the European Working Conditions Survey 2015

Abstract

The increasing labor market participation of women in Europe leads to many women and men having to reconcile paid work with family work and thus reporting work-family conflict (WFC). WFC is related to different dimensions of health. In the present article, we analyzed the role different reconciliation policies among European countries may play regarding WFC and its association with self-reported health. The analyses are based on data from Eurofound's European Working Conditions Survey 2015. The working populations from 23 European countries aged between 18 and 59 with at least one child up to 18 years of age are included (n = 10,273). Weighted logistic regression was applied to estimate the association between WFC and self-reported general health (SRH). Using multilevel models, country-level variations in the association of individual-level WFC and health were calculated. In a second step, the effect of country-level reconciliation policies on WFC was examined (adjusted for age, sociodemographic and occupational characteristics). The odds ratio for moderate to very poor SRH is 2.5 (95% CI: 1.92–3.34) for mothers with high WFC compared to mothers with low WFC. For fathers with high WFC, the adjusted odds ratio is also 2.5 (95% CI: 1.80–3.37). Between countries, the association between WFC and health is similar. Country-level parental leave policies, the use of formal childcare and mothers’ labor market participation are associated with reduced WFC in Europe. In conclusion, the results reveal a strong association between WFC and SRH in Europe. The multilevel analyses show that certain reconciliation policies have an impact on the prevalence of WFC, with different results for mothers and fathers. Mothers in particular can be supported by sufficient maternal leave and formal care for children. These are tangible policy approaches for reducing WFC and may thus improve health in Europe.

Longitudinal Analysis of Work-to-Family Conflict and Self-Reported General Health among Working Parents in Germany

“…Our analyses are the first to show that parents with high WTFC living in Germany report significantly poorer self-reported general health than mothers and fathers with low WTFC. This confirms results from European and U.S.-American studies in which high WTFC was associated with poorer self-reported general health [16,38]. Considering WTFC as a source of stress, the results are consistent with stress process theory [13,14], which argues that stress is a significant predictor of individual health.…”

“…The results also implicate no gender differences in direction and strength regarding the association of WTFC and health. This is in line with an internationally growing number of studies that do not show differences in health-related consequences of WTFC by gender [38]. On the other hand, this seems remarkable against the background of the different work-and family-related circumstances mothers and fathers are facing in Germany.…”

“…The answers were grouped into "very good/good" and "satisfying/not so good/bad". Dichotomization was implemented to provide results that are comparable to prior research and easy to interpret [20,32,38]. Categorizing the ordinal scale into a binary response does not have an impact on the estimated effects of covariates [39].…”

Teachers’ Burnout during COVID-19 Pandemic in Spain: Trait Emotional Intelligence and Socioemotional Competencies

“…After more than a year of restrictions, the well-being of citizens in general, and teachers particularly, has been affected according to different studies [2][3][4]. In this regard, although efforts have been made to train teachers through online learning platforms, and work-family reconciliation has been [5], this modal change implied a series of challenges when developed in a hostile, complex and unprecedented context [6]. Therefore, it is necessary to develop sustainable work environments and policies, which provide well-being to teachers in different aspects (social, emotional, physical), which would be reflected not only in the improvement of their productivity-even in extreme situations, as is the case of job development during the COVID-19 pandemic [7][8][9]; it would also help to prevent pathologies associated with the teaching function, such as burnout due to prolonged exposures of stress, factors and individual characteristics [10], such as age and years of experience [11,12], gender of teachers [13,14] and poorly or unsustainable working conditions [15].…”

A comparative study of the work-family conflicts prevalence, its sociodemographic, family, and work attributes, and its relation to the self-reported health status in Japanese and Egyptian civil workers

“…Since then, self-rated health was widely used in social science research. So far, there is a considerable bulk of research studied the attributes of W_F_Cs [14][15][16][17][18] and linked W_F_Cs to poor self-rated health of community dwellers [8,11] and working populations [12,[19][20][21]. The literature indicated vast variabilities in the W_F_Cs' levels and their correlates, the proportions of subjects with poor self-rated health, and the magnitude of association between these con icts and self-rated health across different cultures and populations.…”