Work-family strains and gains among two-earner couples

Abstract

This paper investigates the sources of work‐family strains and gains in a sample of 300 two‐earner couples. Although most men and women report work‐family gains, not all individuals experienced work‐family strains. Workload and the quality of experiences at work and at home were major predictors of work‐family strains. Experiences at work and at home, social support, and sex‐role attitudes were major predictors of work‐family gains.

What matters for working fathers? Job characteristics, work-family conflict and enrichment, and fathers' postpartum mental health in an Australian cohort

“…Multiple competing roles can drain energy and time, resulting in overload and strain (25). Work-family enrichment stems from the alternative concept that an accumulation of diverse roles enhances social support, selfesteem, and skill-building, promoting mental health (26)(27)(28). Together, these constructs capture important, complementary aspects of the work-family interface.…”

The National Work–Life Balance Index©: The European Case

“…McGinnity and Whelan (2009), and related studies, have dealt with the issue of comparative work-life conflict in Europe, using the European Social Survey. Other proposed measures to assess work-family conflict are the Work-Family Strains and Gains (Marshall and Barnett 1993) and the Work-Family Balance Scale (Wooden 2003;Zhang et al 2012). We propose an index (the National Work-Life Balance IndexÓ) to analyse individual efforts to balance the work and life spheres, composed of a range of variables that can be measured at a national level.…”

Benefits and Challenges of Dual-Earning: Perspectives of Successful Couples

“…Researchers assumed that maternal employment would be associated with stress, overload, and negative outcomes for families. These assumptions underlie what is known as the "scarcity hypothesis" (Marshall & Barnett, 1993), which maintains that because individuals have limits of time and energy, additional responsibilities will necessarily create tension and overload (e.g., Coser, 1974). Research in this tradition focuses on the concept of work-family conflict, which Greenhaus and Beutell (1985) defined as "a form of interrole conflict in which the role pressures from the work and family domains are mutually incompatible in some respect.…”