Changing Work and Work-Family Conflict: Evidence from the Work, Family, and Health Network*

Details

• Alternative Title:
  Am Sociol Rev
• Personal Author:
  Kelly, Erin L. ; Moen, Phyllis ; Oakes, J. Michael ; Fan, Wen ; Okechukwu, Cassandra ; Davis, Kelly D. ; Hammer, Leslie ; Kossek, Ellen ; King, Rosalind Berkowitz ; Hanson, Ginger ; Mierzwa, Frank ; Casper, Lynne
• Description:
  Schedule control and supervisor support for family and personal life are work resources that may help employees manage the work-family interface. However, existing data and designs have made it difficult to conclusively identify the effects of these work resources. This analysis utilizes a group-randomized trial in which some units in an information technology workplace were randomly assigned to participate in an initiative, called STAR, that targeted work practices, interactions, and expectations by (a) training supervisors on the value of demonstrating support for employees' personal lives and (b) prompting employees to reconsider when and where they work. We find statistically significant, though modest, improvements in employees' work-family conflict and family time adequacy and larger changes in schedule control and supervisor support for family and personal life. We find no evidence that this intervention increased work hours or perceived job demands, as might have happened with increased permeability of work across time and space. Subgroup analyses suggest the intervention brings greater benefits to employees more vulnerable to work-family conflict. This study advances our understanding of the impact of social structures on individual lives by investigating deliberate organizational changes and their effects on work resources and the work-family interface with a rigorous design.
• Keywords:
  Experiment Group-randomized Trial Organizations Schedule Control Work-family Conflict
• Source:
  Am Sociol Rev. 79(3):485-516
• Pubmed ID:
  25349460
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC4208075
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Funding:
  R24 HD041023/HD/NICHD NIH HHSUnited States/ ; U01 HD051217/HD/NICHD NIH HHSUnited States/ ; U01 OH008788/OH/NIOSH CDC HHSUnited States/ ; U01 AG027669/AG/NIA NIH HHSUnited States/ ; U01 HD059773/HD/NICHD NIH HHSUnited States/ ; U01 HD051256/HD/NICHD NIH HHSUnited States/ ; R03 AG046393/AG/NIA NIH HHSUnited States/ ; U01 HD051276/HD/NICHD NIH HHSUnited States/ ; U01 HD051218/HD/NICHD NIH HHSUnited States/
• Volume:
  79
• Issue:
  3
• Collection(s):
  CDC Public Access
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:5e320f74e71ab76bfdae28a39099c71a12e6767a9c11386f21caab6e418bd971
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/41990/cdc_41990_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1011.60 KB ]