Work–family conflict

Work–family conflict occurs when an individual experiences incompatible demands between work and family roles, causing participation in both roles to become more difficult. This imbalance creates conflict at the work-life interface. It is important for organizations and individuals to understand the implications linked to work-family conflict. In certain cases, work–family conflict has been associated with increased occupational burnout, job stress, decreased health, and issues pertaining to organizational commitment and job performance. Work–family conflict occurs when an individual experiences incompatible demands between work and family roles, causing participation in both roles to become more difficult. This imbalance creates conflict at the work-life interface. It is important for organizations and individuals to understand the implications linked to work-family conflict. In certain cases, work–family conflict has been associated with increased occupational burnout, job stress, decreased health, and issues pertaining to organizational commitment and job performance. Work-family conflict was first studied in the late 19th century. During this time period, work and income moved from inside the home (agricultural work) to outside the home (factories). Industrialization challenged the current relationship between working and family. Boundary theory and border theory are the foundations used to study work-family conflict. Boundary theory divides social life into two interdependent sections, work and family. Individuals have different roles and responsibilities in each section. Since the sections are interdependent, two roles cannot take place at the same time. Individuals have to participate in role transformation between expectations of the workplace and expected roles within the family structure. Border theory expands this by considering the influences each section has on the other. Border theory attempts to pin down ways to manage conflict and achieve balance between conflicting identities. Individuals may choose to treat these segments separately, moving back and forth between work and family roles (displaying boundary theory) or can decide to integrate the segments with hopes of finding balance. Conflict between work and family is bi-directional. There is a distinction between what is termed work-to-family conflict and what is termed family-to-work conflict. Work-to-family conflict occurs when experiences and commitments at work interfere with family life, such as extensive, irregular, or inflexible work hours, work overload and other forms of job stress, interpersonal conflict at work, extensive travel, career transitions, or an unsupportive supervisor or organization. For example, an unexpected meeting late in the day may prevent a parent from picking up his or her child from school. Family-to-work conflict occurs when experiences and commitments in the family interfere with work life, such as the presence of young children, primary responsibility for children, elder care responsibilities, interpersonal conflict within the family unit, or unsupportive family members. For example, a parent may need to take time off from work in order to take care of a sick child, or to witness a tournament or performance of a child. Family-to-work conflict is perceived to result in lower work productivity of employees. Within work-to-family conflict and family-to-work conflict, three subtypes of conflict have been identified: time-based, strain-based, and behavior-based. Time-based conflict entails competing time requirements across work and family roles, strain-based conflict entails pressures in one role impairing performance in the second role, and behavior-based conflict entails an incompatibility of behaviors necessary for the two roles. Although work interface with family (WIF) and family interface with work (FIW) are strongly correlated, more attention has been directed toward WIF. Research, largely attributed to the idea Ariel Russel Hochschild termed the 'ideal worker', depicts the inelastic nature of work roles and responsibilities. The expectations employers hold of an 'ideal worker' already rest on unrealistic assumptions about how the family should operate. Many employers expect that employees with families have someone tending to everything at home, leaving the worker unencumbered. Despite the fact that a majority of families in the U.S are dual earning, the image of the 'ideal worker' persists, presenting work-family conflict.