FAMILY WORK CONFLICT

Family Work Conflict

Family Work Conflict

Section One: Thesis Statement

Parents must provide security and support for their children, and they need to be prepared for the challenges of balancing work and family in today's society.

Section Two: Work Family Conflict From A Psychological Perspective

Psychological Perspective presents up-to-date information on work-home issues, including the latest research findings. The issue's emphasis is strongly psychological, with a focus on practical solutions, and includes chapters which deal with psychological issues such as the conflict between work and family, how work stresses may affect partners, and recovery from work. It also includes sections on legal issues, as well as examples of initiatives being implemented by leading employers. Contributors are drawn from the leading researchers in their fields and reflect the international character of the current challenges facing employers and employees (Yang Chen & Hunt 2007).

The family member earning the income "often feels stress and encounters difficulties trying to meet their responsibilities as family members and as employees" (Burke & Greenglass 2001 583-594). This affects their performance at work and at home. Child care is the largest concern parents have when it comes to their family and their work. There are many options available for parents when it comes to childcare, such as daycare, nannies, relatives, babysitters, and schools, although it is not that easy. Some families cannot afford daycare or nannies; some do not have families they can rely on for childcare and some parents' work schedules do not accommodate babysitter's hours.

Section Three: Sociological Perspective

The social conflict theory states that "conflict is natural and inevitable in all human interaction" (Gjerdingen McGovern Bekker Lundberg & Willemsen 2000 1-20). It is not seen as a negative theory, it just calls for people to be aware that conflict will arise, and that they need to come up with solutions to these struggles. This is no different in the family. Today's families have to deal with tension on the macro level and the micro level. Work and employment affect both the macro and micro elements of the family. More and more varieties of families are coming about, such as dual-income families, single-parent families, and families who take care of their children as well as their parents. These people face tribulations everyday of their lives while trying to juggle work and their family. Mostly in dual-income families, and single-parent families, people are performing a "double day". According to Yang Chen & Hunt, (2007), the double day, or second shift, refers to the combination of paid and unpaid work most people do.

Today, the term "family" is difficult to define. All families are unique, and they can range anywhere from single parent families to extended families. Most importantly though, it is in the family where the next generation is being built.

Section Four: Culture May Influence The Work Family Conflict

We developed a measure of work-family culture (i.e., the shared assumptions, beliefs, and values regarding the extent to which an organization supports and values the integration of employees' work and family lives) and examined ...