About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

47 Soc. Probs. 291 (2000)
Effective Work/Life Strategies: Working Couples, Work Conditions, Gender, and Life Quality

handle is hein.journals/socprob47 and id is 301 raw text is: Effective Work/Life Strategies: Working Couples, Work Conditions, Gender, and Life Quality PHYLLIS MOEN, Cornell University YAN YU, Grand Valley State University Using data on a sub-sample of workers in dual-earner families (from the 1992 National Study of the Chang- ing Workforce), we examine the strategies they use to manage work/life pressures, as well as how these strategies, along with workers' life stage and work conditions, predict multiple measures of psychological life quality (low work/family conflict, stress, and overload, along with high coping/mastery). We find that strategies and work con- ditions are gendered, with workers in dual-earner couples most apt to be in neotraditional arrangements (hus- bands in professional and/or long-hour jobs and wives working fewer hours, often in non-professional occupations). Life quality is gendered as well, with women in dual-earner arrangements reporting more stress and overload, as well as lower levels of coping/mastery than men. However, the factors associated with life quality are similar across gender, with conditions at work serving as key predictors of life quality indicators for both men and women. Specifically, having a demanding job and job insecurity are associated with low life quality, while having a supportive supervisor is positively linked to life quality outcomes. Work hours and work-hour preferences matter as well. Men and women in couples where both spouses work regular (39-45) full-time hours, tend to score high on indicators of life quality, while those working long hours and those preferring to work less, are less likely to do so. Families have always devised various strategies to deal with the inevitable exigencies that occur in life. During times of major social upheaval, when old rules and routines no longer apply, individual households may adopt various lines of adaptation (Moen and Wethington 1992). Eventually, new blueprints for living become part of the institutional landscape. In this process, there is, invariably, a period of structural lag (Riley and Riley 1994) defined as a time when institutionalized customs and practices persist in the face of changing realities. Contem- porary workers are confronting precisely such a lag in the interface between their work and family roles, as growing numbers experience both workplace and domestic responsibilities. This paper draws on data from a national sample to assess the life quality of workers in two- earner families facing the challenge of three jobs-two at work and one at home-in a world predicated on a gendered, breadwinner/homemaker template. We address the following ques- tion: What workplace conditions and couple-level strategies are most related to various indi- cators of life quality for men and women in dual-earner households? Prior to the industrial revolution, the family economy operated as a cohesive unit; typi- cally all family members, regardless of age or gender, were engaged in productive labor (Tilly and Scott 1978). With the growth of industrialization, this strategy persisted for a time, with wives, as well as husbands, children, as well as adults, expected to earn their keep through This research was supported by grants from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation (Sloan FDN #96-6-9 and #99-6-3, Phyllis Moen, principal investigator). The co-authors wish to thank Richard Shore, the Cornell Careers Institute Fellows, and the anonymous reviewers for their helpful suggestions, as well as Sarah Jaenike Demo and Musarrat Islam for their bibliographical and technical assistance. Direct correspondence to: Phyllis Moen, Department of Sociology, Cornell Uni- versity, G58 Martha Van Rensselaer Hall, Ithaca, NY 14853-4401. SOCIAL PROBLEMS, Vol. 47, No. 3, pages 291-326. ISSN: 0037-7791 © 2000 by Society for the Study of Social Problems, Inc. All rights reserved. Send requests for permission to reprint to: Rights and Permissions, University of California Press, Journals Division, 2000 Center St., Ste. 303, Berkeley, CA 94704-1223.

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most