The Impact of Family Structure on the Structure of Work
Abstract
The research supported by this contract investigated the interfaces between dual-earner couples' work and family behaviors by looking simultaneously at intra-spouse relations (same person work and family issues) and cross-spouse issues (his work and her family issues, for example). Dual-earner couples were treated as a system with inputs from and outputs to both work and family environments. Particular attention was paid to the question of whether dual earner couples with children were restructuring their work behaviors in order to accommodate family matters. The objectives of the research were: The identification of work role behaviors and family role behaviors that conflict; The identification of occupations in which role behaviors are traditional, but in which there is some evidence that alternative work role behaviors are being exhibited; The identification of family types characterized by family developmental stages and by each spouse's marital/family satisfaction and family involvement; The identification of conditions of job involvement, organizational culture, labor economics and career stage that facilitate work role restructuring; The development of a technique to measure the degree of work role restructuring; The test of a model of relationships between work and family factors and work role restructuring; The research included two different questionnaire surveys of couples and an interview study in six different firms. A list of technical reports and publications is in an appendix to this report.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 30, 1987
- Accession Number
- ADA187965
Entities
People
- Jeanne Brett
- Sara Yogev
Organizations
- Northwestern University