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Increasing Job Demands and Long Work Hours Among the Factors Contributing to Increase Work-Family Conflict in Men

July 28, 2011 Comments off

Increasing Job Demands and Long Work Hours Among the Factors Contributing to Increase Work-Family Conflict in Men
Source: Families and Work Institute

Families and Work Institute’s (FWI) most recent National Study of the Changing Workforce, a nationally representative study of the U.S. workforce, finds that men now experience more work-family conflict than women. This is especially true among fathers in dual-earner couples whose level of stress has risen from 35% in 1977 to 60% in 2008. Since that finding was released, it has generated a great deal of attention and speculation.

A report released today by FWI, with funding from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and the IBM Corporation, The New Male Mystique, is the first to take the same data set and conduct an in-depth exploration of the underlying reasons behind men’s rising work-family conflict.

Key findings include:

  • Spending more time at work significantly increases the potential for work-family conflict. Among men who work 50 or more hours per week, 60% report experiencing some or a lot of conflict, compared to men who work 40-49 hours a week, 39% of whom experience conflict. In fact, the amount of time men spend working is more important in predicting their work-family conflict than the time men spend on child care, chores, and leisure.
  • Men who work in demanding jobs are more likely to experience more work-family conflict (61%) than men whose jobs are moderately demanding (44%)
  • Fathers in dual-earner couples are more likely to experience conflict as well. Interestingly, these fathers work three hours more per week than men their ages without children.
  • Many fathers would prefer to work less, but they work long hours to earn money for their families.

+ Full Report (PDF)

Categories: business and economics, children and families, Families and Work Institute, labor, social and cultural issues
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