Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: Hochschild's (1997) description of the "time bind" faced by many working parents has changed the way researchers, the media, and the public think about the relationship between home and work. Few researchers have empirically tested the generalizability of the "work as haven" model. Published analyses tend to be limited to nonrepresentative samples, and focus on workers' desired and actual work hours. In this paper, we use nationally representative data on full time employees to examine the predictors of viewing the job as a "haven" from home. Importantly, we include measures of job characteristics and the work environment itself. Our analyses show that dual-earner parents are not homogeneous in their likelihood of viewing work as a haven, and that workplace characteristics are key predictors of work-related affect.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Long work hours (“overwork”) are increasingly common, especially in high-skilled jobs. This study shows that this overwork phenomenon exacerbates gender inequality. In particular, it shows how spousal overwork affects the likelihood of leaving the labor force of women and men differently. Although overwork causes conflicts for both men and women in many dual earner households, a normative conception of gender may put more pressure on women than on men to quit their jobs. Using the 1996 Survey of Income and Program Participation, I show that having a husband working 50 to 60 hours per week increases women’s odds of leaving the labor force by 16%, and having a husband working more than 60 hours per week increases the odds by 46%, compared to women whose husbands work less than 50 hours per week. In contrast, having a wife who works long hours does not appear to increase men’s odds of quitting their jobs. This gendered effect is greater among workers in professional and managerial occupations, where overwork is more prevalent than other occupations. Furthermore, the effect is more dramatic among workers who have children. For women with children, the odds of quitting increase by 34% when their husbands work 50 to 60 hours and by 90% for women when their husbands work more than 60 hours per week. This gendered effect of spousal overwork suggests that the prevalence of overwork can reinforce the separate spheres arrangement, which consists of breadwinning men and homemaking women, in many formerly dual earner households.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: This study analyzes a couple-level (N = 880), longitudinal dataset of employees working in upstate New York to document the individual- and couple-level effects of caring for an adult relative on changes in well-being for women and men. We use a life-course theoretical framework to examine both positive and negative effects of caregiving transitions and spousal caregiving on a range of well-being outcomes. We find that: 1) caregiving is associated with worse well-being for dual-earner women and better well-being for dual-earner men; 2) women caregivers who have flexible work arrangements have better well-being than caregivers that don’t use these arrangements; and 3) spousal caregiving does impact individual well-being in different ways for women and men. In particular, husbands’ caregiving activities detract from wives’ well-being while a couple-level “trading off” care strategy is linked to increases in husbands’ well-being. These results substantiate and expand upon earlier cross-sectional findings and support the utility of a life course theoretical framework for caregiving research.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: What are dual-earner families’ sources of social support? Social support can constitute an important mechanism by which parents deal with the stressors of everyday life and balance work and family responsibilities. A better understanding of the dynamics and processes of social support is especially crucial in light of the recent changes that have affected both the family and the nature of work and has implications for family’s functioning and family members’ well-being. The purpose of this study is to examine the factors associated with social support among dual-earner families. It is based on a sample of 191 dual-earner families drawn from the Sloan Five Hundred Families Study, in which mothers, fathers and children were surveyed and filled time diaries. The preliminary findings suggest that working parents, who have a limited amount of time to invest in informal social ties, establish supportive social relationships through their children and through the mother’s work. Mothers’ work characteristics, such as work autonomy and feeling about work and family, are significantly associated with the family’s level of social support. On the contrary, no significant effect was found for any of fathers’ individual or work characteristics. A two-stage least squares analysis (TSLS) further indicates that children’s social involvement has a positive effect on their family’s level of social support, and thus provides preliminary support to the hypothesis that through their children parents establish social ties and connect to the local community.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: This study analyzes panel data (two surveys, two years apart) on dual-earner couples (N = 873) to test a model of within-couple stress contagion. We examine whether changes in job stress in the form of negative work spillover “crossover” to negatively influence the well-being of employees’ spouses. Couple-level structural models identify evidence of crossover effects from employees to their spouses, but findings are not consistent with the stress contagion model. Decreases in men’s and women’s negative work spillover predict increased distress in their spouses. Post-hoc evidence indicates that these relationships are explained through own and spousal appraisals of work burden and home demands. We also provide a test distinguishing whether the effects of stress contagion cumulate over time, or whether individuals adapt to their partner’s ongoing work stress, finding support for the adaptation hypothesis.