This doctoral dissertation, composed of three studies, examines the associations between the work-family conflict and facilitation of dual-earner parents with school-age children, parenting behaviors, children's characteristics and perceptions, and th...
This doctoral dissertation, composed of three studies, examines the associations between the work-family conflict and facilitation of dual-earner parents with school-age children, parenting behaviors, children's characteristics and perceptions, and the happiness of themselves, their spouses, and their children from a multidimensional perspective, using the interdependence concept of family systems theory as a theoretical framework. Notably, it considers the bidirectional relationship where the characteristics of upper elementary school children may act not merely as outcomes but also as antecedents of their parents’ work-family conflict and facilitation. All three studies utilize data from the Panel Study on Korean Children (PSKC), a significant strength being its inclusion of responses from fathers, mothers, and children within the same family. A particularly noteworthy aspect of this research is the inclusion of self-reported data from elementary school-aged children, an area often overlooked in prior studies.
[Study 1] examined dual-earner parents and their upper elementary school-aged children (4th–6th grade) to investigate the relationships between fathers' and mothers' work-family conflict and facilitation, respectively, and the happiness of fathers, mothers, and children. A fixed-effects panel regression analysis was conducted using data from father-mother-child 1,931 families. As for father and mother, fixed-effects panel regression analyses were conducted, including the parent’s own work-family conflict and facilitation as well as those of their spouse, and as for children, the work-family conflict and facilitation of both parents. Results indicated that for fathers, only their own work-family conflict and facilitation were significantly associated with their happiness. For mothers, higher levels of their own work-family facilitation were positively associated with their happiness, whereas higher levels of the father’s work-family conflict were negatively associated with mother’s happiness. Regarding children, higher levels of fathers' work-family facilitation were associated with greater children happiness, while no significant associations were found between mothers’ work-family conflict and facilitation and children happiness.
[Study 2] focused on authoritative parenting behaviors as a mediating factor between parents’ work-parenting conflict and facilitation and children’s happiness. Specifically, it examined whether parents’ work-parenting conflict and facilitation during their child’s third-grade year had direct effects on children’s happiness in the fourth grade, or whether these effects were mediated through parents’ respective authoritative parenting behaviors. Structural equation modeling was conducted on father-mother-children 545 families. Findings revealed that work-parenting facilitation for both fathers and mothers was positively related to maternal authoritative parenting behaviors, although such maternal behaviors did not significantly influence children’s happiness in the fourth grade. Conversely, fathers’ work-parenting facilitation was associated with their own authoritative parenting behaviors, which positively impacted children’s happiness in the fourth grade, even after controlling for their third-grade happiness levels. This suggests that fathers’ work-parenting facilitation indirectly influences children’s happiness through their own authoritative parenting practices.
[Study 3] utilized latent profile analysis at the couple level to identify patterns in dual-earner couples’ work-family conflict and facilitation when their children were in the fourth grade. The analysis of father-mother-children 659 families revealed four distinct profiles: "Father Weak Conflict-Mother Weak Facilitation" (37.84%), "Both Conflict" (24.18%), "Both Facilitation" (23.76%), and "Father Facilitation-Mother Conflict" (14.22%). The "Father Weak Conflict-Mother Weak Facilitation" group, characterized by lower levels of work-family conflict and higher facilitation for wives compared to husbands, represented the largest proportion of this study. In addition, the studies considered children's individual and school-related developmental characteristics, as well as their perceptions of family life, as potential predictors of the patterns of work-family conflict and facilitation at the couple level. Moving beyond the conventional perspective of prior research—which has primarily viewed children as passive recipients of parental work-family issues—this study examined whether children’s characteristics and perceptions, including self-esteem, peer attachment, perceived parental achievement pressure, and perceived sufficiency of family leisure time, significantly predict the profiles of work-family conflict and enrichment experienced by both mothers and fathers. The results revealed that children's perceptions of family life, specifically perceived parental achievement pressure and perceived sufficiency of family leisure time, served as significant predictors. More specifically, when children reported a higher sense of parental achievement pressure, their parents were more likely to belong to the “Both conflict” type compared to the “Father Weak Conflict–Mother Weak Facilitation” type. Conversely, when children perceived that they had sufficient leisure time with their family, their parents were more likely to belong to the “Both Facilitation” type rather than “Father Weak Conflict–Mother Weak Facilitation” and “Both Conflict”. These findings suggest that achievement pressure and family leisure time are critical family system variables in the work-family interface of dual-earner households with upper elementary school-aged children, ultimately contributing to family happiness. Notably, these variables were reported directly by the children through child self-report surveys, underscoring the importance of children’s perceptions in understanding the work-family dynamics of their parents.
In summary, these three studies applied the interdependence perspective of family systems theory to the work-family interface, focusing on dual-earner fathers and their upper elementary school-aged children—groups that have received limited attention in previous research. The findings empirically demonstrated that, during the period when children are in upper elementary school, fathers’ experiences of work-family conflict or facilitation play a significant role in the happiness of other family members, including their spouses and children. Moreover, children's perceptions of family life were found to be significant predictors of both mothers’ and fathers’ profiles of work-family conflict and facilitation. These findings highlight the need for future research on the work-family interface to more actively incorporate the interdependence framework of family systems theory. They also emphasize the importance of including not only dual-earner mothers but also fathers, along with children's perceptions and characteristics, in the design of work-family studies.
Another prominent point that runs through the three studies is the importance of considering work-family facilitation and its explanatory power for happiness. The simultaneous analysis of work-family conflict and facilitation using a fixed-effects panel regression analysis, structural equation modeling, and latent profile analysis emphasizes the importance of paying attention to work-family facilitation. Academically, this underscores the necessity of integrating work-family facilitation and its related factors into studies on dual-earner families with upper elementary school-aged children who are early adolescent children. Practically, the findings provide valuable insights for the development of family-friendly policies by corporations and governments and for designing educational or promotional initiatives targeting dual-earner households with children in early adolescence.