As more and more women workers enter into labor market activities, they are experiencing conflict between work and family. This study is exploring the factors affecting women workers' work-family conflict based on Resource theory.
This study was to ...
As more and more women workers enter into labor market activities, they are experiencing conflict between work and family. This study is exploring the factors affecting women workers' work-family conflict based on Resource theory.
This study was to verify the following : first, to identify the relations between income resource(absolute income and relative income) and work-family conflicts of married employees women in Korea; second, to identify the effects of interaction between income resource and work-family conflicts by class, age, gender role, and education.
The data set of this study is the third wave data of Korean Longitudinal Survey of Women and Family(KLoWF) collected by Korean Women's Development Institute, in 2010. The data were analysed by multiple regression analysis and hierarchical multiple regression. In addition, the moderating effects were analysed with simple slope test developed by Hayes and Matthes(2009).
The findings of the study were as follows:
First, relative income(ratio) between spouses is negatively related to work-family conflict. This means that the power of decision-making within the family based on the relative distribution of income resources between the spouses is working.
Second, there are differences depending on the level of household income in the relationship between relative income and work-family conflict in 1.5 breadwinner(husband full-time job and wife part-time job) case. In relative income, work-family conflict will be reduced in high class, but be increases in low class.
Third, the relationship between the relative resources and work-family conflict shows the difference depending on the gender role attitudes. When women worker has a equality-oriented gender role, the increased work-family conflict and the impact of the relative income do not appear in traditional gender roles.
Fourth, depending on the level of education, the relationship between absolute income and work-family conflict is different. The educated group of absolute income and work-family conflict show a negative relationship, and less educated group do a positive relationship.
What these result imply are as follows. First, in order to solve the problem by the unequal distribution of power resources between spouses in work-family conflict, the reproduction of structural gender inequality system should be dismantled. Gender inequality in the family reproduces social inequality continuously. Therefore improvement of employment conditions compelling women to do more work is urgently needed in order to alleviate the heavy burden of the majority of working women.
Second, work-family conflict policy should be considered for the interaction between class and gender. The effect of power resource differs according to classes within 1.5 breadwinner women groups. To improve this situation, working women's conflict need differentiated policies. For example, because highly educated, high-income women are career-oriented, therefore to improve status in labor market and friendly-family policies are required. Also low-income class women's double-burden of care and work have to be resolved.
Third, institutional efforts are needed for the formation of equality-oriented gender role attitudes. The degree of support to a dual-earner family has a positive effect of gender role attitudes. In other words, equality-oriented gender role attitudes have to be extended, and it can be achieved through the public support. It's not the policy that assumes the gender division of labor, but universal family policy.
Key words : work-family conflict, resource theory, married working women, absolute income resource, relative income resource, gender inequality, interaction effect, Korean Longitudinal Survey of Women and Family(KLoWF)