Fathers’ work-family conflict: analysis of European Social Survey data

Svetlana Speight & Sara ConnollyMargaret O’Brien, Eloise Poole, Matthew Aldrich

July 2014, ESRC Research Methods Festival, Oxford

Note: The findings in this presentation are preliminary – please do not quote without authors’ permission

Outline• About the study• Theoretical background• Data, measures & hypotheses• Findings• Discussion

The findings in this presentation are preliminary – please do not quote without authors’ permission

About the study• Part of a larger study Fathers, Work and

Families in Twenty-first Century Britain: Beyond the Breadwinner Model?

• Funded by the ESRC as part of SDAI Phase 1• Collaboration between NatCen, UEA and TCRU

Policy and research context

• Work-family policy development: main focus on women and mothers, but…

• Acceleration of father-targeted policies since mid-1990s

• ‘Fatherhood regimes’ emerging– Fatherhood rights and obligations regulated by

policy (e.g. paternity leave and pay)– Promotion of a participative father

Wider context• Employment and working conditions

– Intensification, flexibilisation, increase in job insecurity, economic crisis

• Female/maternal employment rates• Gender roles at home

– Housework and childcare• ‘The incomplete revolution’ (Esping-

Andersen, 2009)

The new ‘male mystique’From Aumann K, Galinsky E & Matos K, 2011:

Theoretical background

Concepts

• Work-to-family conflict (WFC)• Family-to-work conflict (FWC)• Work-life balance (WLB)

– Problems of definition and measurement

Theoretical background

• Role theory (Greenhaus & Beutell, 1985)• Ecological systems theory• Demands and resources approach (Voydanoff,

2005)• The stress of higher status hypothesis (Schieman

et al. 2006, 2009)

Societal-level factors

• Type of production regime– Coordinated v liberal market economy– Labour rights standards

• Welfare regime: support for dual earner/dual carer model– ‘time to care’ and ‘time to work’ policies (Lewis, 2012): leave

policies, flexible working, formal childcare provision– Support for father care

• Gender culture / gender system– Gender division of labour (paid and unpaid), power relations,

cultural definitions of gender roles, informal childcare practices• Post-2008 economic crisis

Data, measures & hypotheses

Data• European Social Survey

– Round 2 (2004-2005)– Round 5 (2010-2011)

• UK, Sweden, the Netherlands, Germany, France, Spain, Greece, Poland

• Fathers only: less affected by the selection effect than mothers• Fathers in paid work, aged 20-64, in couples, with children aged

0-18• Sample size: about 1,500 per survey year in total

Work-to-family conflict• 2004 & 2010

– Worrying about work problems when not working– Feeling too tired after work to enjoy the things you

would like to do at home– Job prevents you from giving the time you want to

your partner and family– Partner or family gets fed up with the pressure of your

job

Scale: from ‘Never’ to ‘Always’ (5-point scale)

WFC score• Factor score (principal component analysis)• Mean value is 0, SD is 1• Higher values = higher WFC• Cronbach’s alpha = 0.73

Family-to-work conflict• 2004 & 2010

– Difficult to concentrate on work because of family responsibilities

• 2010 only– Family responsibilities prevent you from giving

the time you should to your job

Scale: from ‘Never’ to ‘Always’ (5-point scale)

Explanatory variables – paid work

– Working hours– Unsocial hours (weekends, evenings and

unpredictable overtime)– Occupational class (ISCO88 major groups)– Employee v self-employed

Explanatory variables – family circumstances

– Number of children – Age of the youngest child – Partner’s employment status / working hours– Partner working unsocial hours– Housework– Household income (subjective)

Explanatory variables – gender-role attitudes

• Composite measure of egalitarianism in gender-role attitudes:– A woman should be prepared to cut down on

her paid work for the sake of her family– When jobs are scarce, men should have more

right to a job than women(5-point agree/disagree scale)

Control variables

• Age• Education (years)

Hypotheses (work)

• Longer working hours -> higher WFC• Unsocial hours -> higher WFC • Occupational class: higher-status jobs (e.g.

managers, professionals) -> higher WFC • Self-employed -> lower WFC as more flexibility

and autonomy

Hypotheses (family)

• More children -> higher FWC/WFC• Younger children -> higher FWC/WFC• Partner not working or working part-time ->

lower FWC/WFC• Partner working unsocial hours -> higher

FWC/WFC• More housework -> higher WFC/FWC

Hypotheses (boundary spanning)

• More egalitarian gender-role attitudes -> higher pressure to ‘do it all’ -> higher FWC

• Low household income -> higher WFC/FWC

WFC v FWC

• Work-related variables will be more strongly associated with WFC, and family-related variables will be more strongly associated with FWC

Hypotheses (cross-national comparisons)

• Coordinated market economies / high labour rights standards (Sweden, Germany, Netherlands, France) -> lower WFC, liberal market economies (UK, Poland) -> higher WFC

• Better provision of formal childcare, lower cost of childcare (Sweden) -> lower FWC/WFC

• Informal childcare is common (Greece, NL) -> lower FWC/WFC• Higher father-care sensitivity in policy regime (Sweden) ->

lower WFC/FWC• More traditional gender cultures (Greece, Poland) -> lower

FWC, more egalitarian (Sweden, UK) -> higher FWC

Hypotheses (time trends 2004-2010)

• WFC increasing• FWC staying the same

Findings(work in progress)

WFC score, by country and year

- 0 .3 - 0 .3- 0 .2 - 0 .2 - 0 .1

0 .0 0 .1 0 .1

- 0 .2

0 .4

0 .0

0 .0 0 .00 .2 0 .1

0 .2

- 1 .0

- 0 .5

0 .0

0 .5

1 .0

N eth erla nd s G reece S p a in S w ed en F ra n ce G erm a n y P o la n d U K

2004 2010B a s e: F a th ers a g ed 20 - 64 , in co u p les , in p a id w o rk a n d w ith ch ild ren a g ed 0 - 18

Difficult to concentrate on work because of family, by country and year (%)

17 19 2124 26 26

3 2

4 2

1519

28

1622

10

263 2

0

10

20

3 0

4 0

50

6 0

F ranc e S w ed en G reec e N etherland s G ermany S p a in P o land U K

2004 2010B a s e: F a th ers a g ed 20 - 64 , in co u p les , in p a id w o rk a n d w ith ch ild ren a g ed 0 - 18

Family responsibilities prevent you from giving the time you should to your job, by

country (%)

20 2224

3 1 3 2 3 2 3 43 8

0

10

20

3 0

4 0

50

S p a in N etherland s F ranc e S w ed en G ermany G reec e P o land U K

B as e: F athers ag ed 20- 6 4, in c oup les , in p aid w ork and w ith c hild ren ag ed 0- 18 (2010)

WFC: linear regression (work and socio-demographics)

Pooled 2004 2010 Coef. P>t Coef. P>t Coef. P>t Age 0.05 0.02 0.08 0.00 0.00 0.91 Age squared -0.001 0.01 -0.001 0.00 -0.000 0.65 Years of education 0.02 0.01 0.02 0.01 0.01 0.12 Log working hours 0.56 0.00 0.71 0.00 0.43 0.00 Ref.: Managers Professionals -0.08 0.23 -0.21 0.02 0.04 0.62 Technicians and assoc professionals -0.13 0.04 -0.21 0.02 -0.07 0.45 Clerical support workers -0.23 0.01 -0.38 0.00 -0.11 0.36 Services and sales workers -0.19 0.02 -0.25 0.03 -0.15 0.18 Skilled agric. workers -0.40 0.00 -0.33 0.01 -0.50 0.00 Craft and related trades workers -0.14 0.04 -0.29 0.00 -0.01 0.95 Plant and machine operators -0.31 0.00 -0.46 0.00 -0.19 0.07 Elementary occupations -0.35 0.00 -0.57 0.00 -0.17 0.21 Ref.: employee Self-employed 0.11 0.03 0.07 0.36 0.12 0.09 Unsocial hours (index) 0.26 0.00 0.26 0.00 0.24 0.00

WFC: linear regression (family factors and gender-role attitudes)

Pooled 2004 2010 Coef. P>t Coef. P>t Coef. P>t Ref.: 1 child 2 kids 0.06 0.14 0.04 0.46 0.07 0.23 3+ kids 0.05 0.34 0.01 0.87 0.08 0.28 Ref.: youngest child 0-3 Youngest 4-5 0.05 0.43 -0.02 0.84 0.09 0.28 Youngest 6-11 0.02 0.70 -0.06 0.40 0.09 0.20 Youngest 12-14 -0.01 0.84 -0.08 0.46 0.02 0.85 Youngest 15-18 0.03 0.68 -0.13 0.24 0.18 0.10 Ref.: partner works FT Partner works PT 0.03 0.59 0.03 0.71 0.01 0.90 Partner works unknown hrs 0.10 0.55 0.04 0.87 0.20 0.36 Partner not in paid work 0.00 0.96 -0.04 0.58 0.01 0.83 Ref.: not difficult to live on income Difficult to live on income 0.38 0.00 0.30 0.00 0.45 0.00 Ref.: Low share of housework with partner Medium share of housework 0.02 0.72 0.06 0.36 -0.05 0.48 High share of housework -0.11 0.02 -0.13 0.05 -0.12 0.08 Gender-role egalitarianism (index) -0.04 0.08 -0.05 0.09 -0.04 0.23

WFC: linear regression (cross-national comparisons)

2004 2010 Coef. P>t Coef. P>t Ref.: UK Germany -0.10 0.34 -0.01 0.95 Spain -0.13 0.27 -0.13 0.17 France -0.05 0.71 0.00 0.98 Netherlands -0.37 0.00 -0.22 0.04 Greece -0.50 0.00 0.01 0.92 Poland -0.13 0.22 -0.11 0.28 Sweden -0.11 0.29 -0.03 0.79

Difficult to concentrate on work: binary logistic regression (pooled 2004+2010)

Pooled 2004 2010 OR P>t OR. P>t OR P>t Age 1.1 0.09 1.2 0.02 1.0 0.93 Age squared 0.999 0.07 0.998 0.02 1.0 0.89 Works unsocial hours (index) 1.3 0.00 1.3 0.00 1.2 0.01 Ref.: partner works FT Partner works PT 0.7 0.01 0.8 0.20 0.6 0.05 Partner works unknown hrs 2.1 0.07 1.2 0.78 4.1 0.02 Partner not in paid work 1.3 0.11 1.4 0.15 1.3 0.38 Ref.: partner doesn’t work unsocial hrs Partner works unsocial hours 1.5 0.01 1.5 0.06 1.4 0.10 Ref.: not difficult to live on income Difficult to live on income 1.6 0.00 1.5 0.03 1.6 0.02 Gender-role egalitarianism (index) 0.9 0.03 0.8 0.01 1.0 0.61

Difficult to concentrate on work: cross-national comparisons

2004 2010 Odds ratios P>t Odds ratios P>t Ref.: UK Germany 0.4 0.00 0.7 0.10 Spain 0.5 0.00 0.2 0.00 France 0.3 0.00 0.4 0.01 Netherlands 0.5 0.01 0.5 0.04 Greece 0.2 0.00 0.8 0.45 Poland 0.6 0.08 0.6 0.06 Sweden 0.3 0.00 0.5 0.02

Family responsibilities prevent from giving time to job: ordered logistic regression (2010)

Odds ratios P>t Ref.: Managers Professionals 0.9 0.74 Technicians and assoc professionals 0.7 0.14 Clerical support workers 0.6 0.10 Services and sales workers 0.5 0.01 Skilled agricultural workers 0.4 0.01 Craft and related trades workers 0.6 0.01 Plant and machine operators 0.5 0.00 Elementary occupations 0.4 0.00 Unsocial hours (index) 1.2 0.00 Ref.: Low share of housework Medium share of housework 1.4 0.03 High share of housework 1.6 0.00 Ref.: Not difficult to live on income Difficult to live on income 1.6 0.01 Gender-role egalitarianism 0.9 0.04

Family responsibilities prevent from giving time to job: cross-national comparisons

Odds ratios P>t Ref.: UK Germany 0.7 0.16 Spain 0.4 0.00 France 0.4 0.00 Netherlands 0.7 0.08 Greece 0.6 0.08 Poland 0.8 0.44 Sweden 0.9 0.50

Discussion

Discussion: hypotheses• Hypotheses supported by data:

– working hours (WFC), unsocial hours (fathers and partners, WFC/FWC), occupational class (WFC/FWC), financial insecurity (WFC/FWC), housework (FWC)

• Hypotheses not supported by data – no association:

– number of children, age of the youngest child, (partner’s employment status)

• Hypotheses not supported by data – association in an opposite direction:

– self-employment (WFC), gender-role attitudes (WFC/FWC), housework (WFC)

• Work-related v family-related variables, WFC v FWC

• Trends over time

Discussion: cross-national comparisons

• UK - the highest WFC and FWC

• Netherlands – the lowest WFC but not FWC

• France and Spain – the lowest FWC

• Greece – the most dramatic change between 2004 and 2010, both WFC & FWC going up

Thank youDr Svetlana Speight (NatCen Social Research) –

Svetlana.Speight@natcen.ac.ukProf. Margaret O’Brien (TCRU, IoE) – M.OBrien@ioe.ac.ukDr Sara Connolly (UEA) – Sara.Connolly@uea.ac.ukEloise Poole (NatCen) – Eloise.Poole@natcen.ac.uk Dr Matt Aldrich (UEA) – Matthew.Aldrich@uea.ac.uk

Appendix

Worrying about work problems when not working

1520

34

24

7

Never Hardly ever Sometimes Often Always

Base: Fathers aged 20-64, in couples, in paid work and with children aged 0-18 (2004+2010)

Feeling too tired after work to enjoy the things you would like to do at home

9

19

43

25

4

Never Hardly ever Sometimes Often Always

Base: Fathers aged 20-64, in couples, in paid work and with children aged 0-18 (2004+2010)

Job prevents you from giving the time you want to your partner or family

12

19

37

26

5

Never Hardly ever Sometimes Often Always

Base: Fathers aged 20-64, in couples, in paid work and with children aged 0-18 (2004+2010)

Partner or family gets feds up with the pressure of your job

2629

33

10

1

Never Hardly ever Sometimes Often Always

Base: Fathers aged 20-64, in couples, in paid work and with children aged 0-18 (2004+2010)

Difficult to concentrate on work because of family responsibilities

38 39

20

3 0

Never Hardly ever Sometimes Often Always

Base: Fathers aged 20-64, in couples, in paid work and with children aged 0-18 (2004+2010)

Family responsibilities prevent you from giving the time you should to your job

36 35

23

61

Never Hardly ever Sometimes Often Always

Base: Fathers aged 20-64, in couples, in paid work and with children aged 0-18 (2010)