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| The Sloan Work and Family Research Network maintains an online database which contains the citations and annotations of work-family research publications. |
Each month, we select up to 10 publications from those that have recently been entered into the Literature Database.
A year ago, there were 6,120 citations in the Literature Database. As of August 2005, we now have over 6,534 citations. |
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To bookmark a direct link to the Literature Database please click here.
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This month, six of the publications we have selected for the "Literature Updates" section of this issue of The Network News are publications relevant to the topic of reduced-load work.
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 Global Perspectives- Berg, P., Appelbaum, E., Bailey, T., & Kalleberg, A.L. (2004). Contesting time: International comparisons of employee control of working time. Industrial & Labor Relations Review, 57(3), 331 - 349.
Drawing on interviews conducted in 2000 as well as previous literature, the authors do a comparative analysis of how three factors (management and labor union strategies, the institutional and regulatory environment, and labor market conditions) affect working time and employees’ control over work hours in seven countries. The countries compared in this article are Australia, Germany, the Netherlands, the United States, Japan, Sweden, and Italy. The authors provide overviews of government legislation, labor market conditions, and management/labor union approaches in each of these countries related to employee work hours. The findings suggest that while labor unions, collective bargaining, and government legislation have contributed to employees’ greater control over working hours, employers continue to have the greatest effect on work hours. The full-text of this article is available in the Sloan Network’s Literature Database.
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Global Perspectives- Fagnani, J. & Letablier, M. (2004). Work and family life balance: The impact of the 35-hour laws in France. Work, Employment and Society, 18(3), 551-572.
This article examines how the work/family balance of working parents in France, with a child under the age of six, is impacted by the laws reducing the work week to 35 hours. In response to the question “Do you feel that the law on the 35 hour has made it easier for you to combine your family life with your working life?,” more than half of the respondents agreed. However, the findings suggest that parents’ experiences with work/family balance in regard to the 35-hour laws varied according to whether the parent worked standard or nonstandard hours. Parents’ views also varied depending on if parents worked 35 hours a week or if their work hours were calculated on an annual basis. The results reveal that working parents’ sense of work/family balance is not improved by a reduction in work hours alone.
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Global Perspectives- Gornick, J.C. & Meyers, M. (2003). Families that work: Policies that reconcile parenthood and employment. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
Contents include: (1) “Introduction: The Conflicts Between Earning and Caring,” (2) “The Changing American Family and the Problem of Private Solutions,” (3) “The United States in Cross-National Perspective: Are Parents and Children Doing Better Elsewhere?," (4) “Reconciling the Conflicts: Toward a Dual-Earner Dual-Carer Society,” (5) “Ensuring Time to Care During the Early Years: Family Leave Policy,” (6) “Strengthening Reduced-Hour Work: Regulation of Working Time,” (7) “Providing Public Care: Child Care, Preschool, and Public Schooling,” (8) “Does Policy Matter? Linking Policies to Outcomes,” and (9) “Developing Earner-Carer Policies in the United States.”
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Global Perspectives- Hill, E.J., Yang, C., Hawkins, A.J., & Ferris, M. (2004). A cross-cultural test of the work-family interface in 48 countries. Journal of Marriage and Family, 66(5), 1300-1316.
Drawing on data from the IBM 2001 Global Work and Life Issues Survey, this article investigates work-family interface in a global context. Divided into four groups with similar cultures, forty-eight countries are studied in the areas of work-family conflict, family-work conflict, job satisfaction, job flexibility, and work-family fit. The findings suggest that cross-culturally work-family conflict and family-work conflict are associated. Work-family fit and job flexibility are also related globally. The authors conclude that work-family interface is not culture specific.
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Global Perspectives- Jacobs, J.A, & Gornick, J.C. (2002). Hours of paid work in dual-earner couples: The U.S. in cross-national perspective. Sociological Focus, 35(2), 169-188.
This study used data from the Luxembourg Income Study (LIS) to compare the hours of paid work performed by husbands and wives in dual-earner couples in ten industrialized countries. Results suggest that the U.S. ranks very high in comparison to other countries in terms of indicators of working time for couples. The authors suggest that this is due to the high proportion of dual-earner couples in the U.S., the long average work week, and a high proportion of individuals who work long hours. Gender equality in working hours was found to be high in the U.S. amongst women without children, but amongst dual-earner women with children the U.S.'s ranking drops considerably. Policy and institutional influences on working time are also discussed.
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Global Perspectives- Thornthwaite, L. (2004). Working time and work-family balance: A review of
employees’ preferences. Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources, 42, 166-184.
This article examines data from several recent studies on employees’ working time preferences in terms of working hours, availability of part-time work, and flexibility. The author investigates the comparative strength of different preferences, reasons for differences among employees, areas that need improvement, and the resulting implications for HR policy.
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The following list is a selection of some of our most recent additions to the Literature Database.
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Behson, S. J. (2005). The relative contribution of formal and informal organizational work-family support. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 66(3), 487-500.
The author uses relative importance analysis, a “relatively new data-analytic strategy,” to test the hypothesis that informal methods of work-family support, such as managerial support, are more useful to working families than formal methods such as work schedule flexibility. This study used data from the 1997 National Study of the Changing Workforce (NSCW), a nationally representative survey of 3,551 employees. The results strongly support the study’s hypothesis. Findings reveal the importance of supplementing formal work-family programs with workplace cultures and management styles that truly support working families.
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Global Perspectives- Green, P., & Skinner, D. (2005). Does time management training work? An evaluation. International Journal of Training and Development, 9(2), 124-139.
This paper discusses the results of a longitudinal and triangulated evaluation of the effectiveness of time management training according to both trained employees as well as their managers. Post-training, most employees reported personal improvement in areas such as “planning, prioritizing, [and] assertiveness” as well as general stress reduction; managers confirmed these overall positive developments. Findings suggest that although effectiveness of time management training is influenced by “context and motivation,” the training has a positive influence on most participants. [NOTE: British study.]
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Halpern, D. F. (2005). Psychology at the intersection of work and family: Recommendations for employers, working families, and policymakers. American Psychologist, 60(5), 397-409.
This article argues that current work policies favor an increasingly atypical family model in which women act as stay-at-home caregivers. Using social science research literature reviewed by the American Psychological Association (APA) Presidential Task Force, 2004 APA president Diane Halpern suggests that employers and policy makers consider the increase in the number of working mothers, along with the growing quantity of working adults caring for older relatives, in relation to their current policies and offers recommendations for family-friendly work policies that promote mutually beneficial outcomes for both workers and employers.
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To bookmark a direct link to the Literature Database please click here. |
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The Sloan Work and Family Research Network appreciates the extensive support we have received from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and the Boston College community.
E-mail: wfnetwork@bc.edu - Phone: 617-552-4033 / 617-552-1708 - Fax: 617-552-1080
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