Impact of Family Domain on Work-Life Balance of Professional Working Mothers

The paper aims to provide empirical evidence on impact of family domain (family support and spouse support) on work-life balance of full time professional working mothers in telecommunication and academic sectors. The structured questionnaire was administered among 90 working mothers representing from both sectors in Kathmandu Valley. The study followed descriptive and analytical research design. Correlation and regression analyses were carried on to test the proposed hypotheses. The statistically significant positive impact of family support and spouse support was found on work life balance of professional working mothers under the study. Family support and spouse support enhance the professional working mothers to become highly committed to their job or work devoting considerable time and effort to their career role and work-life balance.

How do working mothers negotiate the work-home interface?

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the tactics that mid-career professional working mothers use to improve their work-home balance. Design/methodology/approach – The qualitative study used in-depth interviews with 63 Brazilian professional working mothers aged between 37 and 55, having at least one child under the age of 18, and living in dual-career households. The interviews were content analyzed. Findings – The study reported four dimensions of boundary work tactics (behavioral, temporal, physical, and communicative) that mid-career working mothers adopted to construct a satisfying level of segmentation or integration between work and home. Research limitations/implications – The study suggests individual tactics for actively constructing a generalized work-home state that can be adopted by working mothers. Additionally, the authors suggest that HR managers should develop work-home balance programs that provide policies that adjust to the work-home boundary preferences for those mothers who want to integrate and segment these domains. Social implications – The authors hope this study can help mid-career working mothers to understand how they can interact actively with others in such a way that they can better answer their work and home demands. Originality/value – This study was the first to use boundary work tactics theory to explore how mid-career professional working mothers improve their work-home balance.

The Impact of Childcare Responsibility and Self-Efficacy on the Psychological Health of Professional Working Mothers

This study examined how childcare responsibility and self-efficacy to manage multiple role demands related to the psychological well-being and distress of 42 full-time professional women one month after they returned to their jobs after the birth of their first child. The results showed that greater childcare responsibility is associated with lower well-being and greater psychological distress. As predicted, perceived self-efficacy to cope with demands of occupational and familial roles appeared to mediate this relationship. A woman's belief in her capability to enlist the help of her spouse for childcare was the most consistent predictor of both well-being and distress.