From Work-Family Balance to Work-Family Interaction: Changing the Metaphor

by Halpern; Diane F.

• ISBN13: 9780805848861
• ISBN10: 080584886X
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2004-12-29
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

There are many lessons to be learned about work-family interaction. It is clear that some people have learned how to combine work and family in ways that are mutually supporting--at least much of the time--and some employers have created work environments and policies that make positive interdependence of these two spheres more likely to occur. This book discusses measures of work-family, conflict, policies designed to reduce conflict, comparisons with other industrialized nations, and reasons why family-friendly work-policies have not been adopted with enthusiasm. The purpose is to consider a broad range of topics that pertain to work and family with the goal of helping employers and working families understand the work-life options that are available so they can make choices that offer returns-on-investments to employers, families, and society at large that are consistent with personal and societal values. This book brings together a superb panel of experts from different disciplines to look at work and family issues and the way they interact. Part I is an overview--with a brief discussion by a psychologist, economist, and a political scientist--each of whom provide their own interpretation of how their discipline views this hybrid field. Part II considers the business case of the question of why employers should invest in family-friendly work policies, followed by a section on the employer response to work family interactions. Families are the focus of the Part IV, followed by a look at children--many of whom are at the heart of work and family interaction.

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
About the Authors	xi
PART I: INTEGRATING THE DEMANDS OF WORK AND FAMILY	1	(24)
From Balance to Interaction: Why the Metaphor Is Important	3	(8)
Diane F. Halpern
Susan Elaine Murphy
How We Study Work-Family Interactions	11	(14)
Diane F. Halpern
Robert Drago
Nigel Boyle
PART II: THE BUSINESS CASE OR ``WHY SHOULD MY FIRM INVEST IN FAMILY-FRIENDLY WORK POLICIES?''	25	(40)
Enhancing Work-Family and Work-Life Interaction: The Role of Management	27	(22)
Susan Elaine Murphy
David A. Zagorski
Work-Family Balance: Does the Market Reward Firms That Respect It?	49	(16)
Wayne F. Cascio
Clifford E. Young
PART III: HOW EMPLOYERS RESPOND TO THE CHALLENGE OF WORK-FAMILY DEMANDS	65	(50)
Corporate Responsibilities	67	(4)
Paul Orfalea
Sitting at the Corporate Table: How Work-Family Policies Are Really Made	71	(12)
Betty Purkey
V. Sue Molina
Donna Klein
Phyllis Stewart Pires
Balancing Work and Family Demands in the Military: What Happens When Your Employer Tells You to Go to War?	83	(16)
David Bruce Bell
Walter R. Schumm
Understanding Burnout: Work and Family Issues	99	(16)
Christina Maslach
PART IV: WORKING FAMILIES: HOW WELL ARE THEY WORKING?	115	(58)
Home to School to Work---Transitions for African Americans: Eliminating Barriers to Success	117	(18)
Gail L. Thompson
The Limits of Connectivity: Technology and 21st-Century Life	135	(16)
Maggie Jackson
Dual-Earner Couples: Good/Bad for Her and/or Him?	151	(22)
Rosalind Chiat Barnett
PART V: THE CHILDREN: HOW ARE THEY DOING?	173	(92)
The Influence of Maternal Employment on the Work and Family Expectations of Offspring	177	(20)
Heidi R. Riggio
Stephan Desrochers
Maternal and Dual-Earner Employment and Children's Development: Redefining the Research Agenda	197	(22)
Adele Eskeles Gottfried
Children's Perspectives of Employed Mothers and Fathers: Closing the Gap Between Public Debates and Research Findings	219	(18)
Ellen Galinsky
Imagining the Future: A Dialogue on the Societal Value of Care	237	(14)
Faith A. Wohl
Vision for the Future of Work and Family Interaction	251	(14)
Susan Elaine Murphy
Diane F. Halpern
Author Index	265	(8)
Subject Index	273