Work-family conflict: emphasis on families in modern work environments

Individuals’ work and family are two central domains in life. In today’s modern work world, dual-income families have become the norm in many parts of the world, and societal changes have increased the number of individuals with meaningful responsibilities both at home and at work. Consequently, there is a growing expectation for parents to excel both as parents and in their careers. Parents are confronted with the challenge of deciding how to divide their time, energy, and attention between those domains. Hence, it is important to help them balance and integrate these roles. The boundary dynamics theory addresses the socially constructed boundaries between the domains of work and family, exploring how individuals uphold, navigate, and shift these boundaries (Ashforth et al., 2000).

Work-family conflict (WFC) is a widely recognised concept that describes an inter-role conflict where demands from work and family domains are at odds (Greenhaus & Beutell, 1985). It is a multifaceted concept that can be defined through the direction of the conflict: when work interferes with family (WIF) or when family interferes with work (FIW). Researchers recognised different types of conflict. Most commonly, time-based conflict arises when time spent in one role (work/family) inhibits the time left for responsibilities in another (family/work). For example, due to meetings at work, the parent has to miss her/his child’s recital, or needs to pick up her/his child early from kindergarten and therefore cannot participate in an important work meeting. Strain-based conflict occurs when pressures from one role make it difficult to fulfil the requirements in another role. For example, work-related dilemmas cause the parent to be preoccupied at home and therefore she/he cannot listen and attend to family matters, or when the parent is preoccupied due to concerns related to her/his child and is not focused on tasks at the workplace.

Most existing studies have explored the work side of the equilibrium – when work interferes with family (WIF) and its links with workplace outcomes such as job satisfaction and commitment. Yet, the family side of the equilibrium, when family interferes with work (FIW) remains under-researched. Recent studies have emphasised the need to explore FIW, investigating its ties with family related variables. This line of research is based on the notion that while family-related variables can act as a source of conflict, they can simultaneously serve as a reservoir of support in mitigating it.

In recent years, changes in the world of work, such as globalisation, technology development, remote work, and expected 24/7 availability, coupled with the post-COVID era consequences that accelerated those changes, have created an environment of blurred boundaries between work and family roles (Allen et al., 2021). For many parents, work and family activities often occur at home without a clear definition of working hours and parents are expected to be available for work issues at various hours. In this context, parents face the challenge of managing time-based WFC, which requires effective time management when work-family physical boundaries are fluid. They also need to address strain-based conflict, when overwhelming family and work pressures take their toll.

Studies examining the work-family interface during and after the COVID-19 pandemic have emphasised that challenges in balancing work-family roles were associated with higher parenting stress (Chung et al., 2023) and were associated with poorer father-infant bonding (Engelhardt et al., 2023). These insights highlight an increased need for parents’ self-management and control while managing life roles when boundaries between work and family variables are blurred. This challenge may become more pronounced during the postpartum period or the transition to parenthood, as new parents navigate between work and family responsibilities. It is worth noting that the timing of the pressures depends on when parents return to work postpartum. This may be very different across countries, depending on maternity leave privileges.

Thus, the perinatal period is critical regarding the FIW as parents adjust to caring for a newborn and raising kids. This period is often marked by increased vulnerability to psychopathology due to hormonal and emotional changes (Howard & Khalifeh, 2020) and the conflict between work and family roles could be viewed either as an antecedent or as a consequence of mental health problems. Higher stress from work and the need to provide for a growing family might be associated with higher levels of postpartum psychopathology, impaired parenting, or adverse effects on infant development. For example, it has been found that among mothers, work-family conflict was a prospective risk factor for postpartum depression during maternity leave. Conversely, challenges in parenting during this period as well as postpartum psychopathology were found to contribute to heightened WFC resulting in an inability to devote time and energy to the work domain (Karl et al., 2020).

Research on WFC has practical value for supporting parents during these sensitive phases. As researchers and clinicians, we need to help parents navigate these roles by researching the potential conflict and offering healthy ways to set family-work boundaries that will allow parents to self-manage both time and strain-based conflict satisfactorily and thus utilise their resources effectively. Different people in different family as well as work structures may need different interventions and support to cope with the conflict. As work family roles are dynamic and changing and are influenced by cultural and economic factors, there is a growing need for longitudinal cross-cultural studies that will help determine what structural changes can help parents mitigate the conflict better (Allen et al., 2021). Governments and organisations must recognise their role in assisting parents in juggling work and family roles, emphasising the need to implement family supportive policies.

Finally, as previously noted, the association between WFC and parental well-being is documented. A systematic review emphasised that work family interface was associated with children’s mental health problems, and that this association was mediated by parental mental health (Bilodeau et al., 2023). Therefore, it is important to acknowledge that helping parents balance work and family is important for parents’ well-being, but also for children’s mental health and by that to their development.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).