- Email: [email protected]
Working mothers and the family context: Predicting positive coping
Journal of Vocational
Behavior Z3, 241-253 (1986)
Working Mothers and the Family Context: Predicting Positive Coping’ RUTH E. ANDERSON-KULMAN Washington County Community Mental Health
Center
AND MICHELE
A. PALUDI
Kent State University Working mothers (N = 204) were administered questionnaires to assess their degree of role strain, and their perceptions of their work, child care, and family environments. Few differences were found between women who were single (n = 40) versus married (n = 164) or who worked part- (n = 37) or full-time (n = 167). Role strain among working mothers was found to be related to factors in their work and home environments, such as their job satisfaction, and the degree of conflict in their families. The sample was also found to experience a great deal of time pressure and reported a lack of resources to care for their sick children. Implications for the understanding of vocational behavior are presented. Q 1986Academic Press. Inc.
Public and personal attitudes toward women’s vocational achievements began to change in the late 1960s and early 197Os, signaled and stimulated by the women’s movement. These attitudinal changes are mirrored in the proportion of women, including married women with preschool children, engaged in paid employment outside of the home. The impact of paid employment on women and their children, marriages, and families has become the focus of a great deal of recent research. ’ This research was conducted as part of the first author’s doctoral dissertation at Kent State University under the direction of the second author. Appreciation is extended to Dominic F. Gullo, Roy Lilly, Jeanette Reuter, and William Shanklin for their comments on an earlier draft. Portions of this paper were presented at the Annual Meeting of the Eastern Psychological Association, Boston, April 1985. The suggestions of two anonymous reviewers are also appreciated. We thank Diane Poston and Patricia John for typing the manuscript. Reprint requests may be sent to either Ruth Anderson-Kulman, Washington County Community Mental Health Center, Salt Pond Rd., Wakefield, RI, or Michele A. Paludi, Department of Psychology, Kent State University, Kent, OH 44242. 241
OOOI-8791186 $3.00 Copyri&l 0 1986 by Academic Press. Inc. All rigbls of reproduction in any fom resewed.
242
ANDERSON-KULMAN
ANDPALUDI
Working mothers constitute a heterogeneous group of women who vary on several variables: age, marital status, stage in the family life cycle (e.g., number and ages of children), reasons for working, commitment to work, full- vs. part-time employment, and a variety of socioeconomic factors. A woman’s employment status may interact with one or more of the above dimensions to yield differential effects of maternal employment. Research on working mothers themselves has generally focused on their role pattern and/or role conflict, well-being, life satisfaction, self-esteem, and parenting. The multiple role pattern of working mothers leads to a more complex lifestyle with a greater number of potential role conflicts (e.g., Gray, 1983; Hardesty & Betz, 1980). The primary arena of role strain appears to involve the integration of work and child-rearing roles (e.g., Hardesty & Betz, 1980; Johnson dz Johnson, 1977). Cooperation and support of family members have been found to diminish role strain among working mothers and may heighten women’s satisfaction with their multiple role pattern (e.g., Gray, 1983). Stress among working mothers may also be diminished by the availability of high quality day care services, and/or the presence of family-oriented occupational policies (Perry, 1982). Although working mothers may experience greater stress, they also express greater self-esteem (Bimbaum, 1971), and at least as much life satisfaction or well-being as do nonworking mothers (e.g., Warr & Parry, 1982). This may stem from enhanced opportunities for social contact, additional sources of self-worth, and more avenues for experiencing mastery and competency among working mothers (Baruch, Bamett, & Rivers, 1983; Hoffman, 1979, 1980). Research on the impact of maternal employment on children has generally found no negative effects on the children of working mothers (Belsky, Steinberg, & Walker, 1982). Some evidence has suggested that maternal employment may lead to strain in the father-son relationship among lower class families, and may lower the academic performance of middle class boys (Hoffman, 1979). However, maternal employment appears to have a positive influence on adolescents, particularly daughters (Hoffman, 1980). Among infant and preschool children, the nature and quality of day care services while the mother is working are important factors in determining children’s adjustment. Overall, research on day care has found that when the child is in high quality care, there is no negative impact on the child’s emotional adjustment or relationship with his/her mother (Etaugh, 1984; Rutter, 1981). Day care has been found to have no negative effects on the intellectual development of children, and may have a positive impact on children from economically disadvantaged homes (Belsky et al., 1982). The social behavior of children attending day care has been found to show increases in both positive and negative peer-oriented behaviors (Etaugh, 1980).
WORKINGMOTHERS
243
Research on the marital relationship has typically found little or no impact of women’s employment on middle class marriages (e.g., Glenn & Weaver, 1978; Wright, 1978), but has found lower class marriages to be more favorable when the wife does not work (Nye, 1974). The impact of maternal employment on the family includes the greater sharing of housework and child care responsibilities among family members of employed women (Hoffman, 1977). In addition, women who work outside the home possess greater decision-making power in the family (Bahr, 1972). Other studies have found no differences in children’s perceptions of their families (e.g., Klecka & Hiller, 1977; Propper, 1972), or parental descriptions of the family climate (Eiswirth-Neems & Handal, 1978) among the families of working and nonworking mothers. The research to date on the impact of maternal employment has generally focused on particular areas of influence as relatively independent entities and has espoused a reductionistic approach, examining the covariation among a small number of variables. The interrelationships among the life spheres of the working mother, such as the interface between factors associated with the mother’s work and the quality of family life, have typically been neglected. A more holistic view of the working mother is needed which simultaneously maintains a broad perspective and attends to the complexity of factors involved. Bronfenbrenner (1977, 1979) has advocated the reconceptuahzation of research within an ecological perspective. An ecological perspective advocates a multivariate assessment of factors that operate on additional levels besides the individual or ontogenic level of analysis. For example, the wider ecology of maternal employment implies the existence of reciprocal interrelationships among such contexts as the family, day care setting, workplace, community, and society at large. The present study constituted an attempt to address the interrelationships among the major life spheres of the working mother. These included the workplace, family and child care arrangements. It was anticipated that the working mother’s perceptions of and satisfaction with these spheres may interact to influence her degree of coping and/or role strain. A second focus of this study was to assess how factors associated with the mother’s employment (e.g., part- vs. full-time employment, commitment to work, job satisfaction, job flexibility) influenced the family in terms of its cohesiveness and degree of conflict. In addition, the present study included single mothers as a target group and assessed the similarities and differences between single and married working mothers. METHOD
Subjects Subjects consisted of 204 women who ranged in age from 20 to 42 years (a = 30.2 years, SD = 4.3 years). The sample included 164
244
ANDERSON-KULMANANDPALUDI
married and 40 single mothers. The women worked predominantly in white collar occupations (N = 187), with 17 women possessing blue collar jobs. Thirty-seven subjects reported working part-time (i.e., up to 29 hours per week) while 167 women worked full-time (i.e., more than 30 hours per week). Procedure Day care center staff at 10 target day care centers in Northeastern Ohio were asked to distribute questionnaire packets to mothers whose children attended the participating centers. Interested mothers were asked to complete a set of questionnaires which included: (a) the Family Environment Scale (FES) (Moos & Moos, 1981), (b) questions about satisfaction with child care, (c) questions regarding job flexibility and job satisfaction, (d) questions addressing the frequency and type of role strains experienced, and (e) a demographic information sheet. The participating mothers returned their completed questionnaires to their respective day care center. Of the 504 questionnaires that were distributed, 218 (43%) were returned. An additional 14 (6%) were deleted from the study due to an insufficient number of responses. Measures Family environment scale (FES). The FES was designed to describe the social environment of families in terms of their structural organization, interpersonal relationships, and orientation toward personal growth (Moos & Moos, 1981). The FES is a self-report instrument which consists of 90 true-false items. The individual family member’s perception of his/her family environment is assessed and coded as 10 subscale scores. The 10 subscales are grouped conceptually according to three major dimensions of family functioning: (a) relationships (i.e., cohesion, expressiveness, conflict), (b) orientation toward personal growth and development (i.e., achievement orientation, independence, intellectual-cultural, moral-religious, active-recreational), and (c) system maintenance (i.e., organization, control). Cohesion refers to the extent of helping behaviors and mutual support among family members (e.g., “There is a feeling of togetherness in our family.“). Expressiveness among family members is reflected by the degree to which feelings are expressed in an open and direct manner (e.g., “We say anything we want to around the home.“). Conflict refers to the extent of overt aggression and anger expressed in the family (e.g., “We fight a lot in our family.“). Independence is reflected by the degree of autonomous decision making, assertiveness, and self-sufficiency among family members (e.g., “We come and go as we want in our family.“). The achievement subscale assesses how highly the family values competition and achievement in such activities as school and work (e.g.,
WORKING MOTHERS
245
“We feel it is important to be the best at whatever we do.“). The intellectual-cultural subscale indicates the amount of family interest expressed in intellectual, political, and cultural activities (e.g., “Someone in our family plays a musical instrument.*‘). The degree to which family members engage in recreational or social activities is assessed by the active-recreational orientation subscale (e.g., “Everyone in our family has a hobby or two.“‘). Moral-religious emphasis refers to the amount of familial emphasis placed on ethics and religion (e.g., “The Bible is a very important book in our home.“). Organization reflects the signi8cance of structure, organization, and planning in the family (e.g., “Being on time is very important in our family.“). The control subscale indicates the extent to which family life is regulated by rules and set procedures (e.g., “You can’t get away with much in our family.“). The FES subscales have been found to have Kuder-Richardson reliability coefficients ranging from .61 to .79. Average intercorrelations among the subscales have been low to moderate (mean intercorrelation = .25). Test-retest reliabilities have been found to range from 68 to 86 over a 2-month interval (N = 9 families), .54 to .91 over a 4-month interval (N = 35 families), and .52 to 89 after a 1Zmonth time period (N = 241 families ) (Moos & Moos, 1981). The validity of the FES has been documented by its administration to a large sample of both normal (n = 1,125) and distressed (N = 500) families (Moos et al., 1979; Moos & Moos, 1981). The FES has also been used to empiricahy determine major types of families. Family protiles have been found to be reliable, with average intercorrelations of .78 after 4 months (N = 35) and .71 after 12 months (N = 85). The FES (Form R) was administered in this study to provide a qualitative analysis of the family environments of working mothers. Responses to items on each of the 10 subscales can range from 0 to 9. These raw scores are then converted to T-scores. Child care satisfaction. Satisfaction with child care was assessed by questions derived from the research of Harrell and Ridley (1975) and McCroskey (1980). These sets of questions assess the overall satisfaction of mothers with their child care arrangement (“In terms of loving and understanding your child, the people providing the child care are”); of their husband’s satisfaction (e.g., “How do you think ‘your husband feels about your child care?“); and whether the mother is satisfied with such factors as the price, convenience, dependability, physical environment, competence of child caretakers, and/or curriculum of her child care arrangement (e.g., “In terms of giving your child opportunities to get along with and know other children, your child care does: a poor job, a fair job, an adequate job, a good job, a very good job;” “How competent do you think the people providing the child care are?“). Scores assigned to each of the questions concerning satisfaction with child care were summed; an average score was computed for each participant.
246
ANDERSON-KULMAN
ANDPALUDI
Job satisfaction and job flexibility. Job satisfaction was measured by questions derived from the research of McCroskey (1980) and Bodin and Mitelman (1983). Satisfaction with one’s job is reflected by ratings of overah satisfaction such as the extent to which one’s job is everything one wants it to be, and attitudes toward one’s work (e.g., “Considering everything, how would you rate your satisfaction with your job?“: “How successful do you think you are in your working life?“) Questions on job flexibility were designed specifically for the present study. These assessed the perceived likelihood of obtaining time off to care for a sick child or attend a parent-teacher conference, arranging work hours around family responsibilities and/or children’s activities, or shortening the number of hours worked per week. In addition, questions were included to assess whether the employer had family-oriented policies such as telephone privileges on the job, employer-sponsored day care, and/or maternity or paternity benefits. Sample questions include the following: “How likely is your employer to ahow you to change the number of hours you work per week?” “Does your employer sponsor a day care program for the children of employees?” “Does your employer allow you to take time off from work to attend a parent-teacher conference?” Average job satisfaction and job flexibility scores were computed for each participant. Role strain. Role strain among working women was assessed by questions designed by McCroskey (1980) and Bodin and Mitelman (1983). These items address whether and how frequently women experience feeling tom between their roles as mother, wife, and worker, whether they experience time constraints, the specific nature of these problems, and how bothersome they are. Sample questions include: “Do you find the time demands of your work to be too much?” “Do you ever feel that you are under a lot of pressure or that you feel tom among the demands of being a worker, a wife, and a mother ?” The frequencies which various types of role strain were reported by married and single working mothers were averaged. RESULTS
Table 1 presents the means and standard deviations of scores on all variables for single and married working mothers. Fifteen univariate analyses of variance were performed on the data presented in Table 1. Results indicated that mothers working part- vs. full-time were generally found to be similar. One statistically significant difference was obtained for the variable “organization. ” Families of women working part-time scored signifianctly lower on organization than the families of full-time working women (F = 6.37, df = 1, p < .05). In addition, no significant differences were obtained between married and single working mothers on any of the dependent variables. However, a significant interaction
WORKING
247
MOTHERS
TABLE 1 Means and Standard Deviations on All Variables for Single and Married Working Mothers Marital status Single (n = 40) Variable Cohesion Expressiveness Conflict Independence Achievement orientation Intellectual-cultural orientation Active-recreational orientation Moral-religious emphasis Organization Control Role strain Child care satisfaction Husband’s child care satisfaction Job satisfaction Husband’s job satisfaction Job flexibility Work commitment
x
Married (n = 164)
_SD
z
SD
52.57 54.49 53.00 49.18 51.32
12.69 II.24 9.81 10.24 12.32
54.45 55.10 51.62 49.03 48.33
13.29 12.06 10.49 12.69 10.64
50.05
12.48
47.84
13.10
51.19 54.62 53.86 57.59 7.45 4.19
12.07 10.59 II.95 10.38 2.33 .49
48.03 53.95 50.% 50.84 7.15 4.16
II.21 II.73 11.71 10.47 2.36 .44
.53
4.24 3.95
.67 .71
.33 .49
3.78 2.49 2.56
.89 .42 .53
-
-
3.68
2.40 2.53
-
was obtained between marital status and employment status on the dimension of “familial organization.” Among the full-time working mothers, married women’s families were found to be less organized than those of single mothers (F = 7.99, df = 1, p < .Ol). Multiple regression analyses were performed to assessthe salient predictors of role strain, family conflict, and family cohesion. Summary data from the multiple regression analyses are presented in Table 2. Intercorrelations among all variables for the combined sample are presented in Table 3. For the combined sample of both married and single mothers, cohesion was found to be predicted by expressiveness (p = .39, p < .OOl),conflict (~3= - .36, p < .OOl), organization (p = .26, p < .OOl),job satisfaction (p = .ll, p < .05), and active-recreational orientation Cp = .l 1, p < .OS).Conflict was found to be predicted by cohesion @ = .50, p < .OOl), control (~3= .24, p < .OOl), expressiveness (p = .lY, p < .Ol), and role strain (p = .12, p < .05). Furthermore, role strain was predicted by job
248
ANDERSON-KULMAN
AND PALUDI
TABLE 2 Multiple Regression Analyses Assessing the Salient Predictors of Family Cohesion, Family Conflict, and Role Strain Criterion variable Cohesion
Conflict
Role strain
Predictor variable Expressiveness Conflict Organization Job satisfaction Active-recreational orientation Cohesion Control Expressiveness Role strain Job satisfaction Conflict Intellectual-cultural orientation
B
R
Pa<
.39 - .36 .26 .II
.49 .65 .71 .72
.ool .ool .ool .05
.I1 -.50
.24 .19 .I2 -.23 .I8
.73 .48 .53 .55 .56 .27 .33
.05 .ooi ,001 .Ol .05 .ool .Ol
- .I8
.38
.Ol
’ p value refers to significance of F tests.
satisfaction (p = - .23, p < .OOl), conflict (p = .18, p < .Ol), and intellectual-cultural orientation (/3 = - .18, p < .Ol). Further data pertaining to women’s self-reporting of areas of conflict, time pressures, and problems may be summarized as follows: The most frequently endorsed area of conflict for women was that of home cleaning (n = 127; 63%), followed by sick-child care (n = 119; 59%), general household management (n = 104; 51%), financial management (n = 97; 48%), meal preparation (n = 96; 47%), resolving family problems (n = 81; 40%), child care (n = 76; 37%), arrangements for lessons and special activities (n = 74; 36%), laundry (n = 71; 35%), marketing/shopping (n = 58; 2%), and car pooling (n = 21; 10%). Women also were asked to indicate whether or not they possessed enough time for a number of different life activities. Women reported their greatest lack of time was in the areas of community involvement (n = 175; 87%) and hobbies (n = 158; 8oorO). Many women reported not having enough time for their home (n = 139; 70%), travel (n = 138; 69%), reading (n = 134; 67%), intellectual development (n = 132; 66%), physical fitness (n = 130; 65%), entertaining (n = 129; 65%), friends (n = 128; 64%), or social/cultural activities (n = 128; 64%). A number of mothers felt a lack of time for their children (n = 125; 62%), their husbands (n = 91; 57%), or their extended family (n = 108; 55%). Some mothers also reported lacking time for their wardrobe (n = 103; 52%), personal care (n = 85; 42%), children’s activities (n = 67; 35%), or personal health care (n = 47; 24%).
WORKINGMOTHERS
249
I I
,
vvv 44P l : l
:
250
ANDERSON-KULMAN
AND PALUDI
Finally, the vast majority (95%) of the women reported having felt under a lot of pressure or as though tom among the demands of being a worker, mother, and/or wife (sometimes: n = 93; 46%; often n = 61; 30%; very often: n = 39; 1%). Subjects were asked to list what kinds of problems they face as a working mother. The women’s self-reported problems were distributed among the following categories: (a) stress, guilt, fatigue, or pressure (n = 73; 36%), (b) time management (n = 84; 41%), (c) monetary factors (n = 26; 13%), (d) concerns about day care (n = 10, 5%), (e) self-related concerns (n = 87; 43%). (f) child-related concerns (n = 139; 68%), (g) husband-related concerns (n = 44; 22%), (h) work-related concerns (n = 47; 23%), and (i) lack of support (n = 16; 8%). A X2 analysis indicated that the frequency of problems reported by single and married mothers did not significantly differ (X2 = 14.77, df = 8, p > .05). Responses to this item were coded by two independent raters, who rated 89 questionnaires and achieved an agreement rate of 73%. DISCUSSION Coping among working mothers appears to be associated with less familial conflict, greater familial participation in intellectual and cultural activities, and greater satisfaction with their own jobs. Family characteristics were also found to vary as a function of mothers’ well-being. For example, job satisfaction among working mothers was found to be predictive of family cohesion, such that greater maternal job satisfaction was associated with greater cohesiveness among their families. Maternal role strain was also found to be associated with familial conflict, as less role strain among working mothers was predictive of lower levels of family conflict. However, marital status and part-vs. full-time employment were not found to be salient predictors of familial functioning or role strain among working mothers. The families of the working mothers surveyed were very similar, regardless of the women’s employment or marital status. In addition, the women were found to report comparable degrees of role strain, job satisfaction, job flexibility, work commitment, and satisfaction with their child care services. This suggests that marital status and the number of hours worked are less significant factors relative to other considerations, such as the degree of job satisfaction among working mothers. The areas of conflict endorsed by the participating mothers indicated that managing the household and home cleaning were major sources of stress among the sample as a whole. In addition, a majority of women reported experiencing conflict about care of sick children. The most commonly reported problems among the mothers surveyed were childrelated, and were endorsed by the majority (68%) of the participants.
WORKING
MOTHERS
251
Other frequently endorsed problems included self-related concerns, problems with time management, and stress, guilt, fatigue, or pressure. men aded spe~ifkaUy about their time constraints, respondents reported kicking time for most of the activities listed, suggesting that the majority of working mothers experienced a shortage of time for nearly everything. This lack of time among working mothers appears to be most accentuated in areas that are self-related (e.g., community activities, hobbies, reading, physical fitness) or involve the home. It should be noted that the present study exclusively focused on mothers’ perceptions of the family environment. Although mothers’ views of their families may be most salient to their degree of role strain and coping in general, the inclusion of their children’s and husbands’ perceptions may provide important additional information about family functioning. It is also essential to note that the present study included only one form of supplementary child care as day care centers are used by only a minority of working women, the generahzability of the results is limited. Assessment of a broad range of child care arrangements, including family day care, care by a relative, and baby-sitting in one’s home may provide more representative data about working mothers’ satisfaction with their child care and its relationship to mothers’ coping and the family climate. A more generahzable sample might also include mothers who were more heterogeneous in terms of occupation, education, and income. As a consequence of the above factors, the working mothers who participated in this study were probably atypical of working mothers as a whole. Future studies may also survey working mothers’ specific strategies to manage their time and levels of stress, and to assess which strategies are associated with the least amount of role strain among working mothers. The findings of the present study have implications for vocational development, as job satisfaction among working mothers was found to be positively related to the degree of cohesiveness of their families. In addition, greater job satisfaction was associated with lower levels of role strain among working mothers. Thus, enhancing the level of satisfaction with one’s work may be expected to promote positive coping among working mothers and their families. Traditional occupational policies reflect the separation of work and family life and the societal expectation that mothers remain at home to care for the children. This general incompatibility between the workplace and family demands and the relative lack of provisions to ease employees’ integration of these roles may be expected to produce greater potential stress and conflict among working mothers, who hold the primary responsibility for child rearing and child care. Modifications in the policies of employers may serve to ameliorate some of the role conflict and strain associated with the multiple roles of the working mother. Some employers have adopted family-oriented policies such as job sharing, flexible work
ANDERSON-KULMAN
252
AND PALUDI
hours, or employer-sponsored day care as an employee benefit. Perry (1978) reported that most employers who sponsor child care services have found positive ramifications for their businesses as well as for employees. The establishment of workplace-sponsored child care has been associated with lower absenteeism of employees, higher employee morale, increased ease of recruiting personnel, positive publicity, and lower rate of turnover. Advantages for employees have included such benefits as a convenient location, child care hours that conform to work hours, and access to quality infant care. REFERENCES Bahr, S. J. (1972). ofBlood
A methodological study of conjugal power: A replication and Wolfe. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Washington K., Bamett, R. C., & Rivers, C. (1983). Life prints. New
and extension
State University. York: McGraw-
Baruch, G. Hill. Belsky, J., Steinberg, L., & Walker, A. (1982). The ecology of day care. In M. Lamb, Nontraditional families: Parenting and child development. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum. Bimbaum, J. A. (1971). Life patterns, personality study, and self-esteem in gifted family oriented and career committed women. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Michigan. Bodin, J., & Mitelman, B. (1983). Mothers who work. New York: Ballantine Books. Bronfenbtenner, U. (1977). Toward an experimental ecology of human development. American Psychologist, 32, 513-531. Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979). The ecology of human development. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Univ. Press. Eiswirth-Neems. N., & Handal, P. (1978). Spouses’ attitudes toward maternal occupational status and effects on family climate. Journal of Community Psychology, 6, 168-172. Ericksen, J., Yancey, W., & Ericksen, E. (1979). The division of family roles. Journal of Marriage
and the Family,
41, 301-313.
Eta@,
C. (1974). Effects of maternal employment on children: A review of recent research. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 20, 71-98. Etaugh, C. (1980). Effects of nonmatemal care on children. American Psychologist, 35, 309-319.
Etaugh, C. (1984). Effects of maternal employment on children: An updated review. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Midwestern Psychological Association, Chicago, IL. Glenn, N., & Weaver, C. (1978). A multivariate, multisurvey study of marital happiness. Journal
of Marriage
and the Family,
40, 269-282.
Gray, J. (1983). The married professional woman: An examination of her role conflicts and coping strategies. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 7, 235-243. Hardesty, S. A., & Betz, N. E. (1980). The relationships of career salience, attitudes toward women, and demographic and family characteristics to marital adjustment in dual-career couples. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 17, 242-250. Harrell, J., & Ridley, C. (1975). Substitute child care, maternal employment, and the quality of mother-child interaction. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 37, 556564. Hawkes, G.. Nicola, J., & Fish, M. (1980). Young manieds: Wives’ employment and family role structure. In F. Pepitone-Rockwell (Ed.), Dual career couples. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage. Hoffman, L. W. (1977). Changes in family roles, socialization, and sex differences. American Psychobgist,
32, 644-657.
WORKING
MOTHERS
253
Hoffman, L. W. (1979). Maternal employment: 1979. American Psychologist, 34, 859-865. Hoffman, L. W. (1980). The effects of maternal employment on the academic attitudes and performance of school-aged children. School Psychology Review, 9, 319-335. Hoffman, L. W., & Nye, F. I. (1974). Working mothers. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Johnson, C., & Johnson, F. (1977). Attitudes toward parenting in dual-career families. American Journal of Psychiatry, 134, 391-395. Klecka, C. O., & Hiher, D. V. (1977). Impact of mothers’ lifestyles on adolescent genderrole socialization. Sex Roles, 3, 241-255. Lupri, E. (1%7). Contemporary authority patterns in the West German family: A study in cross-national validation. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 31, 134-144. McCroskey, J. (1980). Working mothers and child care: The context of child care sarisfucrion for working women with preschool children. University of California, Los Angeles. University Microfilms No. 8023338. Moos, R., Clayton, J., & Max, W. (1979). The sociul climate scales: An annotated bibliography. Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press. MOOS, R., & MOOS, B. (1981). Family environment scale manual. Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press, Inc. National Commission on Working Women (1979). Narional survey of working women: Perceptions, problems, andprospecrs. Washington, DC: National Manpower Institute. Nye, F. I. (1974). So&cultural factors. In L. W. Hoffman, & F. 1. Nye (Eds.), Working mothers. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Orden, S., & Bradbum, N. (1%9). Working wives and marriage happiness. American Journal of sociology. 74, 392-407. Perry, S. (1978). Survey and analysis of employer sponsored day care in the United States, Doctoral dissertation, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Disserrarion Absrracrs International, 39, 5305A. Perry, K. S. (1982). Employers and child care: Establishing services rhrough the workplace. Women’s Bureau, U. S. Department of Labor, Pamphlet 23. Propper, A. (1972). The relationship of maternal employment to adolescent roles, activities, and parental relationships. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 34, 417-421. Rutter, M. (1981). Socio-emotional consequences of day care for preschool childten. American Journal of Orrhopsychiatry, 51, 4-28. Safdios-Rothschild, C. (1970). The influence of the wife’s degree of work commitment upon some aspects of family organization and dynamics. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 32, 681-691. Vaughn, B., Gove, F., & Egeland, B. (1980). The relationship between out-of-home care and the quality of infant-mother attachment in an economicahy disadvantaged po@ation. Child Development, 51, 1203-1214. Warr, P., & Parry, G. (1982). Paid employment and women’s psychological well-being. Psychological Bulletin, 91, 498-516. Wright, J. (1978). Are working women really more satisfied? Evidence from several national surveys. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 40, 301-313. ymow, M., Scott, P. De Leeuw. L., & Heinig, C. (1962). Child-rearing in families of working and nonworking mothers. Sociomerry, 25, 122-140. Received: May 28, 1985.
Behavior Z3, 241-253 (1986)
Working Mothers and the Family Context: Predicting Positive Coping’ RUTH E. ANDERSON-KULMAN Washington County Community Mental Health
Center
AND MICHELE
A. PALUDI
Kent State University Working mothers (N = 204) were administered questionnaires to assess their degree of role strain, and their perceptions of their work, child care, and family environments. Few differences were found between women who were single (n = 40) versus married (n = 164) or who worked part- (n = 37) or full-time (n = 167). Role strain among working mothers was found to be related to factors in their work and home environments, such as their job satisfaction, and the degree of conflict in their families. The sample was also found to experience a great deal of time pressure and reported a lack of resources to care for their sick children. Implications for the understanding of vocational behavior are presented. Q 1986Academic Press. Inc.
Public and personal attitudes toward women’s vocational achievements began to change in the late 1960s and early 197Os, signaled and stimulated by the women’s movement. These attitudinal changes are mirrored in the proportion of women, including married women with preschool children, engaged in paid employment outside of the home. The impact of paid employment on women and their children, marriages, and families has become the focus of a great deal of recent research. ’ This research was conducted as part of the first author’s doctoral dissertation at Kent State University under the direction of the second author. Appreciation is extended to Dominic F. Gullo, Roy Lilly, Jeanette Reuter, and William Shanklin for their comments on an earlier draft. Portions of this paper were presented at the Annual Meeting of the Eastern Psychological Association, Boston, April 1985. The suggestions of two anonymous reviewers are also appreciated. We thank Diane Poston and Patricia John for typing the manuscript. Reprint requests may be sent to either Ruth Anderson-Kulman, Washington County Community Mental Health Center, Salt Pond Rd., Wakefield, RI, or Michele A. Paludi, Department of Psychology, Kent State University, Kent, OH 44242. 241
OOOI-8791186 $3.00 Copyri&l 0 1986 by Academic Press. Inc. All rigbls of reproduction in any fom resewed.
242
ANDERSON-KULMAN
ANDPALUDI
Working mothers constitute a heterogeneous group of women who vary on several variables: age, marital status, stage in the family life cycle (e.g., number and ages of children), reasons for working, commitment to work, full- vs. part-time employment, and a variety of socioeconomic factors. A woman’s employment status may interact with one or more of the above dimensions to yield differential effects of maternal employment. Research on working mothers themselves has generally focused on their role pattern and/or role conflict, well-being, life satisfaction, self-esteem, and parenting. The multiple role pattern of working mothers leads to a more complex lifestyle with a greater number of potential role conflicts (e.g., Gray, 1983; Hardesty & Betz, 1980). The primary arena of role strain appears to involve the integration of work and child-rearing roles (e.g., Hardesty & Betz, 1980; Johnson dz Johnson, 1977). Cooperation and support of family members have been found to diminish role strain among working mothers and may heighten women’s satisfaction with their multiple role pattern (e.g., Gray, 1983). Stress among working mothers may also be diminished by the availability of high quality day care services, and/or the presence of family-oriented occupational policies (Perry, 1982). Although working mothers may experience greater stress, they also express greater self-esteem (Bimbaum, 1971), and at least as much life satisfaction or well-being as do nonworking mothers (e.g., Warr & Parry, 1982). This may stem from enhanced opportunities for social contact, additional sources of self-worth, and more avenues for experiencing mastery and competency among working mothers (Baruch, Bamett, & Rivers, 1983; Hoffman, 1979, 1980). Research on the impact of maternal employment on children has generally found no negative effects on the children of working mothers (Belsky, Steinberg, & Walker, 1982). Some evidence has suggested that maternal employment may lead to strain in the father-son relationship among lower class families, and may lower the academic performance of middle class boys (Hoffman, 1979). However, maternal employment appears to have a positive influence on adolescents, particularly daughters (Hoffman, 1980). Among infant and preschool children, the nature and quality of day care services while the mother is working are important factors in determining children’s adjustment. Overall, research on day care has found that when the child is in high quality care, there is no negative impact on the child’s emotional adjustment or relationship with his/her mother (Etaugh, 1984; Rutter, 1981). Day care has been found to have no negative effects on the intellectual development of children, and may have a positive impact on children from economically disadvantaged homes (Belsky et al., 1982). The social behavior of children attending day care has been found to show increases in both positive and negative peer-oriented behaviors (Etaugh, 1980).
WORKINGMOTHERS
243
Research on the marital relationship has typically found little or no impact of women’s employment on middle class marriages (e.g., Glenn & Weaver, 1978; Wright, 1978), but has found lower class marriages to be more favorable when the wife does not work (Nye, 1974). The impact of maternal employment on the family includes the greater sharing of housework and child care responsibilities among family members of employed women (Hoffman, 1977). In addition, women who work outside the home possess greater decision-making power in the family (Bahr, 1972). Other studies have found no differences in children’s perceptions of their families (e.g., Klecka & Hiller, 1977; Propper, 1972), or parental descriptions of the family climate (Eiswirth-Neems & Handal, 1978) among the families of working and nonworking mothers. The research to date on the impact of maternal employment has generally focused on particular areas of influence as relatively independent entities and has espoused a reductionistic approach, examining the covariation among a small number of variables. The interrelationships among the life spheres of the working mother, such as the interface between factors associated with the mother’s work and the quality of family life, have typically been neglected. A more holistic view of the working mother is needed which simultaneously maintains a broad perspective and attends to the complexity of factors involved. Bronfenbrenner (1977, 1979) has advocated the reconceptuahzation of research within an ecological perspective. An ecological perspective advocates a multivariate assessment of factors that operate on additional levels besides the individual or ontogenic level of analysis. For example, the wider ecology of maternal employment implies the existence of reciprocal interrelationships among such contexts as the family, day care setting, workplace, community, and society at large. The present study constituted an attempt to address the interrelationships among the major life spheres of the working mother. These included the workplace, family and child care arrangements. It was anticipated that the working mother’s perceptions of and satisfaction with these spheres may interact to influence her degree of coping and/or role strain. A second focus of this study was to assess how factors associated with the mother’s employment (e.g., part- vs. full-time employment, commitment to work, job satisfaction, job flexibility) influenced the family in terms of its cohesiveness and degree of conflict. In addition, the present study included single mothers as a target group and assessed the similarities and differences between single and married working mothers. METHOD
Subjects Subjects consisted of 204 women who ranged in age from 20 to 42 years (a = 30.2 years, SD = 4.3 years). The sample included 164
244
ANDERSON-KULMANANDPALUDI
married and 40 single mothers. The women worked predominantly in white collar occupations (N = 187), with 17 women possessing blue collar jobs. Thirty-seven subjects reported working part-time (i.e., up to 29 hours per week) while 167 women worked full-time (i.e., more than 30 hours per week). Procedure Day care center staff at 10 target day care centers in Northeastern Ohio were asked to distribute questionnaire packets to mothers whose children attended the participating centers. Interested mothers were asked to complete a set of questionnaires which included: (a) the Family Environment Scale (FES) (Moos & Moos, 1981), (b) questions about satisfaction with child care, (c) questions regarding job flexibility and job satisfaction, (d) questions addressing the frequency and type of role strains experienced, and (e) a demographic information sheet. The participating mothers returned their completed questionnaires to their respective day care center. Of the 504 questionnaires that were distributed, 218 (43%) were returned. An additional 14 (6%) were deleted from the study due to an insufficient number of responses. Measures Family environment scale (FES). The FES was designed to describe the social environment of families in terms of their structural organization, interpersonal relationships, and orientation toward personal growth (Moos & Moos, 1981). The FES is a self-report instrument which consists of 90 true-false items. The individual family member’s perception of his/her family environment is assessed and coded as 10 subscale scores. The 10 subscales are grouped conceptually according to three major dimensions of family functioning: (a) relationships (i.e., cohesion, expressiveness, conflict), (b) orientation toward personal growth and development (i.e., achievement orientation, independence, intellectual-cultural, moral-religious, active-recreational), and (c) system maintenance (i.e., organization, control). Cohesion refers to the extent of helping behaviors and mutual support among family members (e.g., “There is a feeling of togetherness in our family.“). Expressiveness among family members is reflected by the degree to which feelings are expressed in an open and direct manner (e.g., “We say anything we want to around the home.“). Conflict refers to the extent of overt aggression and anger expressed in the family (e.g., “We fight a lot in our family.“). Independence is reflected by the degree of autonomous decision making, assertiveness, and self-sufficiency among family members (e.g., “We come and go as we want in our family.“). The achievement subscale assesses how highly the family values competition and achievement in such activities as school and work (e.g.,
WORKING MOTHERS
245
“We feel it is important to be the best at whatever we do.“). The intellectual-cultural subscale indicates the amount of family interest expressed in intellectual, political, and cultural activities (e.g., “Someone in our family plays a musical instrument.*‘). The degree to which family members engage in recreational or social activities is assessed by the active-recreational orientation subscale (e.g., “Everyone in our family has a hobby or two.“‘). Moral-religious emphasis refers to the amount of familial emphasis placed on ethics and religion (e.g., “The Bible is a very important book in our home.“). Organization reflects the signi8cance of structure, organization, and planning in the family (e.g., “Being on time is very important in our family.“). The control subscale indicates the extent to which family life is regulated by rules and set procedures (e.g., “You can’t get away with much in our family.“). The FES subscales have been found to have Kuder-Richardson reliability coefficients ranging from .61 to .79. Average intercorrelations among the subscales have been low to moderate (mean intercorrelation = .25). Test-retest reliabilities have been found to range from 68 to 86 over a 2-month interval (N = 9 families), .54 to .91 over a 4-month interval (N = 35 families), and .52 to 89 after a 1Zmonth time period (N = 241 families ) (Moos & Moos, 1981). The validity of the FES has been documented by its administration to a large sample of both normal (n = 1,125) and distressed (N = 500) families (Moos et al., 1979; Moos & Moos, 1981). The FES has also been used to empiricahy determine major types of families. Family protiles have been found to be reliable, with average intercorrelations of .78 after 4 months (N = 35) and .71 after 12 months (N = 85). The FES (Form R) was administered in this study to provide a qualitative analysis of the family environments of working mothers. Responses to items on each of the 10 subscales can range from 0 to 9. These raw scores are then converted to T-scores. Child care satisfaction. Satisfaction with child care was assessed by questions derived from the research of Harrell and Ridley (1975) and McCroskey (1980). These sets of questions assess the overall satisfaction of mothers with their child care arrangement (“In terms of loving and understanding your child, the people providing the child care are”); of their husband’s satisfaction (e.g., “How do you think ‘your husband feels about your child care?“); and whether the mother is satisfied with such factors as the price, convenience, dependability, physical environment, competence of child caretakers, and/or curriculum of her child care arrangement (e.g., “In terms of giving your child opportunities to get along with and know other children, your child care does: a poor job, a fair job, an adequate job, a good job, a very good job;” “How competent do you think the people providing the child care are?“). Scores assigned to each of the questions concerning satisfaction with child care were summed; an average score was computed for each participant.
246
ANDERSON-KULMAN
ANDPALUDI
Job satisfaction and job flexibility. Job satisfaction was measured by questions derived from the research of McCroskey (1980) and Bodin and Mitelman (1983). Satisfaction with one’s job is reflected by ratings of overah satisfaction such as the extent to which one’s job is everything one wants it to be, and attitudes toward one’s work (e.g., “Considering everything, how would you rate your satisfaction with your job?“: “How successful do you think you are in your working life?“) Questions on job flexibility were designed specifically for the present study. These assessed the perceived likelihood of obtaining time off to care for a sick child or attend a parent-teacher conference, arranging work hours around family responsibilities and/or children’s activities, or shortening the number of hours worked per week. In addition, questions were included to assess whether the employer had family-oriented policies such as telephone privileges on the job, employer-sponsored day care, and/or maternity or paternity benefits. Sample questions include the following: “How likely is your employer to ahow you to change the number of hours you work per week?” “Does your employer sponsor a day care program for the children of employees?” “Does your employer allow you to take time off from work to attend a parent-teacher conference?” Average job satisfaction and job flexibility scores were computed for each participant. Role strain. Role strain among working women was assessed by questions designed by McCroskey (1980) and Bodin and Mitelman (1983). These items address whether and how frequently women experience feeling tom between their roles as mother, wife, and worker, whether they experience time constraints, the specific nature of these problems, and how bothersome they are. Sample questions include: “Do you find the time demands of your work to be too much?” “Do you ever feel that you are under a lot of pressure or that you feel tom among the demands of being a worker, a wife, and a mother ?” The frequencies which various types of role strain were reported by married and single working mothers were averaged. RESULTS
Table 1 presents the means and standard deviations of scores on all variables for single and married working mothers. Fifteen univariate analyses of variance were performed on the data presented in Table 1. Results indicated that mothers working part- vs. full-time were generally found to be similar. One statistically significant difference was obtained for the variable “organization. ” Families of women working part-time scored signifianctly lower on organization than the families of full-time working women (F = 6.37, df = 1, p < .05). In addition, no significant differences were obtained between married and single working mothers on any of the dependent variables. However, a significant interaction
WORKING
247
MOTHERS
TABLE 1 Means and Standard Deviations on All Variables for Single and Married Working Mothers Marital status Single (n = 40) Variable Cohesion Expressiveness Conflict Independence Achievement orientation Intellectual-cultural orientation Active-recreational orientation Moral-religious emphasis Organization Control Role strain Child care satisfaction Husband’s child care satisfaction Job satisfaction Husband’s job satisfaction Job flexibility Work commitment
x
Married (n = 164)
_SD
z
SD
52.57 54.49 53.00 49.18 51.32
12.69 II.24 9.81 10.24 12.32
54.45 55.10 51.62 49.03 48.33
13.29 12.06 10.49 12.69 10.64
50.05
12.48
47.84
13.10
51.19 54.62 53.86 57.59 7.45 4.19
12.07 10.59 II.95 10.38 2.33 .49
48.03 53.95 50.% 50.84 7.15 4.16
II.21 II.73 11.71 10.47 2.36 .44
.53
4.24 3.95
.67 .71
.33 .49
3.78 2.49 2.56
.89 .42 .53
-
-
3.68
2.40 2.53
-
was obtained between marital status and employment status on the dimension of “familial organization.” Among the full-time working mothers, married women’s families were found to be less organized than those of single mothers (F = 7.99, df = 1, p < .Ol). Multiple regression analyses were performed to assessthe salient predictors of role strain, family conflict, and family cohesion. Summary data from the multiple regression analyses are presented in Table 2. Intercorrelations among all variables for the combined sample are presented in Table 3. For the combined sample of both married and single mothers, cohesion was found to be predicted by expressiveness (p = .39, p < .OOl),conflict (~3= - .36, p < .OOl), organization (p = .26, p < .OOl),job satisfaction (p = .ll, p < .05), and active-recreational orientation Cp = .l 1, p < .OS).Conflict was found to be predicted by cohesion @ = .50, p < .OOl), control (~3= .24, p < .OOl), expressiveness (p = .lY, p < .Ol), and role strain (p = .12, p < .05). Furthermore, role strain was predicted by job
248
ANDERSON-KULMAN
AND PALUDI
TABLE 2 Multiple Regression Analyses Assessing the Salient Predictors of Family Cohesion, Family Conflict, and Role Strain Criterion variable Cohesion
Conflict
Role strain
Predictor variable Expressiveness Conflict Organization Job satisfaction Active-recreational orientation Cohesion Control Expressiveness Role strain Job satisfaction Conflict Intellectual-cultural orientation
B
R
Pa<
.39 - .36 .26 .II
.49 .65 .71 .72
.ool .ool .ool .05
.I1 -.50
.24 .19 .I2 -.23 .I8
.73 .48 .53 .55 .56 .27 .33
.05 .ooi ,001 .Ol .05 .ool .Ol
- .I8
.38
.Ol
’ p value refers to significance of F tests.
satisfaction (p = - .23, p < .OOl), conflict (p = .18, p < .Ol), and intellectual-cultural orientation (/3 = - .18, p < .Ol). Further data pertaining to women’s self-reporting of areas of conflict, time pressures, and problems may be summarized as follows: The most frequently endorsed area of conflict for women was that of home cleaning (n = 127; 63%), followed by sick-child care (n = 119; 59%), general household management (n = 104; 51%), financial management (n = 97; 48%), meal preparation (n = 96; 47%), resolving family problems (n = 81; 40%), child care (n = 76; 37%), arrangements for lessons and special activities (n = 74; 36%), laundry (n = 71; 35%), marketing/shopping (n = 58; 2%), and car pooling (n = 21; 10%). Women also were asked to indicate whether or not they possessed enough time for a number of different life activities. Women reported their greatest lack of time was in the areas of community involvement (n = 175; 87%) and hobbies (n = 158; 8oorO). Many women reported not having enough time for their home (n = 139; 70%), travel (n = 138; 69%), reading (n = 134; 67%), intellectual development (n = 132; 66%), physical fitness (n = 130; 65%), entertaining (n = 129; 65%), friends (n = 128; 64%), or social/cultural activities (n = 128; 64%). A number of mothers felt a lack of time for their children (n = 125; 62%), their husbands (n = 91; 57%), or their extended family (n = 108; 55%). Some mothers also reported lacking time for their wardrobe (n = 103; 52%), personal care (n = 85; 42%), children’s activities (n = 67; 35%), or personal health care (n = 47; 24%).
WORKINGMOTHERS
249
I I
,
vvv 44P l : l
:
250
ANDERSON-KULMAN
AND PALUDI
Finally, the vast majority (95%) of the women reported having felt under a lot of pressure or as though tom among the demands of being a worker, mother, and/or wife (sometimes: n = 93; 46%; often n = 61; 30%; very often: n = 39; 1%). Subjects were asked to list what kinds of problems they face as a working mother. The women’s self-reported problems were distributed among the following categories: (a) stress, guilt, fatigue, or pressure (n = 73; 36%), (b) time management (n = 84; 41%), (c) monetary factors (n = 26; 13%), (d) concerns about day care (n = 10, 5%), (e) self-related concerns (n = 87; 43%). (f) child-related concerns (n = 139; 68%), (g) husband-related concerns (n = 44; 22%), (h) work-related concerns (n = 47; 23%), and (i) lack of support (n = 16; 8%). A X2 analysis indicated that the frequency of problems reported by single and married mothers did not significantly differ (X2 = 14.77, df = 8, p > .05). Responses to this item were coded by two independent raters, who rated 89 questionnaires and achieved an agreement rate of 73%. DISCUSSION Coping among working mothers appears to be associated with less familial conflict, greater familial participation in intellectual and cultural activities, and greater satisfaction with their own jobs. Family characteristics were also found to vary as a function of mothers’ well-being. For example, job satisfaction among working mothers was found to be predictive of family cohesion, such that greater maternal job satisfaction was associated with greater cohesiveness among their families. Maternal role strain was also found to be associated with familial conflict, as less role strain among working mothers was predictive of lower levels of family conflict. However, marital status and part-vs. full-time employment were not found to be salient predictors of familial functioning or role strain among working mothers. The families of the working mothers surveyed were very similar, regardless of the women’s employment or marital status. In addition, the women were found to report comparable degrees of role strain, job satisfaction, job flexibility, work commitment, and satisfaction with their child care services. This suggests that marital status and the number of hours worked are less significant factors relative to other considerations, such as the degree of job satisfaction among working mothers. The areas of conflict endorsed by the participating mothers indicated that managing the household and home cleaning were major sources of stress among the sample as a whole. In addition, a majority of women reported experiencing conflict about care of sick children. The most commonly reported problems among the mothers surveyed were childrelated, and were endorsed by the majority (68%) of the participants.
WORKING
MOTHERS
251
Other frequently endorsed problems included self-related concerns, problems with time management, and stress, guilt, fatigue, or pressure. men aded spe~ifkaUy about their time constraints, respondents reported kicking time for most of the activities listed, suggesting that the majority of working mothers experienced a shortage of time for nearly everything. This lack of time among working mothers appears to be most accentuated in areas that are self-related (e.g., community activities, hobbies, reading, physical fitness) or involve the home. It should be noted that the present study exclusively focused on mothers’ perceptions of the family environment. Although mothers’ views of their families may be most salient to their degree of role strain and coping in general, the inclusion of their children’s and husbands’ perceptions may provide important additional information about family functioning. It is also essential to note that the present study included only one form of supplementary child care as day care centers are used by only a minority of working women, the generahzability of the results is limited. Assessment of a broad range of child care arrangements, including family day care, care by a relative, and baby-sitting in one’s home may provide more representative data about working mothers’ satisfaction with their child care and its relationship to mothers’ coping and the family climate. A more generahzable sample might also include mothers who were more heterogeneous in terms of occupation, education, and income. As a consequence of the above factors, the working mothers who participated in this study were probably atypical of working mothers as a whole. Future studies may also survey working mothers’ specific strategies to manage their time and levels of stress, and to assess which strategies are associated with the least amount of role strain among working mothers. The findings of the present study have implications for vocational development, as job satisfaction among working mothers was found to be positively related to the degree of cohesiveness of their families. In addition, greater job satisfaction was associated with lower levels of role strain among working mothers. Thus, enhancing the level of satisfaction with one’s work may be expected to promote positive coping among working mothers and their families. Traditional occupational policies reflect the separation of work and family life and the societal expectation that mothers remain at home to care for the children. This general incompatibility between the workplace and family demands and the relative lack of provisions to ease employees’ integration of these roles may be expected to produce greater potential stress and conflict among working mothers, who hold the primary responsibility for child rearing and child care. Modifications in the policies of employers may serve to ameliorate some of the role conflict and strain associated with the multiple roles of the working mother. Some employers have adopted family-oriented policies such as job sharing, flexible work
ANDERSON-KULMAN
252
AND PALUDI
hours, or employer-sponsored day care as an employee benefit. Perry (1978) reported that most employers who sponsor child care services have found positive ramifications for their businesses as well as for employees. The establishment of workplace-sponsored child care has been associated with lower absenteeism of employees, higher employee morale, increased ease of recruiting personnel, positive publicity, and lower rate of turnover. Advantages for employees have included such benefits as a convenient location, child care hours that conform to work hours, and access to quality infant care. REFERENCES Bahr, S. J. (1972). ofBlood
A methodological study of conjugal power: A replication and Wolfe. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Washington K., Bamett, R. C., & Rivers, C. (1983). Life prints. New
and extension
State University. York: McGraw-
Baruch, G. Hill. Belsky, J., Steinberg, L., & Walker, A. (1982). The ecology of day care. In M. Lamb, Nontraditional families: Parenting and child development. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum. Bimbaum, J. A. (1971). Life patterns, personality study, and self-esteem in gifted family oriented and career committed women. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Michigan. Bodin, J., & Mitelman, B. (1983). Mothers who work. New York: Ballantine Books. Bronfenbtenner, U. (1977). Toward an experimental ecology of human development. American Psychologist, 32, 513-531. Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979). The ecology of human development. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Univ. Press. Eiswirth-Neems. N., & Handal, P. (1978). Spouses’ attitudes toward maternal occupational status and effects on family climate. Journal of Community Psychology, 6, 168-172. Ericksen, J., Yancey, W., & Ericksen, E. (1979). The division of family roles. Journal of Marriage
and the Family,
41, 301-313.
Eta@,
C. (1974). Effects of maternal employment on children: A review of recent research. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 20, 71-98. Etaugh, C. (1980). Effects of nonmatemal care on children. American Psychologist, 35, 309-319.
Etaugh, C. (1984). Effects of maternal employment on children: An updated review. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Midwestern Psychological Association, Chicago, IL. Glenn, N., & Weaver, C. (1978). A multivariate, multisurvey study of marital happiness. Journal
of Marriage
and the Family,
40, 269-282.
Gray, J. (1983). The married professional woman: An examination of her role conflicts and coping strategies. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 7, 235-243. Hardesty, S. A., & Betz, N. E. (1980). The relationships of career salience, attitudes toward women, and demographic and family characteristics to marital adjustment in dual-career couples. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 17, 242-250. Harrell, J., & Ridley, C. (1975). Substitute child care, maternal employment, and the quality of mother-child interaction. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 37, 556564. Hawkes, G.. Nicola, J., & Fish, M. (1980). Young manieds: Wives’ employment and family role structure. In F. Pepitone-Rockwell (Ed.), Dual career couples. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage. Hoffman, L. W. (1977). Changes in family roles, socialization, and sex differences. American Psychobgist,
32, 644-657.
WORKING
MOTHERS
253
Hoffman, L. W. (1979). Maternal employment: 1979. American Psychologist, 34, 859-865. Hoffman, L. W. (1980). The effects of maternal employment on the academic attitudes and performance of school-aged children. School Psychology Review, 9, 319-335. Hoffman, L. W., & Nye, F. I. (1974). Working mothers. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Johnson, C., & Johnson, F. (1977). Attitudes toward parenting in dual-career families. American Journal of Psychiatry, 134, 391-395. Klecka, C. O., & Hiher, D. V. (1977). Impact of mothers’ lifestyles on adolescent genderrole socialization. Sex Roles, 3, 241-255. Lupri, E. (1%7). Contemporary authority patterns in the West German family: A study in cross-national validation. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 31, 134-144. McCroskey, J. (1980). Working mothers and child care: The context of child care sarisfucrion for working women with preschool children. University of California, Los Angeles. University Microfilms No. 8023338. Moos, R., Clayton, J., & Max, W. (1979). The sociul climate scales: An annotated bibliography. Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press. MOOS, R., & MOOS, B. (1981). Family environment scale manual. Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press, Inc. National Commission on Working Women (1979). Narional survey of working women: Perceptions, problems, andprospecrs. Washington, DC: National Manpower Institute. Nye, F. I. (1974). So&cultural factors. In L. W. Hoffman, & F. 1. Nye (Eds.), Working mothers. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Orden, S., & Bradbum, N. (1%9). Working wives and marriage happiness. American Journal of sociology. 74, 392-407. Perry, S. (1978). Survey and analysis of employer sponsored day care in the United States, Doctoral dissertation, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Disserrarion Absrracrs International, 39, 5305A. Perry, K. S. (1982). Employers and child care: Establishing services rhrough the workplace. Women’s Bureau, U. S. Department of Labor, Pamphlet 23. Propper, A. (1972). The relationship of maternal employment to adolescent roles, activities, and parental relationships. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 34, 417-421. Rutter, M. (1981). Socio-emotional consequences of day care for preschool childten. American Journal of Orrhopsychiatry, 51, 4-28. Safdios-Rothschild, C. (1970). The influence of the wife’s degree of work commitment upon some aspects of family organization and dynamics. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 32, 681-691. Vaughn, B., Gove, F., & Egeland, B. (1980). The relationship between out-of-home care and the quality of infant-mother attachment in an economicahy disadvantaged po@ation. Child Development, 51, 1203-1214. Warr, P., & Parry, G. (1982). Paid employment and women’s psychological well-being. Psychological Bulletin, 91, 498-516. Wright, J. (1978). Are working women really more satisfied? Evidence from several national surveys. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 40, 301-313. ymow, M., Scott, P. De Leeuw. L., & Heinig, C. (1962). Child-rearing in families of working and nonworking mothers. Sociomerry, 25, 122-140. Received: May 28, 1985.