Working from home might cause work-family conflict for women

Working from home, according to new research from the University of Kent, might raise emotions that family responsibilities are interfering with professional commitments, but only for women in traditional gender roles.

Despite the benefits of working from home, such as less commute and greater flexibility, a study published in the journal Community, Work, and Family revealed that working from home can increase rather than diminish feelings of conflict between work and family responsibilities.

Professor Heejung Chung of the University of Kent’s School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research (SSPSSR) collaborated on the study with Professor Deniz Yucel of William Paterson University in the United States. Working from home, according to Professor Chung’s prior research, may result in a more traditional division of labor, as women are more inclined to spend more time on housework and childcare, while males are more likely to expand their working hours.

According to this new study, women with a more traditional perspective of gender roles are more likely to increase their housework and childcare when working from home, which explains why their homeworking is more likely to result in feelings of conflict between family and work responsibilities.

Working from home, according to the study, can enhance the perception that work interferes with family life, particularly among women who have a more equitable gender role perspective. Working from home, on the other hand, has been shown to lessen work-family conflict in men. This could be due to men typically sharing less of the household and family-related chores, or to disparities in their work-family values compared to women, according to the researchers. To obtain their conclusions, the researchers used the German Family Panel (pairfam).

Professor Chung said: ‘This study highlights the importance of gender role attitudes in shaping the consequences of working from home, including what it can mean for workers’ work-life balance and gender equality. Future research is needed in this area to better identify the key challenges faced by flexible workers, especially with home working more widespread since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.’

The research paper titled ‘Working from home, work–family conflict, and the role of gender and gender role attitudes’ is published by Community, Work and Family. doi: 10.1080/13668803.2021.1993138