Paola Vega, & Dr. Lindsey Trimble O’Connor
In terms of taking care of children, women spend more time and energy than men, and as such often experience with work family conflict which is when define women will find it difficult to manage such situations due to mainstream ideals of work and family balance, which will increase the number of disputes regarding work and family for women. My research question examines whether the absence of support from a partner contributes to the work-family-conflict experienced by mothers. I hypothesized, that the more of support a partner contributes to the household chores but mostly childcare, to the less work-family-conflict experienced by mothers. Past research has established work family conflict as being part of high work demands, individuals’ perception and the lack of spouse support. I ask using the 2016 The National Study of the Changing Workforce. Conducting a secondary data analysis on a sample of 1,542 participants. For my sample, I restricted my sample to partnered women with children. I found that having a supportive partner who takes greatest responsibility for routine care of children the less a women will feel the obligation to put her personal or family life before her job. Many women feel obligated to do it all such as childcare nanny, spouse, and a mother all at the same time, having a supportive partner can reduce the stress of having to do it all and in fact will decrease battles of creating work family conflict. It is important we understand the battle a mother can face. I asked what is the relationship between the stereotypical roles of women and men, do women do it all? And do men put in the work. The implications of the study demonstrate that if a woman feels she is being helped and not overstimulated and could count on her spouse there will be significant decrease of work family conflict. I estimated a multiple T-test and found more support a mother has the less work family conflict she experiences. The point of this research is to prove the importance of organizations and individuals to understand the implications linked to work-family conflict.