62,899 research outputs found
Working it out: balancing work and care after the birth of a first child
No full textWomen in contemporary western economies have more options and more pressures to combine work with family responsibilities in the early years of motherhood. This chapter examines how these options are exercised as women make decisions about re-entry to the workforce following the birth of their first child. We present an analysis of data from a cohort of Australian women. The data were tracked longitudinally from pregnancy until their first child was 18 months old to identify patterns of approach and salient factors of influence as they negotiate the dual challenges of re-entry to the workforce and finding acceptable childcare. Mothers’ work intentions were mapped against actual return behaviour with return assessed at 6, 12 and 18 months after the birth of their child. Early returns were associated with jobs that offered less provision for maternity leave and availability of familiar trustworthy childcare. All mothers had high satisfaction levels with motherhood and their mothering role. However, working and non-working mothers rated the costs and benefits of maternal employment differently. Working mothers were more likely to see maternal employment as increasingly beneficial and less costly across the first 18 months of their child’s life. Each generation of parents faces different challenges in finding the balance between work and care. In this contemporary sample of mothers, the majority returned to work and adapted to the new reality of work options, which were somewhat different from their pre-parenthood ideals
Age and Experience: A Comparison of Work and Family Demands Across the Lifespan
No full textThis chapter explores the effects of work and family roles amongst employed Australian women employees, who varied by age (young to adult) and presence (or not) of children. The women were employed mostly in full-time, permanent jobs, although a third of mothers of the youngest children had part-time positions. Despite the differences in working hours, the women reported similar working conditions and levels of satisfaction with their jobs and family lives. Work-life balance was also similar for the women, even for busy mothers of young children, who had more negative family-to-work spillover, and busy mothers of primary school-aged children, who had higher levels of negative work-to-family spillover. For the latter, this may reflect the challenges of returning to full-time working hours whilst caring for children who were not yet independent. Surprisingly, the higher occupational role salience of younger women without children was associated with more emotional exhaustion and cynicism. Mothers of adult children showed the most robust, positive outcomes, with greater work engagement and less burnout than women without children, than mothers of primary school children, and less negative spillover between roles. Whilst younger children made mothers busier and increased negative spillover, mothers of older children benefited from their experiences and had gained competence and engagement in work in later life
Reframing Work-Life Interface Stressors as Challenges
No full textWhile our first book in this trilogy on resilience, resourcefulness, coping and recovery is focused more on the positivist outlook on life’s challenges, and the third book walks us through the heavy going of surviving trauma, this book focuses more on the 'know how', intra and inter psychically, about particular events that occur in life and how and why individuals react to them in different ways. Whether it is about internal resources, knowing how to tap into external resources, or how we determine that we are on the right path in life, this book examines interesting ideas and studies in the field of coping and survival. [Book Synopsis
Introduction: key issues on women who work
No full textThe concept of gender can be very prescriptive in outlining the pathways of a person’s life and can influence the distribution of roles that they occupy, through gender role stereotypes and societal expectations. More recent research about women and their work and family roles has shown that gender is a more fluid and dynamic construct than one based on reproductive ability or identity. The resources that women have available to them impact on their well-being in all facets of their lives and influence the balance that can be achieved between work and non-work activities. This volume explores women’s experiences in many diverse settings and economic situations, as they negotiate between work and non-work activities. The chapters include refugee women in Jordon and mid-level executives in Bangladesh, women employed part-time and as academics in the UK, women executives experiencing the ‘glass cliff’, and explore work-life balance and the challenges for mothers of very young children and adolescents. Finally, the effects of physiology on working women are explored through menstruation and menopause. In each chapter, women have shown agency in shaping their own lives and are resourceful in how they manage the challenges that they face
The Relevance of Menopause to the Occupational Safety and Health of Employed Women
No full textThere are increasing numbers of older women in the workforce, for whom menopause, a natural part of their life cycle, is especially relevant during this time. While hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and other treatments have improved many women’s lives, there has been less consideration of menopause as an occupational safety and health (OSH) issue and as a work-related stressor. Menopause could have poor mental and physical health consequences, with one consequence, depression, generally linked to poorer interpersonal relationships with colleagues and decreased work satisfaction and performance. A large sample of employed women in Australia and the United Kingdom (UK) completed an online survey that measured personal resources, workplace conditions, and how well women believed their workplace responded to menopausal symptoms, in addition to their mental health, well-being and performance at work. Whilst a poorer experience of menopause was linked to poor mental health; personal resources and better workplace conditions acted as buffers for menopause, and improved job and life satisfaction and work performance. Identifying the risks in the workplace that either increased the demands on the women (e.g., an inflexible environment) or reduced the resources (e.g., less autonomy and social support) available to them during menopause, highlighted their OSH concerns and provided suggestions to reduce any negative impacts these may have on women in the workplace
Mastery or Misery: Conflict Between Separated Parents a Psychological Burden for Children
No full textThis qualitative research examined parenting, parental conflict, and parent–child relationships following separation in the context of Australian government reform in 2006 and subsequent changes to the Family Law Act (1975). Participants were English-speaking men and women, age 16 to 27 years. The research was guided by attachment theory and social conflict theory, and embedded in grounded theory. The Cooperative Competitive Parental Conflict model emerged from the data. Two factors moderated the parent–child relationship: emotional security and responsive parenting. The research found it was not parental conflict, but how parental conflict was handled, that created the psychological burden for a child
A 2 h periodic variation in the low-mass X-ray binary Ser X-1
No full textSpectroscopy of the low-mass X-ray binary Ser X-1 using the Gran Telescopio Canarias have revealed a ?2 h periodic variability that is present in the three strongest emission lines. We tentatively interpret this variability as due to orbital motion, making it the first indication of the orbital period of Ser X-1. Together with the fact that the emission lines are remarkably narrow, but still resolved, we show that a main-sequence K dwarf together with a canonical 1.4 M? neutron star gives a good description of the system. In this scenario, the most likely place for the emission lines to arise is the accretion disc, instead of a localized region in the binary (such as the irradiated surface or the stream-impact point), and their narrowness is due instead to the low inclination (?10°) of Ser X-1
Stable voters in an unstable party environment : continuity and change in Italian electoral behaviour
No full textM.24981-1999 Paolo Segatti, Paolo Bellucci and Marco Maraffi. 30 cm. A previous version of this paper was presented at a symposium on Political Parties : Changing Roles in Contemporary Democracies, held at the Center for Advanced Study in the Social Sciences of the Juan March Institute, Madrid, December 15-17, 1994. -- P.1. Includes bibliographical references (p. 56-59
Longitudinal modelling of the influence of individual differences and the workplace on well-being and work engagement
No full textInterest and research in personality and individual differences, in why people behave the way they do and the implications for life and living, remain unabated around the world. Human beings are fascinating in how they are similar to one another and how they are different. The similarities and differences underpin many implicit and espoused theories of behaviour and of personal and professional practice, informing the decisions that we all make on what we will do and when. This book, with contributions from leading researchers, writers and practitioners from Australia, New Zealand and Asia, and further afield, is a snapshot of where we are currently. It demonstrates emphases on theoretical models and on clinical, forensic, organisational, crosscultural and cross-ideological research. The studies presented in this book range from examining the effects of the stars - the seasons and dates of birth - to the professional drivers of research that are related to efforts to make a difference for the wellbeing and survival of our world, whether as individuals or in groups at leisure and at work. [Book Synopsis
Good health, good care: Exploring the mental health and work engagement of the early childhood workforce
No full textQuality child care benefits both parents and children, providing parents with the opportunity to work and children the opportunity to learn and develop. However, depression and turnover can disrupt the care that children receive. The current study examined the mental health, work satisfaction and engagement and turnover intentions of early childhood employees involved in a longitudinal study on quality in early childhood education and care services. Teachers and carers volunteered to complete online surveys about their workplaces, which included long day care services, kindergartens and family day care providers. The participants were mostly satisfied with their jobs and motivated to stay in work that they felt was a long term career, despite early childhood work usually having low paid and prestige. Qualifications and working hours were not significant predictors of intention to stay in their current jobs, whereas positive work affect, as stimulating, enjoyable work was strongly linked to retention and less depression. The participants were engaged in their work which highlights possible areas for interventions to support and retain less engaged staff
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