Fighting For Time: Spillover and Crossover Effects of Long Work Hours Among Dual-Earner Couples

Drawing upon the spillover-crossover model, this study examined the extent to which one\u27s work time demands spilled over to the family domain, and crossed over to his or her spouse, utilizing data of 365 dual-earner couples from the 500 Family Study. The results of the distinguishable actor-partner interdependence model indicated that there was gender symmetry in the spillover processes such that the effects of work hours were identical between men and women. Further, although there was more bi-directional crossover between partners within couples, we observed some unidirectional crossover from husbands to wives. Specifically, husbands only increased their contribution to domestic work in response to wives\u27 work fatigue, whereas wives increased their contribution to domestic work in response to husbands\u27 work fatigue and high workloads. Finally, husbands\u27 housework hours negatively related to wives\u27 marital satisfaction and positively related to wives\u27 depression, whereas wives\u27 housework hours negatively related to husbands\u27 marital satisfaction and depression. These findings have practical implications for improving the work-family balance, health, and well-being of dual-earner couples