Balancing work and family: Impact of child care responsibilities on employee attitudes and perceptions

This study examined employees\u27 attitudes and perceptions regarding the attempt to juggle work and family responsibilities. Comparisons between male and female employees as well as between child care users and nonusers were explored in relation to a variety of constructs including perceived conflict, consequences, and pressure, as well as trade offs (e.g., reduced salary, slower career advancement, fewer promotions) employees would be willing to make in order to ease this pressure. Employees\u27 perceptions of support from the organization and satisfaction with existing work family benefits were also examined. A number of significant sex differences and child care status differences were observed. Female employees reported significantly more positive consequences and fewer negative consequences associated with juggling work and family responsibilities than male employees. Employees who use child care reported significantly more negative consequences associated with the work/family conflict. Employees who do not use child care rated other employees\u27 child care dilemmas as more problematic than those employees who do use child care. Also, a significant relationship between type of child care problems experienced over the last year and perceived support from and satisfaction with the organization was demonstrated. An additional result of this study was the development of short, reliable questionnaires which were used to measure many of the relevant constructs. Limitations of the current study and implications for future research and practice are highlighted