The Issue Of Balance Between Women's Working Life & Family Life

If a woman decides that she wants to have children and continue with her profession, there can be some barriers that exist which could put much undue stress onto the mother. On the issue of balancing work life and family life, women continue to tolerate a heftier load even though there have been changes in the workplace to address better gender equivalence (Hofmann & Adams, 2003). Mothers with young and adolescent children were more than twice as likely to say that trying to work and parent made it more difficult to progress in their career, as opposed to fathers (Hofmann & Adams, 2003).

One possibility why this might be so could be that women have a greater chance than men to undergo different interruptions in their career that are related to family matters. It was found that at some point in the female’s career, they had to decrease their hours in order to partake in childcare, or care of another family member (Hofmann & Adams, 2003). Only about half as many fathers said they had to decrease their own hours for this reason (Hofmann & Adams, 2003). There were also more mothers than fathers who had to take a substantial total of time off from the job as well as had to resort to quitting their job for these family matters (Hofmann & Adams, 2003).

While it appears that many mothers feel it is necessary to adjust their commitment to work due to family reasons, there is also evidence to suggest that career women with children who are able to effectively balance their occupation and home lives gain many rewards such as increased economic stability and achievement, happier relationships with their partners and overall increased satisfaction with life (Hossain & Rokis, 2014). Being involved in several roles such as career woman and mother is also related to decreased levels of stress and greater incidences of mental wellness (Hossain & Rokis, 2014). Working mothers are also seen as positive role models to their children and young adult coworkers (Hossain & Rokis, 2014).

On the other hand, there can also be negative consequences in trying to accomplish child rearing and maintaining a professional job. These can include increased stress and negative consequences to health and family (Senécal, Vallerand, & Guay, 2001). Time used for going to and from work, extended working hours that spill into nights and weekends and extra travel needed for the job can all influence stress and feelings of being over worked (Senécal, Vallerand, & Guay, 2001). The consequences of work/family conflicts and job strain on exhaustion, depression, job fulfilment and work commitments also have much evidence (Senécal, Vallerand, & Guay, 2001). Due to all of this, it is no wonder that some women choose to leave their careers and take care of their children, older parents or just give themselves more attention for their own well-being.