Work/life programs, such as flextime, telecommuting and job sharing, introduced over a decade ago by employers to attract and retain qualified workers–especially women with children–have fulfilled their promise.
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In fact, these polices have worked so well that now some questions are being asked about what might be called their “side effects.” And here’s the concern:
Do these benefits also enforce the traditional division of labor at home, with wives, not husbands, continuing to carry a heavier load of household work simply because they have the flexibility to do so?
Two studies by Sarah Beth Estes, assistant professor of sociology at the University of Cincinnati’s Kunz Center for the Study of Work & Family, examine these issues.
And her findings may surprise you.
In the first study, based on data gathered in the annual Survey of Ohio’s Working Families, Estes, who has a doctorate in sociology, assessed the impact of using parental leave, sick leave, working at home, job sharing and flexible scheduling on household work.
She studied 364 men and 312 women, all members of dual-career couples.
“Women who used the policies said they had no effect on their share of household tasks,” said Estes, who reported her findings at the American Sociological Association’s annual meeting. “Everything remained the same.”
And here’s the shocker: “Men who used them reported that they did more traditionally female household tasks and their wives did less,” she said. That might, she theorized, have something to do with the type of man who would utilize such benefits in the first place.
“Neither of these findings indicate that traditional gender roles are being enforced,” Estes said. “And that’s good news.”
But the sociologist’s second study, based on interviews with 103 married and employed women who used at least one family-friendly policy, gives a different picture:
Eighty percent of the women said the work/life policies they utilized did make a difference in their marriages.
Some of the women observed that an “inequity in division of labor at home” already existed–before the use of work/life policies– and that they were always “tired and frustrated.”
But some of the women said the reason they used the benefits was so that they could have a more traditional gender role in their marriages, which they wanted.
Even though these latter statements indicate that family-friendly policies offered by employers “may reinforce gender roles at home,” the sociologist points out that the women also said flexible policies “acted as a balm to their resentment and stress because it gave them more time to get the work done.”
And given the facts of who actually does household work, realists will consider that finding good news.
“I see family-friendly policies as positives for employed women,” said Cheryl A. Temple of Glen Ellyn, program director of the American Association of University Women Illinois’ gender equity fund, which provides professional development programs for teachers on gender issues.
“I’ve seen too often the terrible torment that some women go through, and how guilty they feel,” said Temple. “I’ve seen them tired and upset. They want more time with their children–and the benefits make it possible.”
Temple, who is married to Ralph Temple Sr., an insurance executive, has two grown children.
“I worked part time when our children were young because my husband traveled so much and I thought one of us should be with the kids–and he couldn’t be,” she said. “But my husband has always been helpful and supportive in sharing household tasks. We’ve always handled things together.”
Work/life programs, Temple concludes, “are wonderful options for talented women.”
Even if they have to do a lot of housework.
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Carol Kleiman’s columns also appear in Sunday’s and Thursday’s Business sections. Hear her on WBBM Newsradio 780 at 6:21 p.m. and 10:22 p.m. Mondays and 11:20 a.m. Saturdays. Watch her “Career Coach” segments on CLTV. E-mail [email protected].