what does family friendly really mean? parents, children, job quality & wellbeing lyndall...
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What does family friendly really mean? Parents, children, job quality & wellbeing
Lyndall Strazdins, Dorothy Broom, Megan Shipley, Emma
George Work, Family and Wellbeing forum, Canberra May 2006
Acknowledgements
NH&MRCAustralian Rotary Health
Research FundGrowing Up in Australia team
Work & Wellbeing
♦ Work delivers benefits to families, especially income & social
integrationBut some conditions may: ♦ hamper ability to both care and
work ♦ affect parents’ health and wellbeing
What is job quality?Jobs with conditions that promote:♦ health and wellbeing♦ combining work with caring
For example♦ Control (over tasks, and work
times), workload, security, work social relationships
Job Quality: Previous research
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
Depression Ill Health
%
Optimal work conditions
1 adverse work condition
2 adverse work conditions
Not in the labour force
Unemployed
3 adverse work conditions
Adult health: optimal jobs, poor quality jobs and unemployed. (Broom et al, in press).
Work & Family Wellbeing
JOB QUALITY
PARENT WELL-BEING
CHILD WELL-BEING
A B?
Is job quality associated with working parents’ &
their children’s wellbeing ?
Our Question
Two studies♦ Growing Up in Australia-the Longitudinal
Study of Australian Children (LSAC), cohort study of 0 and 4 year old children and their families (N = 10, 000 families). ♦ Currently employed parents with 4-5 year old children (n mothers = 1910, n fathers = 2343)
♦ Health For Life! NH&MRC funded study ♦ Employed parents and their children,
retail and public service (n 231 families with children 1-16 years)
Strengths & weaknesses
♦ Growing Up in Australia (LSAC) Large, representative sample but weak (single item) measures of work
♦ Health For Life! Detailed data on work conditions, well-developed measures, small sample (retail and public service)
Defining job quality: Growing Up in Australia Access paid personal leave & / or paid maternity, paternity leave (2
items)
Flexibility start & stop times (1 item)
Control over how job is done (1 item)
Perceived job security (1 item)
Score between 0-4 4 = Optimal job (all 4)
Access eg paid personal, maternity or paternity leave, phone, reduced hours,
permanent part-time (10 items)Flexibility start & stop times, holidays (4
items) Control how job is done, decision making (15
items) Perceived job insecurity (5 items)
Work support Supportive relationships (4 items )
Work conflicts Critical, hostile (Reversed 4 items)
Workload Amount, pace, time (Reversed 4 items)
Score between 0 -7 7 = Optimal job (all 7)
Defining job quality+: Health for Life!
All parents
0.40
0.50
0.60
0.70
0.80
0.90
0-1 2 3 4Optimal
Job Quality
DepressionMothers
Fathers
Mothers & fathers depression & job quality
LSAC
Mothers & fathers coping & job quality LSAC
All parents
3.10
3.20
3.30
3.40
3.50
3.60
3.70
3.80
0-1 2 3 4Optimal
Job Quality
Level of copingMothers
Fathers
Parent wellbeing & Job Quality LSAC
adjusted for household income
Mothers Fathers
All
(n=1910)
Part-time
(n=1441)
Full-time
(n=469)
All
(n=2343)
Depression -.113** -.113** -.141** -.146**
Level of coping .078** .057* .158** .129**
* p < .05 ** p < .01
Note: Few part-time fathers (n=144)
Job quality+ and parents’ depression H4L
Job quality+ and parents’ health H4L
Job quality+ and parents’ wellbeing H4L
Depression Self-Rated Health
n 229 229
JOB QUALITY + -.41** .16*
* p < .05 ** p < .001
Adjusted for Household Socio-Economic Status (SES)
LSAC adjusted r depression mothers -.11**, fathers -.15**
Work & Family Wellbeing
JOB QUALITY
PARENT WELL-BEING
CHILD WELL-BEING
A B?
Children’s Wellbeing
Wellbeing Strength & Difficulties Questionnaire (20 items) High scores, more difficulties (Growing up in Australia, 4-5 year old children, H4L 5-16 year old children)Health Child health rated by parent H4L (1item)High scores, better general health.
All parents
7.50
8.00
8.50
9.00
9.50
10.00
0-1 2 3 4Optimal
Job Quality
SDQMothers
Fathers
Child SDQ & Job Quality LSAC
Mothers Fathers
All
(n=1910)
Part-time
(n=1441)
Full-time
(n=469)
All
(n=2343)
Unadjusted -.091** -.107** -.070 -.044*
Adjusted for education -.081** -.100** -.057 -.022
Adjusted for income -.061** -.079** -.040 -.017
* p < .05 ** p < .01
Child Difficulties & Parent Job Quality LSAC
Job quality+ and child difficulties H4L
Job quality+ and child health H4L
Job quality+ and child outcomes H4L
Difficulties Health
n 269 267
JQI plus+
-.17† .02
†p < .10
Adjusted for household SES & clustering
LSAC adjusted r SDQ mothers -.08**, fathers -.02
Limitations
♦ Cross-sectional data♦ Pay, training & development
Job Quality is Family Friendliness
High quality jobs:♦ Are more than family friendly
conditions.♦ May reduce ill health and
mental disorder in parents, & so♦ May also support participation
& productivity.
Job Quality is Family Friendliness
Two unique data sets - child as well as parent wellbeing…
Jobs which optimise parents’ wellbeing may also help optimise children’s
Work & Family Health
JOB QUALITY
PARENT WELL-BEING
CHILD WELL-BEING
A B
Appendices
Who has Quality Jobs ? LSAC Mothers Fathers
Job Quality
score
All
(n=1910)
%
Part-time
(n=1441)
%
Full-time
(n=469)
%
All
(n=2343)
%
Part-time
(n=144)
%
Full-time
(n=2199)
%
0-1 Poor 7.4 8.1 5.3 5.2 11.1 4.8
2 21.7 22.8 18.1 16.6 29.9 15.8
3 47.0 46.9 38.2 43.7 47.9 43.4
4 Optimal 23.9 19.2 38.4 34.5 11.1 36.0
Who has quality jobs+ ? H4L
Job Quality Plus + Retail %
Public Service
%
All%
n 116 114 231
3 Poor 1.7 1.8 1.7
4 4.3 4.4 4.3
5 12.9 6.1 9.6
6 21.6 19.3 20.4
7 Optimal
59.5 68.4 63.9
Mothers Fathers
All
(n=1910)
Part-time
(n=1441)
Full-time
(n=469)
All
(n=2343)
Part-time
(n=144)
Full-time
(n=2199)
Depression -.120** -.133** -.101* -.047* -.047 -.048*
Level of coping .044 .031 .110* .058** -.025 .064**
Difficulty of life -.092** -.119** -.040 -.006 .003 -.008
* p < .05 ** p < .01
Parent well-being & household income LSAC