Description
Book SynopsisCompeting claims on time in work and family life have become inherent, unavoidable features of the Western world. As households increasingly juggle competing responsibilities, and as job expectations and parenting standards intensify, many people feel torn between work and family. This book aims to deepen our understanding of a variety of conditions that influence the successes and difficulties experienced in attempting to equally accommodate both work and private lives.
The contributors argue that conditions which create competing claims on time can originate from the organization, from the household, or from both; a multi-level and multi-actor approach is thus applied to the problem. Paying detailed attention to time use and time pressures, the contributors focus not only on the causes of disturbed balances between work and care, but also on solutions to these competing claims. The conclusions reached provide policymakers and implementers with evidence that certain elements of the organization and the household can be seen as parameters that are susceptible to directed policy-based intervention.
This comprehensive, multinational and multi-disciplinary study encompasses sociology, economics, geography and urban science perspectives from across Europe, US, and Australia. It will prove essential reading for students of social scientific disciplines, including family and organizational sociology and economics, and for policymakers and researchers focusing on work-family issues.
Trade Review'. . . this book is an interesting contribution to the theory and practice of a major concern for a more balanced working life and a less stress-related health problems, particularly in the context of a shrinking labour force in the coming decades and population ageing. It will be valuable to policy makers, employers, human resources managers, trade unions and labour market specialists.' -- Hedva Sarfati, Industrial Relations
'. . . this book presents a valuable contribution to existing literature. The fact that the different contributions are rather short has the advantage of making the reading process highly enjoyable.' -- Sile O'Dorchai, Transfer
'. . . this book, well-structured and written by highly-qualified contributors, is a valuable contribution to the better understanding of the variables which impact on the interplay between work and private life and successfully provides a medium through which students in sociology and human resource management will be able to chart the shifting boundaries of their respective disciplines.' -- Jeanne Fagnani, British Journal of Industrial Relations
Table of ContentsContents: Preface 1. Finding Time Tanja van der Lippe and Pascale Peters PART I: TRENDS IN TIME USE AND TIME PRESSURE 2. Time Pressure and Quality of Life Manfred Garhammer 3. More Work for Mothers? Trends and Gender Differences in Multitasking Liana C. Sayer 4. Odd Working Hours and Time Pressure Koen Breedveld 5. Under Pressure: Time and Time Pressure in Flanders Maarten Moens PART II: WORKPLACE AND HOUSEHOLD RELATED CAUSES 6. Trading off or Having it all? Workers’ Preferences for Work and Family Time Judith Treas and Christin Hilgeman 7. Employees’ Preferences for Longer or Shorter Working Hours Kea G. Tijdens 8. The Puzzle of Unpaid Overtime: Can the Time Greediness of Post-Fordist Work be Explained? Patricia van Echtelt, Arie C. Glebbeek, Rudi Wielers and Siegwart Lindenberg 9. Working Time, Client Time and Family Time: Accounting for Time in the Accountancy Profession Suzan Lewis 10. Labour Supply: The Effects of Employer Demands and Household Governance Philip Wotschack, Jacques Siegers, Babette Pouwels and Rafael Wittek PART III: ORGANIZATIONAL AND HOUSEHOLD SOLUTIONS TO TIME PRESSURE 11. Trading Time and Money: Explaining Employee Participation and Leave Choices in a Flexible Benefit Plan Carlien Hillebrink, Joop Schippers, Pascale Peters and Anneke van Doorne-Huiskes 12. Household Outsourcing: A Transaction Cost Approach Esther de Ruijter and Tanja van der Lippe 13. Time Competition in Home-Based Telework: A Theoretical Framework Peter Standen 14. Access to Home-Based Telework: A Multi-Level and Multi-Actor Perspective Pascale Peters and Tanja van der Lippe 15. Does Telecommuting Really Save Commute Time? Time, Distance, and Speed Evidence from State of California Workers David T. Ory and Patricia L. Mokhtarian Index
