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The Impact of Flexible Working Arrangements on Work-Life Conflict and Work Pressure in Ireland

Author

Listed:
  • Helen Russell

    (Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI))

  • Philip J. O'Connell

    (Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI))

  • Frances McGinnity

    (Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI))

Abstract

Recent rapid economic growth in Ireland has been accompanied by a strong surge in the number of women in employment, and this has led to a significant increase in the proportion of dual-earner families. These changes have brought the issue of reconciliation between work and care commitments to the fore. Flexible working arrangements in firms have been identified as one important means of balancing work and other commitments (Evans 2001). In this paper we investigate the relationship between four flexible working arrangements ? flexi-time, part-time hours, working from home and job-share ? and two key employee outcomes ? work pressure and work-life conflict, using data from the first national survey of employees in Ireland in 2003. Our results show that while part-time work and flexi-time tend to reduce work pressure and work-life conflict, working from home is associated with greater levels of both work pressure and work-life conflict. We conclude that it is important to distinguish between flexible working arrangements to discover their potential for reducing work pressure and work-life conflict.

Suggested Citation

  • Helen Russell & Philip J. O'Connell & Frances McGinnity, 2007. "The Impact of Flexible Working Arrangements on Work-Life Conflict and Work Pressure in Ireland," Papers WP189, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).
    • Handle: RePEc:esr:wpaper:wp189
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    File URL: https://www.esri.ie/pubs/WP189.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Watson, Dorothy & Russell, Helen & O'Connell, Philip J., 2011. "The Changing Workplace," Papers RB2011/1/3, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).
    2. Nolan, Brian, 1992. "Low Pay in Ireland," Research Series, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), number GRS159.
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    6. John M. Evans, 2001. "Firms' Contribution to the Reconciliation between Work and Family Life," OECD Labour Market and Social Policy Occasional Papers 48, OECD Publishing.
    7. Michael White & Stephen Hill & Patrick McGovern & Colin Mills & Deborah Smeaton, 2003. "‘High‐performance’ Management Practices, Working Hours and Work–Life Balance," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 41(2), pages 175-195, June.
    8. Kimberly Fisher & Richard Layte, 2004. "Measuring work-life balance using time diary data," electronic International Journal of Time Use Research, Research Institute on Professions (Forschungsinstitut Freie Berufe (FFB)) and The International Association for Time Use Research (IATUR), vol. 1(1), pages 1-13, August.
    9. Russell, Helen & Layte, Richard & Maitre, Bertrand & O'Connell, Philip J. & Whelan, Christopher T., 2004. "Work-Poor Households: The Welfare Implications of Changing Household Employment Patterns," Research Series, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), number PRS52.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Özbilgin, Mustafa F. & Beauregard, T. A. & Tatli, Ahu & Bell, Myrtle P., 2011. "Work-life, diversity and intersectionality: a critical review and research agenda," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 36557, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    2. Bellmann, Lutz & Hübler, Olaf, 2020. "Job Satisfaction and Work-Life Balance: Differences between Homework and Work at the Workplace of the Company," IZA Discussion Papers 13504, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Nadia Steiber, 2009. "Reported Levels of Time-based and Strain-based Conflict Between Work and Family Roles in Europe: A Multilevel Approach," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 93(3), pages 469-488, September.
    4. Wang-Jin Yoo & Inha Oh, 2017. "Effect of Work-Family Balance Policy on Job Selection and Social Sustainability: The Case of South Korea," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(5), pages 1-15, May.
    5. Samuel Cameron & Mark Fox, 2011. "Working from Home: Leisure Gain or Leisure Loss?," Chapters, in: Samuel Cameron (ed.), Handbook on the Economics of Leisure, chapter 7, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    6. Gianluca Misuraca & Giulio Pasi & Fabienne Abadie & Csaba Kucsera & Marco Virginillo, 2017. "Exploring the role of ICT-Enabled Social Innovation to support the modernisation of EU Social Protection Systems: findings and insights from analysis of case studies in fourteen Member States," JRC Research Reports JRC106484, Joint Research Centre.
    7. Song, Younghwan & Gao, Jia, 2018. "Does Telework Stress Employees Out? A Study on Working at Home and Subjective Well-Being for Wage/Salary Workers," IZA Discussion Papers 11993, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    8. Zapf, Ines & Weber, Enzo, 2017. "The role of employer, job and employee characteristics for flexible working time : An empirical analysis of overtime work and flexible working hours' arrangements," IAB-Discussion Paper 201704, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany].
    9. Ekaterina Uglanova & Jan Dettmers, 2018. "Sustained Effects of Flexible Working Time Arrangements on Subjective Well-Being," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 19(6), pages 1727-1748, August.
    10. Russell, Helen & Watson, Dorothy & McCoy, Selina & Grotti, Raffaele & Kenny, Oona, 2017. "A study of gender in senior civil service positions in Ireland," Research Series, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), number RS66.
    11. Russell, Helen & Maître, Bertrand & Watson, Dorothy, 2016. "Work-related Musculoskeletal Disorders and Stress, Anxiety and Depression in Ireland: Evidence from the QNHS 2002–2013," Research Series, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), number RS53.

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