Do working parents in the United States expect work location to impact job and family satisfaction in the post-pandemic period? Evidence from a survey experiment
The pandemic response allowed many parents in the United States and globally to work remotely for the first time ever which, for many, continued into the recovery. It is unclear whether, after a period when a large segment of the United States labor force worked remotely, remote work is viewed favor...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2024-03-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Sociology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fsoc.2024.1368594/full |
| _version_ | 1797254554334527488 |
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| author | Stephanie Moller Leah Ruppanner Jill E. Yavorsky |
| author_facet | Stephanie Moller Leah Ruppanner Jill E. Yavorsky |
| author_sort | Stephanie Moller |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The pandemic response allowed many parents in the United States and globally to work remotely for the first time ever which, for many, continued into the recovery. It is unclear whether, after a period when a large segment of the United States labor force worked remotely, remote work is viewed favorably or unfavorably among employed parents. We present results from a survey experiment assessing whether employed parents in the United States perceive that remote work will impact a hypothetical employed parents’ job and family satisfaction and, critically, whether perceptions of work–family conflict and anticipated job rewards mediate this relationship. We find that respondents who are also employed parents perceive that hypothetical employed parents who access remote work will report lower job satisfaction and higher family satisfaction. Perceptions of work–family conflict do not mediate this association. Rather, we find that job rewards (e.g., pay, promotion, etc.) fully mediate the relationship between remote work and perceived job satisfaction. Ultimately, this indicates that employed parents perceive that remote work will bring workers like them less pay and thus lower job satisfaction but greater family satisfaction. This extends arguments about remote work in the light of the conceptualization of a flexibility stigma and a flexibility paradox. Implications for practice and theory are discussed. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-24T21:51:48Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-fed018b273b24ab982b22671f0b03211 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2297-7775 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-24T21:51:48Z |
| publishDate | 2024-03-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Sociology |
| spelling | doaj.art-fed018b273b24ab982b22671f0b032112024-03-20T14:10:13ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Sociology2297-77752024-03-01910.3389/fsoc.2024.13685941368594Do working parents in the United States expect work location to impact job and family satisfaction in the post-pandemic period? Evidence from a survey experimentStephanie Moller0Leah Ruppanner1Jill E. Yavorsky2University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, NC, United StatesThe University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, AustraliaUniversity of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, NC, United StatesThe pandemic response allowed many parents in the United States and globally to work remotely for the first time ever which, for many, continued into the recovery. It is unclear whether, after a period when a large segment of the United States labor force worked remotely, remote work is viewed favorably or unfavorably among employed parents. We present results from a survey experiment assessing whether employed parents in the United States perceive that remote work will impact a hypothetical employed parents’ job and family satisfaction and, critically, whether perceptions of work–family conflict and anticipated job rewards mediate this relationship. We find that respondents who are also employed parents perceive that hypothetical employed parents who access remote work will report lower job satisfaction and higher family satisfaction. Perceptions of work–family conflict do not mediate this association. Rather, we find that job rewards (e.g., pay, promotion, etc.) fully mediate the relationship between remote work and perceived job satisfaction. Ultimately, this indicates that employed parents perceive that remote work will bring workers like them less pay and thus lower job satisfaction but greater family satisfaction. This extends arguments about remote work in the light of the conceptualization of a flexibility stigma and a flexibility paradox. Implications for practice and theory are discussed.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fsoc.2024.1368594/fullremote workwork family conflictjob satisfactionfamily satisfactionsurvey experimentvignette |
| spellingShingle | Stephanie Moller Leah Ruppanner Jill E. Yavorsky Do working parents in the United States expect work location to impact job and family satisfaction in the post-pandemic period? Evidence from a survey experiment Frontiers in Sociology remote work work family conflict job satisfaction family satisfaction survey experiment vignette |
| title | Do working parents in the United States expect work location to impact job and family satisfaction in the post-pandemic period? Evidence from a survey experiment |
| title_full | Do working parents in the United States expect work location to impact job and family satisfaction in the post-pandemic period? Evidence from a survey experiment |
| title_fullStr | Do working parents in the United States expect work location to impact job and family satisfaction in the post-pandemic period? Evidence from a survey experiment |
| title_full_unstemmed | Do working parents in the United States expect work location to impact job and family satisfaction in the post-pandemic period? Evidence from a survey experiment |
| title_short | Do working parents in the United States expect work location to impact job and family satisfaction in the post-pandemic period? Evidence from a survey experiment |
| title_sort | do working parents in the united states expect work location to impact job and family satisfaction in the post pandemic period evidence from a survey experiment |
| topic | remote work work family conflict job satisfaction family satisfaction survey experiment vignette |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fsoc.2024.1368594/full |
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