Björk-Fant Janina M, Nordmyr Johanna, Forsman Anna K
Developmental Psychology, Faculty of Education and Welfare Studies, Åbo Akademi University, Vaasa, Finland.
Health Sciences, Faculty of Education and Welfare Studies, Åbo Akademi University, Vaasa, Finland.
Work. 2024;79(4):1741-1752. doi: 10.3233/WOR-230166.
Work-life balance is associated with many positive effects at multiple levels and demands increased research attention. In the international literature on work-life balance, the term "gendered life-course" has been used to describe the differences between men and women in work biographies. However, whether this term applies to the Nordic work context remains underexplored.
This study examined Finnish men's and women's subjective experience of the association between work-life balance and the psychosocial work environment (work demands and social support at work) across the life course, devoting special attention to family life stages encompassing the care of (young) children.
Data from the Quality of Work Life Survey 2018 were utilized to conduct binary logistic regression analyses (N = 3790). Separate analyses were conducted for men and women.
A significant association between family life stage and high work-life balance was found for women but not for men in the Finnish working life. Women in family life stages involving the care of young, dependent children reported the lowest odds of high work-life balance. For both men and women, a positive association between social support at work and high work-life balance was found, while a negative association was found between work demands and high work-life balance.
These findings highlight the importance of psychosocial factors in both the work and family settings for work-life balance. Further, the findings call for an expanded focus on gender equality, also including issues in unpaid work in addition to issues in paid work.
工作与生活的平衡在多个层面都具有诸多积极影响，需要更多的研究关注。在国际上关于工作与生活平衡的文献中，“性别化的人生历程”这一术语被用来描述男性和女性工作经历的差异。然而，该术语是否适用于北欧的工作环境仍未得到充分探讨。
本研究考察了芬兰男性和女性在整个生命历程中对工作与生活平衡和心理社会工作环境（工作需求和工作中的社会支持）之间关联的主观体验，特别关注包含照顾（年幼）子女的家庭生活阶段。
利用2018年工作生活质量调查的数据进行二元逻辑回归分析（N = 3790）。对男性和女性分别进行分析。
在芬兰的工作生活中，女性的家庭生活阶段与高工作与生活平衡之间存在显著关联，而男性则不存在。处于涉及照顾年幼、依赖子女的家庭生活阶段的女性，高工作与生活平衡的几率最低。对于男性和女性来说，工作中的社会支持与高工作与生活平衡之间存在正相关，而工作需求与高工作与生活平衡之间存在负相关。
这些发现凸显了心理社会因素在工作和家庭环境中对工作与生活平衡的重要性。此外，这些发现呼吁扩大对性别平等的关注，除了有偿工作中的问题外，还包括无偿工作中的问题。
