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Unemployed, employed & care-giving mothers: Quality of partner & family relations

  • Research Article
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Human Affairs

Abstract

A retrospective ELSPAC study (N = 2756) compared three groups of mothers of three-year-old children: 1) employed, 2) voluntarily unemployed, and 3) involuntarily unemployed, about the quality of their partnership and family relationships. The results show that the involuntarily unemployed mothers have the lowest quality of family life. In these families there is more conflict, disagreement and hostile communication towards the woman and child. Employed mothers also experience some family problems. Overall, those most satisfied with their family lives are the voluntarily unemployed mothers. There is more positive communication between partners, including sharing and intimacy in this group. The results were interpreted as stemming from the distress caused by involuntary unemployment, the double burden of the female role and gender role models in the family.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Corporate Economy, Faculty of Economics and Administration, Masaryk University, Lipova 41a, 62100, Brno, Czech Republic

    Adriana Wyrobková & Petr Okrajek

  2. Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic

    Adriana Wyrobková & Petr Okrajek

Authors
  1. Adriana Wyrobková
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  2. Petr Okrajek
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Correspondence to Adriana Wyrobková.

Additional information

General support for the ELSPAC study has been provided by Masaryk University in Brno, Czech Republic. The content and accuracy of this article is guaranteed by the author, Adriana Wyrobková, and not ELSPAC Scientific Council. Mgr. Petr Okrajek is responsible for the accuracy of the statistical analyses. The research published here was financed by Grant No. P407/11/0388 GA ČR.

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Wyrobková, A., Okrajek, P. Unemployed, employed & care-giving mothers: Quality of partner & family relations. Humaff 24, 376–395 (2014). https://doi.org/10.2478/s13374-014-0235-8

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