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Gender, Poverty, and the Work–Family Interface

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Gender and the Work-Family Experience

Abstract

Consideration of gender when discussing the work-family interface is critical, yet most of our understanding of work and family interactions and gender stems from data collected on middle- and upper-class individuals. As a result, less is known about the experiences of low-income individuals. Given that women are more likely to be in poverty than men, it is also essential to consider how the context of poverty shapes the interaction of work, family, and gender. The current chapter reviews the research on gender and the work-family interface for individuals in low-wage jobs, and utilizes the segmented labor market theoretical approach, as well as Karasek’s job demands-resources theory, to provide a framework for synthesizing existing research and providing suggestions for future research.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Of course, left out of this discussion is the important issue of race and ethnicity that intersects with gender and class in terms of income inequality. See Frevert, Culbertson, and Huffman (Chap. 4 in this book), and Elmelech and Lu (2004) for an insightful analysis of gender, race, ethnicity, and poverty.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Management, Gettysburg College, 300 North Washington Street, Box 395, 17325, Gettysburg, PA, USA

    Heather Odle-Dusseau PhD

  2. Department of Psychology, Clemson University, 418 Brackett Hall, 29634, Clemson, SC, USA

    Anna C. McFadden MS & Thomas W. Britt PhD

Authors
  1. Heather Odle-Dusseau PhD
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  2. Anna C. McFadden MS
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  3. Thomas W. Britt PhD
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Heather Odle-Dusseau PhD .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Departments of Psychology and Management, Hofstra University, Hempstead, New York, USA

    Maura J. Mills

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Odle-Dusseau, H., McFadden, A., Britt, T. (2015). Gender, Poverty, and the Work–Family Interface. In: Mills, M. (eds) Gender and the Work-Family Experience. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-08891-4_3

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