Satisfaction with work‐family balance among German office workers

Abstract

Purpose

The paper seeks to examine the relationships between various work demands and resources and satisfaction with work‐family balance in a sample of German office workers. Work‐to‐family conflict is expected to mediate several relationships between dependent and independent variables.

Design/methodology/approach

A sample of 716 office workers from two service sector organizations in Germany participated in a comprehensive online survey. Hierarchical multivariate regressions were used to test the predicted relationships.

Findings

Perceived high organizational time expectations, psychological job demands and job insecurity were found to be negatively related to employees' satisfaction with work‐family balance. Work‐to‐family conflict partially mediated those relationships. Social support at work and job control revealed positive relationships with satisfaction with work‐family balance, but contrary to predictions this association persisted after controlling for work‐to‐family conflict.

Research limitations/implications

The study used a cross‐sectional design and employees' self reports which may be problematic in drawing causal conclusions.

Originality/value

The majority of studies in work‐family research look at either work‐family conflict, or more recently, at work‐family facilitation/enrichment, but little research has been conducted on employees' overall assessment of satisfaction with work‐family balance. By investigating relationships between various work demands and resources and the mediating role of work‐to‐family conflict in a sample of German office workers, the study extends previous research and contributes to the work‐family literature by clarifying the relationship between work‐to‐family conflict and satisfaction with work‐family balance.

Citation

Beham, B. and Drobnič, S. (2010), "Satisfaction with work‐family balance among German office workers", Journal of Managerial Psychology, Vol. 25 No. 6, pp. 669-689. https://doi.org/10.1108/02683941011056987