Gender, Occupations, and the Social-Structural Sources of Work-Home Conflict in the United States

Scott Schieman, University of Toronto

This study examines gender differences in levels of work-to-home conflict and gender-contingent effects of occupations and their associated work conditions. Using data from a 2005 nationally representative sample of 1,800 working adults in the United States, preliminary evidence suggested that women and men report similar levels of work-to-home conflict. However, a suppression effect reveals previously undocumented gender differences: When women and men work the same amount of hours per week, women report significantly more work-to-home conflict than men, net of household composition, sociodemographic controls, and occupation. Results also underscore racial, educational, and occupational differences such that work-to-home conflict is higher among: 1) non-Hispanic whites versus African-Americans and Hispanics; 2) the well-educated; 3) workers in professional occupations versus workers in service, craft and repair, operators, and laborer jobs; and 4) workers with higher levels of authority. Collectively, these findings refine prior evidence about the structural sources of work-to-home conflict.