Work and Family

Work and Family examines the reciprocal influences between families and work, as well as effects on career development. Changes to the economy have meant longer hours for professional workers, fewer hours for low-wage employees, and greater job instability for all—understanding how these changes impact families is of vital importance in the 21st century. Work-family demands and their impacts on health are the topic of an ongoing studies in HDFS that focus with a myriad of foci including, stress, fatherhood and social policy, Part of this work evaluates the effects of an innovative employer-initiated workplace program designed to increase employee work flexibility and finds significant benefits for workers’ amount and patterns of sleep and time with children Already, this research has led to an expansion of these types of programs nationally.

HDFS faculty who study Work and Family include:

David M. Almeida

Susan M. McHale