ABSTRACT
The importance of work and family programs is increasing due to an influx in the number of female workers, in addition to a rise in the number of dual-earner families, single-parent households, and employees managing the care of both elder members and children. As a result, individuals are expressing growing concerns about responsibilities at home, which still require their attention and time. For example, recent reports have indicated that 90% of working adults expressed a concern about not spending enough time with their family (Lockwood, 2003). Furthermore, while many workers are facing constraints on their family time, the total numbers of hours worked by employees have increased continuously over the last 20 years (Saltzstein, Ting, & Saltzstein, 2001). In addition, a recent study found that if organizations maintain comparable or heavier workloads, organizational policies will do little to relieve pressure for employees and productivity may not increase; thus family-friendly human resource (HR) policies will be effective only if organizations can help employees manage overall work demand (Fredriksen-Goldsen & Scharlach, 2001).
