Who's got the balance? A study of satisfaction with the work-family balance among part-time service sector employees in five western European countries

• Published in: International journal of human resource management Vol. 23; no. 18; pp. 3725 - 3741
• Main Authors: Beham, Barbara, Präg, Patrick, Drobnič, Sonja
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Taylor & Francis Group 01.10.2012; Taylor & Francis LLC
• Subjects: Employees; Europe; Gender; Hours of work; Job satisfaction; Manycountries; Medical personnel; Part time employment; part-time work; Professionals; satisfaction with work-family balance; Service industry; Studies; Work life balance; Working hours; Western Europe
• ISSN: 0958-5192; 1466-4399
• DOI: 10.1080/09585192.2012.654808

Working part-time is frequently considered a viable strategy for employees to better combine work and non-work responsibilities. The present study examines differences in satisfaction with work-family balance (SWFB) among professional and non-professional part-time service sector employees in five western European countries. Part-time employees were found to be more SWFB than full-time employees even after taking varying demands and resources into account. However, there are important differences among the part-timers. Employees in marginal part-time employment with considerably reduced working hours were the most satisfied. Professionals were found to profit less from reduced working hours and experienced lower levels of SWFB than non-professionals. No significant differences in SWFB were found between male and female part-time workers.