Work-Family Balance in the 21st Century.

Abstract

Work-family balance is a sub-set of work-life balance. According to Clark (2000), work-family balance is "satisfaction and good functioning at work and at home, with a minimum role of conflict." Grzywacz and Carlson (2007) define it as the "accomplishmentof role-related expecta­ tions that are negotiated and shared between an individual and his or her role-related partners in the work and family domains". Both definitions focus on satisfactory conciliation between work and family.

Work-family balance is "one of the most challenging concepts" (Clark, 2000). It is a "central issue in twenty-first-century societies" (Lewis et al., 2003). With the emergence of the Industrial market economy, organizations took control of production from families thereby creating two distinct spheres, namely work and family. "The adoption of new technologies which may require or permit continuous working; and growing customer expectations in many sectors of the economy for a 24/7 service" (Woodward, 2007). In that context, people have to play various roles mainly as father, mother, husband, wife, employer, and employee. Successful performance in each role determines the success of the work-family balance. Hence, every role player should reconcile his/her obligations with one another.