Gender differences in work and family conflict.

Research on work and family conflict began several decades ago, but is more relevant today due to the increasing number of dual-earning families and single mothers. The purpose of this study is to supplement the current literature on gender differences in work and family conflict and to test Pleck’s (1977) theory of the asymmetrically permeable boundaries in the work-family role system. Using the 2002 General Social Survey, results show that the model is more informative for women than men and that the two sexes differ in what predicts higher levels of work and family conflict. Specifically, ordinary least squares regression demonstrates that for women the most predictive power was in work characteristic variables. For men, the model did not show whether family or work variables were stronger predictors.