PROJECT REPORT

ON
“COMPARATIVE STUDY ON WORK/LIFE BALANCE
IN BETWEEN COUPLES CAREERS”

SUBMITTED TO

I K GUJRAL PUNJAB TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY,

JALANDHAR

in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of degree of

MASTERS OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION (MBA)

SUPERVISED BY SUBMITTED BY

Mr. Tarun Talwar Amandeep Singh

(Head of Department) Univ. Roll No. : 2007040
R.I.E.T., Phagwara College Roll No. : 01/MBA/20
MBA-IV Sem.

Ramgarhia Institute of Engineering & Technology,

Phagwara
(Batch 2020-2022)
RAMGARHIA INSTITUTE OF ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY, PHAGWARA

Student’S declaration

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:

This is certified that the summer training project report titled “COMPARATIVE STUDY
ON WORK/LIFE” is a bonafide project work, conducted and submitted by me, AMANDEEP SINGH s/o
JASPAL KUMAR, College Roll No. 01/MBA/20 with University Roll No- 2007040 of I K GUJRAL PUNJAB
TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY, JALANDHAR. No part of this work has been submitted for any other degree of
the university. The data source has been duly acknowledged. It may be considered for evaluation in
partial fulfillment of the requirement for the award of degree of Master of Business Administration.

Submitted By

_______________
Amandeep Singh

Univ. Roll No-2007040

Master of Business Administration

RAMGARHIA INSTITUTE OF ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY, PHAGWARA

This is certified that the summer training project report titled “COMPARATIVE
STUDY ON WORK/LIFE BALANCE” is a bonafide project work, conducted and submitted by
AMANDEEP SINGH s/o JASPAL KUMAR, College Roll No. 01/MBA/20 with University Roll No-
2007040 under my supervision and guidance/co-guidance and submitted to I K GUJRAL PUNJAB
TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY, JALANDHAR. No part of this work has been submitted for any other degree
of any other university. The data source has been duly acknowledged as certified by the student. It
may be considered for evaluation in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the award of degree of
Master of Business Administration.

Project Guide Project co-guide

Mr. Tarun Talwar Ms. Deeksha mam

(Head of Department-MBA) (Assist. Professor-MBA)
 Acknowledgement
This research project has been possible through and with the direct and
indirect co-operation of various persons to whom I wish to express my
appreciation and gratitude.

No one can ever make any achievement all of his alone. It is always difficult
to acknowledge so precious a debt as that of learning. It is the debt that could
only be paid through gratitude.

I bow with gratitude to all the TEACHERS who guided me. My special thanks
goes to our Head of Department Mr. Tarun Talwar whose versatility of
creativeness, interest and enthusiasm gave a new dimension to my work with a
motto “to seek, to strive and to yield greater”. His unfailing guidance and
encouragement made me understand the various appropriations and help to
solve my problems. In addition to this, I would like to thank all my respondents,
who had spent their valuable time with me and helped me in getting the requisite
information for this research project.

________________

Amandeep Singh

Univ. Roll No-2007040

Master of Business Administration

RAMGARHIA INSTITUTE OF ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY,

PHAGWARA
 Executive Summery
As MBA course requires equal attention towards practical as well as
theoretical aspects of business, various problems are to be dealt within that
course. That’s why research programs are their to give deep as well as
thorough knowledge of subjects and problems which are practical whenever
one entered in the profession.

________________

Amandeep Singh

Univ. Roll No-2007040

Master of Business Administration

RAMGARHIA INSTITUTE OF ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY,

PHAGWARA
 Content
S. No. Content Page No.

Title 1

Student declaration 2

Certificate of originality 3

Acknowledgement 4

Summery 5

INTRODUCTION (THEORETICAL ASPECT) 11-22

1

INTRODUCTION (PRACTICAL ASPECT) 23-55

2

REVIEW OF LITERATURE 56-60

3

PROBLEM DEFINITION 61-62

4

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 63-64

5

DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION 65-86

6

FINDINGS 87-89
7

SUGGESTIONS 90-91
8

CONCLUSION 92-93
9
BIBLIOGRAPHY 94
10
ANNEXURE 95-96
11
WORK LIFE BALANCE

HISTORY:

The leisure was invented in the mid-1800s. Paul Krassneer remarked that use a
definition of happiness that is to have as a little separation as possible between your
work and your life. If you have a day job, your everyday life is structured with two equally
important elements: work time and free time. Especially if you have a family, it becomes
very important to keep a balance between those two areas.

Meaning

Work life balance is the term used to describe the balance that an individual needs
between time allocated for work for and another aspects of life areas of life.

Traditionally, work has dictated our boundaries between work time and free time: For
instance if you work at the office, usually you go to work at 9 am and leave your workplace
at 5 pm.

On the other hand, things get more complicated when you are working on your personal
projects or starting running your own business on the side. If you are in this situation, you
know you have a limited time budget available for those things. And because of this limiting
factor, it’s quite natural to maximize your personal time in order to move forward with your
side projects.

However, there is a risk involved when you maximize too much and this can threaten to shake
the balance and well-being in your family. If you are facing this situation, you have to make
a decision: Do you value the time with your family more or the time with your passion and
your projects?

The problem is that if you focus too much on yourself and your needs, you’ll neglect the
family and this could have very serious consequences in the long run. In other words, it’s not
enough to have a perfect work-life balance (between your day job and your free time), you
also need to have a “work-wife” balance inside your free time where you balance the time
between your projects and your family ( “work-wife” balance with husband, kids, family or
anything that describes your situation the best).
Characteristics
Research reveals that most commuter couples have a high level of education and that both
partners have professional or executive careers. Most are between the ages of 25 to 65, the
mean age being mid- to late thirties. Forty to 50% of commuter couples have children, and
more than 50% have been married for more than 9 years. Most of commuter couples are with
advanced degrees and are heavily involved in their careers. The most attractive factor of a job
for commuter couples is the job-education match.

Advantages
Advantages of the commuting lifestyle are identified as

1) increased career opportunities,

2) professional autonomy,

3) increased independence,

4) increased appreciation of time together,

5) decreased focus on disagreements, and

6) decreased frequency of arguments.

Disadvantages
Disadvantages of being commuting couples are

1) financial problems;

2) loneliness;

3) lack of personal and professional support system due to a lack of time to build and maintain
these relationships;

4) negative attitudes from friends, family, coworkers, and society;

5) increased tension in marriage and the family;

6) decreased satisfaction with sex life;

7) missed important family moments and day-to-day experiences; and

8) lack of social life, hobbies, and individual projects.

13
Ways to improve work life balance

Communicate. If you won't be available for certain hours during the day or weekend because
you're dealing with family issues, let your manager and colleagues know, and get their full
support.

Use Technology to Your Advantage .Technology should help make your life easier, not
control it. Ban technology at certain times so that you can focus on your family or friends.

Telecommute. Telecommuting a few times a week could help free up valuable hours. You'll
be able to focus on work for long stretches at a time and use the extra hours to meet personal
responsibilities.

Learn to Say "No." Remember that you can respectfully decline offers to run the PTA or
serve on an extra committee at work. When you stop doing things out of guilt, you'll find
more time to focus on the activities that truly bring you joy.

Fight the Guilt. Superwoman--and Superman--are fictional characters. Real people can't
devote 100% to everything they do. Stop feeling guilty if you miss an occasional soccer game
or bail on a colleague's going-away party.

Rethink Your Idea of "Clean." Unmade beds or dusty moldings are not signs of failure.
Try to get used to a little messiness and spend more time enjoying your life. If you can afford
to outsource help, pay someone else to clean your house.

Protect Your Private Time. Allow yourself to daydream in the subway or appreciate good
weather on your walk to work. If you don't allow yourself pockets of personal time.

Contributing factors

Role conflict

14
There has been inconsistent evidence in relation to role conflict in dual-career commuter
couples. Role conflict, according to Biddle, is “the concurrent appearance of two or more
incompatible expectations for the behavior of a person”, and when a person experiences role
conflict, it can have negative effects on multiple aspects of their lives, including decreased
job performance and decreased commitment to an organization. In contrast to that definition,
findings have shown that many commuters find their lifestyle beneficial in that it allows them
to pursue their careers without having to deal with daily family distractions, and also gives
them a sense of autonomy. This ability to compartmentalize the roles the individual plays
may lead to more work life satisfaction, supported by findings that commuter couples
generally had more work life satisfaction than dual-career couples in a single residence.
However, there are still challenges faced by commuter couples in their different roles. It
would seem that such great compartmentalization can lead some individuals to struggle with
balancing both their work and family roles and the responsibilities for each; almost half of
commuter couples studied by Anderson reported that they rarely felt that they had a good
balance between job and family. Also, families who are commuters are thought to become
more competent in their performance of all family-related tasks, suggesting that there is a less
traditional division of labor between the husband and wife. However, Anderson and Spruill
found that even in commuter couples, most traditional household tasks were still performed
by women, while tasks such as household maintenance and lawn-mowing were performed by
men. These findings suggest that commuter couples may still be relatively traditional in their
role divisions from a gender perspective.

Social comparison
According to Festinger (1954) and Social Comparison Theory, when there is no “objective”
assessment for one’s abilities or opinions, one will compare themselves to others who are
seen to be similar. It is also said that when others have a difference in abilities or opinions,
one who is comparing themselves will almost always move their idea of what abilities or
opinions are appropriate closer to the comparison others’. In line with this theory, it makes
sense that commuter couples would try to compare themselves to other married couples, but
it will often pose problems for them because their relationships do differ in many ways. When
commuter couples compare themselves to “traditional marriages”, it can cause them a lot of
discomfort. This is also true for society’s expectations of a commuter couple; if society
compares them to “traditional couples”, they refrain from addressing important aspects of the

15
relationship, and consequently lack a solid understanding. It was found that partners who felt
that their peers thought that the commuting lifestyle was the beginning of a divorce
experienced more stress.

Adjusting versus established couples

"Adjusting" couples are generally younger with few or no children, and they experience the
separation earlier in their marriage. It seems that younger wives generally struggle more with
the guilt that their husbands are disadvantaged in some way, and young husbands tend to feel
a sense of loss in comparison to a traditional husband. These couples often experience more
stress over the conflict of whose career is “more important” than the stress of being apart.

"Established" couples are generally older, have been married longer, and have children. With
these couples, much of the stress comes from childcare. Generally, husbands will feel some
resentment in the increase in responsibilities for the children, while the wives feel guilty about
their lessened involvement in their children’s lives.

Attachment theory and perceived relationship quality

Attachment theory
In important romantic relationships, attachment refers to strong emotional bonding and the
feeling of being secure. To maintain the security feelings, individuals stay in a comfortable
range of proximity to their partner. Under certain circumstances, even separation due to
planned travel evokes concerns of the partner’s inaccessibility. This inaccessibility may be
associated with anxiety, loneliness, and yearning for the partner. Through psychological (e.g.,
internal representation), symbolic (e.g., pictures), or physical proximity gaining accessibility,
individuals calm down and restore security.

Three different attachment styles are identified by attachment researchers: secure, avoidant,
and anxiety attached. Those who are securely attached have positive views of the self and
their partner, and are confident when seeking proximity to the partner. Avoidant individuals,
with two subtypes, generally suppress desires of seeking for partners. Specifically,
dismissing-avoidant individuals have a positive self-worth, but have a negative view of the
partner, and prefer low emotional involvement. Fearful-avoidants have negative views of
both the self and the partner and fear rejection. In contrast, individuals with anxiety
attachment styles are hyperactive, continuously seeking and attempting to maintain partner
proximity. Those who have anxious attachment styles have negative self-views, and the

16
partner is considered essential to self-worth but insufficiently accessible. The Relationship
Questionnaire by Bartholomew and Horowitz (1991) and Experience in Close Relationship
Scale by Brennan, Clark, and Shaver (1998) are two commonly used measurements for
attachment style. The Relationship Questionnaire assess attachment style by crossing the
positive or negative view of self and partner. This questionnaire provides the categorical data,
that means to categorize participants into four attachment styles without any scores. The
Experience in Close Relationship Scale on the other hand, measures on a seven-point scale.
People with lower scores are toward the attachment avoidance end, and people with higher
scores are more likely to be attachment anxious style. This scale provides quantitative
information about attachment style. Though the two scales can be used separately, they make
up the categorical and interval part for each other. Thus, it is recommended to use both of
them.The combination of both scales have been proven valid in measuring attachment styles.

Perceived long-distance relationship quality

Secure attachment is related to positive relationship qualities (e.g., satisfaction; commitment).
Although it may seem counter-intuitive, long-distance relationships between securely
attached individuals are perceived to be similar in relationship quality to relationships of
securely attached individuals who are geographically close. Avoidant and anxious attachment
style individuals who are involved in long-distance relationships perceive their relationship
as lower quality than avoidant and anxious individuals in geographically close relationships.
Commuter couples’ relationship quality are expected to differ based on the individuals’
attachment styles. Recently, research found that commuter couples who meet on a monthly
base (i.e., meet more than once a month) relationship quality was influenced by the
separation.

Decision-making processes
Some studies report that many couples do not go through an evaluation of the commuting
lifestyle before they engage in it. Although the dual-career commuter couples are generally
a highly educated and sophisticated group of people, the majority of the couples studied did
not use a systematic decision-making process. The commuter couples did not collect
information, talk to other commuting couples, or review other alternatives in making their
decision to commute. Instead, the couples simply accepted that commuting was necessary
and then discussed what the details of the impending separation would entail. In addition, two
thirds of the couples made no plans to reevaluate the effectiveness of their decision to

17
commute. Despite these findings, there are couples who do go through a decision-making
process. They are reported to have higher relationship satisfaction than those who did not go
through a systematic decision-making process.

Practical implication

For the individual, there are a few suggestions to be made in regards to becoming a dualcareer
couples based on implications of past research. First, the division of labor should be discussed
and made clear to both spouses, so it each individual’s expectations are apparent. The stability
of the relationship should also be considered, as well as the possible reactions each individual
might have in response to societal views. The expenses of traveling and each spouse’s history
of being alone (i.e., their attachment styles) should be considered as well. Finally, couples
should consider discussing the decision with other commuter couples to gain first-hand
knowledge .Organization, frequent communication, and rituals have been found to be three
of the most important aspects of successfully maintaining a commuting lifestyle. Weekly
organized meetings can provide an opportunity for the couple to practice communication,
improve organization, take care of household responsibilities, and keep in touch about past
and future events. Developing a set of rituals and schedules can help commuter couples ease
the stress of departing and reuniting with each other. Rituals such as daily phone calls, sharing
dinner while talking on the phone, regular dependable visitation
that they can draw on during lonely moments.

times, a predictable routine for reuniting and departing, special dinner dates for their first
nights together, and leaving intimate messages and signs of affection have been found to be
helpful for many commuter couples. These rituals help the couple establish a shared history

18
Challenges To Be Faced

The lifestyle has created a unique set of challenges, many of which relate to socialization and
role expectations, work role conflicts, and family role conflicts. Many couples have difficulty
resolving role expectations because the likelihood is great that the individuals involved have
been socialized for roles very different from those they're apt to experience as part of this
lifestyle.

A woman who tries to combine a career and a family is soon reminded that she's flaunting the
socially accepted norms. She finds herself in a seemingly no-win situation. The qualities
associated with the role of wife-mother (nurturance, emotionality, responsiveness to people
rather than ideas) are seen to be incompatible with those qualities associated with success in
the occupational sphere (independence, rationality, and assertiveness).

The man, too, is struggling with his definition of masculine and feminine roles as he has been
socialized to understand them. A man grows up expecting to be the head of a household, to
be the one who earns the money and has the power. For the most part, men aren't socialized
or educated to fill roles calling for skills in child rearing or homemaking. Even if a man has
the skills, he may perceive that devoting a great deal of time and emotional energy to domestic
activities may negatively affect his career, particularly if he's competing with other men who
don't have similar family roles.

Challenges arising from coping with two careers in one household are evident. The result of
trying to juggle two careers may be that each individual is less competitive in terms of his or
her own career advancement. Each person has to make compromises for the other's career,
and the net result is often that each ends up with a little less. The home environment is a
special challenge to the dual-career couple as two people try to meet the demands of careers
and build a family life together. Maintaining a home and a family can tax even the most
committed and energetic marriage partners.

19
It appears that most couples try to share the load. The standards are voluntarily lowered; some
tasks may be eliminated or redistributed to domestic help, children, or spouses. Even so, the
fact remains that in the majority of dual-career families, the responsibility for the domestic
sphere lies with the wife. Even highly educated professional women retain that responsibility.
Rapoport and Rapoport have studied this lifestyle for the last decade and report a shift in the
location of the barriers to a dual-career lifestyle.Ten years ago the barrier was in the
workplace with its discriminatory employment and advancement practices; now the

bottleneck is in the home, necessitating a redistribution of responsibility for domestic work .

It’s time to make that shift … are you ready?

OK, so now you know what to do in order to have a better balance inside your free time. Here
are the steps I do to make sure I have time for both my family and building my online business
while working in a day job:

1. Realize the true nature of the balance. Understand that your free time is not just
one big chunk of time – it consists of four different areas.
You rarely can have a perfect balance on a daily basis, but the more you put your family as
priority number one, things stay on a healthy level.

2. Wake up early. Some of you might say: “I can’t do that; I’m not a morning person.”
You know what? – I wasn’t either and here I am writing this story around 6 o’clock! I think
that it’s just a matter of choosing to become one rather than saying that I can’t do it.
You can either make a sudden or a smooth transition to early wake-ups. I did the former
myself, but in your case you could decide first to define a target wake-up time. Then, make a
transition by waking up 10-15 minutes earlier each week and eventually you will have
reached the target time.

There is no use of trying to define impossible wake-up times, like 4.30 every morning -just
pick the one that you are comfortable with. Whatever your time is, you’ll realize that you get
more work done when you wake up earlier.

3. Let go of your hobbies – temporarily. Sometimes you’ll just have to give up on

something that you are passionate about. In my case it was the decision of stop running
marathons or racing in triathlons for the next couple of years.

20
You’ll have to understand what matters the most in your life and prioritize things accordingly.
In my case it was my family and building my online business. Also, when you realize that the
decision is just temporary, it’ll make it easier.

4. Ask your spouse what she likes to do. When I get back home from work, I ask my
wife what she would like to do. Most likely she wants to have her personal time and I take
care of our son during that time. This is nice and it’s a win-win situation: I have a chance to
spend time one-on-one time with my son while my wife can take a breather and have her
personal time.With this small question, you can really improve and strengthen the balance
inside your family.
5. See his/her point of view. The last time I blogged about when my wife was gone for
two days on a seminar and I spent time alone with my son. It was really an eye opener for me
as I could really understand what it was like to take care of a 1 year and 3 months year old
toddler for the majority of the day.
Put yourself into the same situation. When you do that, it’s so much easier to give your spouse
his/her own time when he/she asks. Also, you can truly appreciate what he/she is doing when
you are at work.

This also works the other way around: It’s much easier for your spouse to give you some time
to work on your projects when you are flexible and give him/her time he/she wants.

6. Maximize the free time. Make sure that you plan your work well in advance and that
you have the readiness to start working as soon as possible when your personal time blocks
starts. For instance, when you work in the mornings or during the times when your family is
taking a nap, you can get started right away and you don’t have to ponder what to do next.

21
Why Work-Life Balance is Important
When employees feel a greater sense of control and ownership over their own lives, they tend
to have better relationships with management and are able to leave work issues at work and
home issues at home. Balanced employees tend to feel more motivated and less stressed out
at work, which thereby increases company productivity and reduces the number of conflicts
among coworkers and management.

Companies who gain a reputation for encouraging work-life balance have become very
attractive to workers and will draw a valuable pool of candidates for new job openings. These
companies also tend to enjoy higher employee retention rates, which results in less
timeconsuming training, more loyalty, and a higher degree of in-house expertise.

Stdies have a shows that employees who have a positive work-life balance do a better job
at work, so promoting this balance is beneficial to individuals and the company. This is a
practical guide for employers who want to promote a healthy work-life balance for their
teams.

22
23
HISTORY OF DUAL CAREER COUPLE

Statistics
In the United States, statistics from as early as 1989 report that 53% of married households
were dual-earner couples. By 1996, the percent of dual-earner couples grew to 61%.
According to data from 1989, approximately 7 million employees (15% to 20% of all
dualearner marriages) were classified as dual-career couples. By 2003, U.S. workers take
more than 400 million long-distance business trips (i.e., trips over 50 miles) each
year.Commuter marriages are on the rise, with recent estimates indicating that as many as 3
million Americans reside in different locations from their spouses.

Formation of commuter couple

The increase in women’s career opportunities also increases the problems of couples pursuing
two careers in the same place, and can cause conflict regarding which spouse’s career should
take precedence. One major concern for dual-career couples is finding employment in the
same geographic location. One partner usually compromises by taking a less desirable job so
that the other can take a position that might further his or her career. However, if this
compromise cannot be reached, the option of commuting can be the result, where both
spouses enjoy highly desirable jobs at the sacrifice of maintaining separate residences. [

In the definition of dual-career commuter couples, the work pursued by each member of the
couple requires 1) a high degree of commitment and special training with increasing degrees
of responsibility (this includes students pursuing an advanced educational degree) and 2) that
the couple maintain homes in separate geographic locations. Traveling sales or business
workers, military personnel, migrant workers, and construction and trade workers who leave
home for various lengths of time are not included in the definition. When couples share a
home and one or both members commute long distances to work each day or couples
immigrating at separate times, they are also not included in this definition.

The dyad of commuter couples is typically composed of the "commuter", who moves to a
secondary residence for work, and the "noncommuter", who stays at the primary residence.
Other terms for the lifestyle are married-singles, commuter marriages, commuter families,
commuter lifestyle, and commuter relationships.
They can work together just for a while, or as one of them looks for work elsewhere. There
is need to work in different fields so that you have the freedom of working with workmates

24
without your relationship getting in the way. While working together brings the two of you
together, co-workers may find it difficult to relate to the two of you in your official capacities
and as a couple.

It is workable in some instances, for example in teaching. A couple can be at one school and
find it easy to work together and have fun. They can share accommodation and other
amenities. The profession offers the convenience of staying and working together. It makes
bonding easy. That arrangement gives comfort and looking after children is made easy. The
family feels safe together. Problems may arise when one gets promoted. If the woman gets
the promotion, it is notch higher for the family, but this can be very demeaning to the husband
who might not be able to come to terms with his wife’s new status.

With or without the challenges of promotion, the couple is required to maintain a professional
relationship at work. This is very tough, but it can be done. There is no need for one to shy
away from the other because of a promotion. As long as the promotion is on merit, there
shouldn’t be any problems both in the family and at work.

Work in the health sector also allows couples to live together and work separately, say in a
hospital. Suppose you are working in the same place and one of you gets promoted, you can
accept the new post yet opt to remain in your allocated house. This gives the impression that
you are humble, if you choose to remain in the same house you lived in when you got
promoted.

Some couples work in the industrial sites and may happen to do the same job. They travel to
work together. Such couples must respect boundaries and not encroach onto each other’s
work space.

A typical example is what happened recently to the former first lady Grace Mugabe. She
wanted to compete with her husband, Robert Mugabe. While there is nothing wrong in
aspiring to do what your husband is doing, you have to be very strong to convince people that
you have the capacity.

The end result was no one wanted to support the wife because of her actions. People just
turned into spectators and there was no sympathy for what befell Grace. Now both the
husband and wife have been retired to their home because they failed to negotiate their way

25
as the wife sought power. It was clear she was fighting to be where the husband was, but she
lacked the tact and decorum to weave her way to the throne.

So many women have brought down their husbands because they do not look at the hazards
of trying to work together. Grace wanted the husband to leave the post for her even if it meant
creating a dynasty. She took a lot of things for granted as she pushed and shoved people to
land the coveted prize.

There is much to it than just working together. Everybody is working to succeed in his or her
career. It must come as a shock to find out the one vying for your post is your spouse. If your
spouse wants your post, it is very difficult to work at cross purposes with your husband or
your wife. The load is more damning if it’s the wife who wants to grab the post.

To be safe, work as far apart from each other as possible, otherwise you pay heavily for
working together in this world of competition. Let your own prowess take you to the greater
heights of growth. We are where we are not because someone backed us, but because we
worked for it without anyone pushing us. So, no man or woman should be given what they
do not deserve because they are in it because of their partner. Work towards your own goal
without compromising those that are close to you.

There is no need to grab power by taking advantage of proximity to it. Grace should have
worked her way up without being backed by the husband, mindful of the fact that she was
eventually going to be by herself after the husband retired. She had to prove her acumen and
political shrewdness without being unnecessarily disrespectful. Now people use her as an
example of how a wife can bring down a husband if both of them are not careful:

First, it’s all about flexibility. If you know that your spouse wants to do something, be ready
to shift the starting time of your own things if possible. For instance, it’s not mandatory for
me to go to exercise right after getting back home from work. That worked when we didn’t
have kids, but it’s a different story now.

It’s time to make that shift … are you ready?

26
OK, so now you know what to do in order to have a better balance inside your free time. Here
are the steps I do to make sure I have time for both my family and building my online business
while working in a day job:

1. Realize the true nature of the balance. Understand that your free time is not just
one big chunk of time – it consists of four different areas.
You rarely can have a perfect balance on a daily basis, but the more you put your family as
priority number one, things stay on a healthy level.

2. Wake up early. Some of you might say: “I can’t do that; I’m not a morning person.”
You know what? – I wasn’t either and here I am writing this story around 6 o’clock! I think
that it’s just a matter of choosing to become one rather than saying that I can’t do it.
You can either make a sudden or a smooth transition to early wake-ups. I did the former
myself, but in your case you could decide first to define a target wake-up time. Then, make a
transition by waking up 10-15 minutes earlier each week and eventually you will have
reached the target time.

There is no use of trying to define impossible wake-up times, like 4.30 every morning -just
pick the one that you are comfortable with. Whatever your time is, you’ll realize that you get
more work done when you wake up earlier.

3. Let go of your hobbies – temporarily. Sometimes you’ll just have to give up on

something that you are passionate about. In my case it was the decision of stop running
marathons or racing in triathlons for the next couple of years.
You’ll have to understand what matters the most in your life and prioritize things accordingly.
In my case it was my family and building my online business. Also, when you realize that the
decision is just temporary, it’ll make it easier.

4. Ask your spouse what she likes to do. When I get back home from work, I ask my
wife what she would like to do. Most likely she wants to have her personal time and I take
care of our son during that time. This is nice and it’s a win-win situation: I have a chance to
spend time one-on-one time with my son while my wife can take a breather and have her
personal time.

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With this small question, you can really improve and strengthen the balance inside your
family.

5. See his/her point of view. The last time I blogged about when my wife was gone for
two days on a seminar and I spent time alone with my son. It was really an eye opener for me
as I could really understand what it was like to take care of a 1 year and 3 months year old
toddler for the majority of the day.
Put yourself into the same situation. When you do that, it’s so much easier to give your spouse
his/her own time when he/she asks. Also, you can truly appreciate what he/she is doing when
you are at work.

This also works the other way around: It’s much easier for your spouse to give you some time
to work on your projects when you are flexible and give him/her time he/she wants.

6. Maximize the free time. Make sure that you plan your work well in advance and that
you have the readiness to start working as soon as possible when your personal time blocks
starts. For instance, when you work in the mornings or during the times when your family is
taking a nap, you can get started right away and you don’t have to ponder what to do next.

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Contributing factors

Role conflict
There has been inconsistent evidence in relation to role conflict in dual-career commuter
couples. Role conflict, according to Biddle, is “the concurrent appearance of two or more
incompatible expectations for the behavior of a person”, and when a person experiences role
conflict, it can have negative effects on multiple aspects of their lives, including decreased
job performance and decreased commitment to an organization. In contrast to that definition,
findings have shown that many commuters find their lifestyle beneficial in that it allows them
to pursue their careers without having to deal with daily family distractions, and also gives
them a sense of autonomy. This ability to compartmentalize the roles the individual plays
may lead to more work life satisfaction, supported by findings that commuter couples
generally had more work life satisfaction than dual-career couples in a single residence.
However, there are still challenges faced by commuter couples in their different roles. It
would seem that such great compartmentalization can lead some individuals to struggle with
balancing both their work and family roles and the responsibilities for each; almost half of
commuter couples studied by Anderson reported that they rarely felt that they had a good
balance between job and family. Also, families who are commuters are thought to become
more competent in their performance of all family-related tasks, suggesting that there is a less
traditional division of labor between the husband and wife. However, Anderson and Spruill
found that even in commuter couples, most traditional household tasks were still performed
by women, while tasks such as household maintenance and lawn-mowing were performed by
men. These findings suggest that commuter couples may still be relatively traditional in their
role divisions from a gender perspective.

Social comparison
According to Festinger (1954) and Social Comparison Theory, when there is no “objective”
assessment for one’s abilities or opinions, one will compare themselves to others who are
seen to be similar. It is also said that when others have a difference in abilities or opinions,
one who is comparing themselves will almost always move their idea of what abilities or
opinions are appropriate closer to the comparison others’. In line with this theory, it makes
sense that commuter couples would try to compare themselves to other married couples, but
it will often pose problems for them because their relationships do differ in many ways.

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When commuter couples compare themselves to “traditional marriages”, it can cause them a
lot of discomfort. This is also true for society’s expectations of a commuter couple; if society
compares them to “traditional couples”, they refrain from addressing important aspects of the
relationship, and consequently lack a solid understanding. It was found that partners who felt
that their peers thought that the commuting lifestyle was the beginning of a divorce
experienced more stress.

Adjusting versus established couples

"Adjusting" couples are generally younger with few or no children, and they experience the
separation earlier in their marriage. It seems that younger wives generally struggle more with
the guilt that their husbands are disadvantaged in some way, and young husbands tend to feel
a sense of loss in comparison to a traditional husband. These couples often experience more
stress over the conflict of whose career is “more important” than the stress of being apart.

"Established" couples are generally older, have been married longer, and have children. With
these couples, much of the stress comes from childcare. Generally, husbands will feel some
resentment in the increase in responsibilities for the children, while the wives feel guilty about
their lessened involvement in their children’s lives.

Attachment theory and perceived relationship quality

Attachment theory
In important romantic relationships, attachment refers to strong emotional bonding and the
feeling of being secure. To maintain the security feelings, individuals stay in a comfortable
range of proximity to their partner. Under certain circumstances, even separation due to
planned travel evokes concerns of the partner’s inaccessibility. This inaccessibility may be
associated with anxiety, loneliness, and yearning for the partner. Through psychological (e.g.,
internal representation), symbolic (e.g., pictures), or physical proximity gaining accessibility,
individuals calm down and restore security.

Three different attachment styles are identified by attachment researchers: secure, avoidant,
and anxiety attached. Those who are securely attached have positive views of the self and
their partner, and are confident when seeking proximity to the partner. Avoidant individuals,
with two subtypes, generally suppress desires of seeking for partners. Specifically,
dismissing-avoidant individuals have a positive self-worth, but have a negative view of the

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partner, and prefer low emotional involvement. Fearful-avoidants have negative views of
both the self and the partner and fear rejection. In contrast, individuals with anxiety
attachment styles are hyperactive, continuously seeking and attempting to maintain partner
proximity. Those who have anxious attachment styles have negative self-views, and the
partner is considered essential to self-worth but insufficiently accessible. The Relationship
Questionnaire by Bartholomew and Horowitz (1991) and Experience in Close Relationship
Scale by Brennan, Clark, and Shaver (1998) are two commonly used measurements for
attachment style. The Relationship Questionnaire assess attachment style by crossing the
positive or negative view of self and partner. This questionnaire provides the categorical data,
that means to categorize participants into four attachment styles without any scores. The
Experience in Close Relationship Scale on the other hand, measures on a seven-point scale.
People with lower scores are toward the attachment avoidance end, and people with higher
scores are more likely to be attachment anxious style. This scale provides quantitative
information about attachment style. Though the two scales can be used separately, they make
up the categorical and interval part for each other. Thus, it is recommended to use both of
them.The combination of both scales have been proven valid in measuring attachment styles.

Perceived long-distance relationship quality

Secure attachment is related to positive relationship qualities (e.g., satisfaction; commitment).
Although it may seem counter-intuitive, long distance relationshipS between securely
attached individuals are perceived to be similar in relationship quality to relationships of
securely attached individuals who are geographically close. Avoidant and anxious attachment
style individuals who are involved in long-distance relationships perceive their relationship
as lower quality than avoidant and anxious individuals in geographically close relationships.
Commuter couples’ relationship quality are expected to differ based on the individuals’
attachment styles. Recently, research found that commuter couples who meet on a monthly
base (i.e., meet more than once a month) relationship quality was influenced by the
separation.

Decision-making processes
Some studies report that many couples do not go through an evaluation of the commuting
lifestyle before they engage in it. Although the dual-career commuter couples are generally
a highly educated and sophisticated group of people, the majority of the couples studied did

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not use a systematic decision-making process. The commuter couples did not collect
information, talk to other commuting couples, or review other alternatives in making their
decision to commute. Instead, the couples simply accepted that commuting was necessary
and then discussed what the details of the impending separation would entail. In addition, two
thirds of the couples made no plans to reevaluate the effectiveness of their decision to
commute. Despite these findings, there are couples who do go through a decision-making
process. They are reported to have higher relationship satisfaction than those who did not go
through a systematic decision-making process.

Practical implication
For the individual, there are a few suggestions to be made in regards to becoming a dualcareer
couples based on implications of past research. First, the division of labor should be discussed
and made clear to both spouses, so it each individual’s expectations are apparent. The stability
of the relationship should also be considered, as well as the possible reactions each individual
might have in response to societal views. The expenses of traveling and each spouse’s history
of being alone (i.e., their attachment styles) should be considered as well. Finally, couples
should consider discussing the decision with other commuter couples to gain first-hand
knowledge .Organization, frequent communication, and rituals have been found to be three
of the most important aspects of successfully maintaining a commuting lifestyle. Weekly
organized meetings can provide an opportunity for the couple to practice communication,
improve organization, take care of household responsibilities, and keep in touch about past
and future events. Developing a set of rituals and schedules can help commuter couples ease
the stress of departing and reuniting with each other. Rituals such as daily phone calls, sharing
dinner while talking on the phone, regular dependable visitation times, a predictable routine
for reuniting and departing, special dinner dates for their first nights together, and leaving
intimate messages and signs of affection have been found to be helpful for many commuter
couples. These rituals help the couple establish a shared history that they can draw on during
lonely moments.

Striking that perfect balance between career and family has always been a challenge for
American workers. Our schedules are getting busier than ever before, which often causes our
work or our personal lives to suffer.
Work-life balance involves juggling workplace stress with the daily pressures of family,
friends, and self. Modern employees demand greater control over their lives and a bigger say

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in the structure of their jobs. “The search for work-life balance is a process in which people
seek to change things in accordance with changes in their own priorities, physical,
psychological or both, and these can be triggered in their turn by factors such as: age; changes
in working conditions; the demands of new technology; and poor management.”

Benefits Employers Can Consider Offering

These are some of the many ways that employers can promote work-life balance in the office
without compromising productivity or efficiency.

One of the most positive ways to reduce stress is exercise, and every able-bodied adult should
be getting at 30 minutes of it per day. Employees who eat healthy and exercise are less at
risk of getting sick and missing days from work, which could ultimately detract from your
company’s productivity.

Many office buildings have a gym facility onsite, so encourage your employees to use it
regularly if your building has this amenity. If not, consider offering your employees a
membership discount at a local gym.

To hop onboard the fitness tracker trend, you can encourage your employees that have Fit bits
or other fitness devices to connect with each other for a little healthy competition and
motivation. If a local nonprofit is hosting a 5K charity race in the near future, post signs about
it around your office to promote a good cause and encourage your employees to get

Childcare Services
As a parent, childcare duties don’t always stop when you leave for work in the morning. A
family-friendly work environment has proven to benefit both employers and employees in a
variety of different industries.

You can consider providing an onsite childcare facility that employs a trusted staff and takes
the guesswork and frustrations out of other babysitting and daycare services. If this is not
possible, you may want to offer your employees a childcare service discount to alleviate the
stresses of caring for children during the workday and reduce the amount of missed work.

If neither one of these options is feasible for your business, try to allow your employees at
least some flexibility to care for their children. This can include the ability to take time off to

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pick up a sick child from school, the ability to see a child’s school play at lunch time, or
flexible start/end time for parents who drop off or pick up kids from school.

Company Outings
One of the best ways to boost employee morale and help workers get to know each other in a
non-stressful capacity is by offering an occasional company outing. This type of outing can
be as low-key or as extravagant as you like, depending on your company’s culture and budget
for such things.

For example, you could organize a company-paid lunch either to be catered into the office or
at a favorite group-friendly restaurant nearby. Happy hours, holiday parties, birthday
celebrations, and park days are other fun ways to get out of the office and bond in a
nontraditional setting. However, you don’t have to even leave the office to achieve this feeling
of camaraderie. Some small companies have found great success in “breakfast club”
programs in which employees take turns bringing in their favorite breakfast foods (either
homemade or store-bought) to share with co-workers.

Spotlight on: Seniors

Reducing stress to increase performance in all aspects of life – including one’s job – is the
ultimate goal of work-life balance. Adapt your benefits to address the needs of your work
force, and watch as stress is reduced, work-life balance is enhanced, and satisfied, happier
employees are driven to succeed in their roles.

Happy hours and supportive childcare do not exactly cater to the needs of older employees,
who are often accustomed to the earlier, more traditional workplace culture that was less
oriented towards serving its employees. This creates a disconnect that can exacerbate any
generational gaps, and push older employees towards retirement unnaturally or prematurely.

Why does this matter? A huge segment of the US workforce is aging, with the threat of a
massive wave of Baby Boomer retirement looming over. Losing older employees also means
missing out on highly skilled, organized, dedicated who also represent a significant portion
of the consumer population.

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The best way to retain an awesome workforce is to serve the needs of your employees so that
they can best serve your organization. With some simple tweaks, work-life balance can be
sustained to meet the needs of seniors and keep them employed.

Here are some things you can offer your senior employees… although the best part is that all
of these benefits can be made to serve all of your employees, directly and indirectly:

Provide good health coverage for all employees, even part-time – Ask your employees
what they would like to see improve about their health and life insurance coverage, and act
on it. Take your employees’ health and wellness seriously, and they will return the respect.

Wellness benefits including gym memberships, healthy snacks, and even massage treatments
can help all of your employees, but they are particularly important for elderly employees who
might not otherwise pursue (or afford) these measures in their downtime.

Preventive benefits account for the real human need for increased health intervention after
age 50. If your current health insurance policy does not cover measures like colonoscopies or
prostate exams, consider adding these benefits.

Self-care benefits like personal care, legal services (particularly targeting wills and estate
planning), and discount programs can also address the concerns of senior employees and
enhance their life.

Let employees telecommute – Don’t push seniors to retire in order to finally pursue their
dreams. By letting seniors work remotely, they can move to their ideal location, travel, and
spend more time with their families – while still contributing to your organization’s success.

Flexible hours – The perfect complement to working remotely is also offering flexible
scheduling. In addition to pursuing what they want to pursue, this gives employees the option
to take care of their needs – such as doctor’s visits.

Retain employees as part-time and/or contractors, or using phased retirement –

Adopting flexible employment models allows you to hold on to valuable business insight and
skills that will enhance your team’s value. Additionally, older employees can guide training
for less experienced workers, providing tested knowledge and transferring experience. which

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allows employees to work part-time while also drawing out a portion of the retirement income
– stretching out their salaries and benefits further.

Encourage employee training, workshops, and education. The fast rise of social media
and new technologies can render everyone’s knowledge base quickly outdated. Help
employees master new tech by supporting training and workshops.

Embrace that learning feeds the mind. Consider offering continuing education benefits to
allow your workforce to pursue its “bucket list.” Different companies offering this benefit
vary on how tightly the connection to the company’s work must be for the classes taken (or
if any connection is needed at all) there are plenty of ways to support your employees to keep
learning.

Ways to Encourage Balance in the Office

Project managers have a unique role in helping companies and employees work together to
accomplish a reasonable work-life balance. These professionals are often tasked with the
responsibility of supporting team development and challenging industry working condition
standards. Ultimately, these are tasks that are crucial to individual and organizational
productivity in the workplace.To help you begin fostering a culture of balance in the
workplace, here are 10 ways to encourage work-life balance among your employees.

Maintain Structural Consistency

It is important to maintain a sense of consistency and organization in your company structure

because employees generally feel less anxiety if they know what to expect day-to-day as often
as possible. Don’t be afraid to shake things up from time to time, but a steady and reliable
work environment can counteract stresses that employees feel at home.

Offer Community Engagement Opportunities

Another great way to connect the dots between work time and out-of-work time is to offer
community engagement activities that are meaningful and beneficial. For example, you could
consider offering eight hours per year of paid volunteer time to your employees as an
incentive to get involved in important community causes.

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Create a Designated “Quiet Space”

Every employee has a bad day from time to time, so it’s nice to have a space for employees
to go to when they just need to step away for a moment. This space should be uncluttered and
free of all company materials. Instead, fill it with luscious plants and flowers, comfortable
seating, some light reading material, and perhaps some soft music. Establish a precedent that
this space is not an employee lounge that welcomes chatter, laughter, venting, or meetings.
This should be a calming space for silent reflection that respects solitude and peace.

Allow Schedule Flexibility

Not every business is well-suited for a virtual workforce, so don’t compromise the
productivity of your company if you need your employees to arrive at work in-person.
However, when they really need to because of an emergency that requires them to make
up time later.

For example, if your employee’s child is sick, consider offering her the opportunity to work
from home that day or come into the office over time weekend to make up for lost time. This
way your employee doesn’t have to worry about missing work and wages from taking the
time off and your company’s deadlines can still be met.

Engage in Team-Building Exercises

Team-building exercises may sound too cheesy for your company environment, but some of
them really do foster a much-needed sense of team work around the office. If your employees
feel like they can depend on each other for support, they will feel like they have someone to
go to when feeling stressed out or overwhelmed.

Encourage Vacations

Many companies stick to the old standard of two weeks of vacation per year, but studies and
surveys have shown that 14 days off per 365 days in the year simply isn’t enough to achieve
a work-life balance. Employees who work at small companies and growing start-ups often
feel the most pressure to work every day without regard to personal time and
selfrejuvenation.One way to encourage your employees to take vacations for their own

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benefit it to implement a “use it or lose it” vacation policy, whereby employees’ allotted
vacation time expires at the end of the year if left unused.

Encourage Short Breaks Throughout the Day

On a smaller scale, it’s important to workers’ mental and physical health to take frequent
breaks throughout the day. The human body was not designed to sit still and stare at a screen
for eight hours, and doing so can lead to a wide variety of health issues. Taking breaks at
work also makes employees better at their jobs because they are more focused, less burned
out, and more productive in the long-term.

Allow Unpaid Time Off for Life Events

Some life events merit paid time off, but other life cycle needs are a bit more complicated.
Be considerate about your employees’ emergency family needs and their desires to better
themselves.

For example, you could offer unpaid leave for events that don’t qualify under the Family and
Medical Leave Act, such as helping care for a parent with a serious illness or extending
maternity leave for a couple more months after the birth of a child. You may also wish to
offer unpaid leave to valuable employees who want to attend graduate school or are exploring
the option of moving to a new place for a spouse’s job.

Ask Employees for Guidance

Who better to consult about what employees in your office truly need than the employees
themselves! If you get a sense that your employees are struggling with work-life balance, ask
them what changes around the workplace might help. You might be surprised what you hear
and collaborate on some mutually beneficial strategies together as a result.

To facilitate these discussions, which can often be difficult ones to bring up, consider having
regularly scheduled meetings either as a group or as one-on-one discussions to talk about
balance issues. These types of meetings can be held quarterly, semi-annually, or annually
depending upon the size and individual needs of your workforce.

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Be a Good Model for Balance

No one likes to take life advice from a hypocrite, so make sure that your words and actions
are in line. If managers in your company are responding to emails while on vacation, it sends
a message to employees that they are expected to do so as well. Be sure to respect the balance
and privacy of your employees and avoid contacting them after normal work hours unless it
is an absolute emergency.

Putting Ideas into Practice

As you can see, the long-term benefits of encouraging employees to find a balance between
their work and home lives greatly outweigh any temporary inconveniences and policy
changes. However, it’s also important to recognize the early warning signs of burnout, which
is a continual state of physical and mental exhaustion. According to a American Journal of
Nursing publication, a state of burnout can cause employees to become disconnected from
both work and home because they don’t have enough energy to sustain both lives. Employees
who feel unrecognized or dissatisfied at work can lead to burnout, and this type of exhaustion
at work can be a health and safety hazard.

Overall, it’s important to encourage employees to be self-aware about their own personalities
and tendencies, as some people are more prone to imbalances than others. Through your
words, actions, and example, emphasize the need to continually assess one’s goals to
determine what brings satisfaction, inner peace, and balance. Empowering your employees
to take control over their work and home lives can have a profound impact on their job
satisfaction and performance, enabling you to do what’s best and most effective for your
company.

Tips For Better Work-Life Balance

These days, work-life balance can seem like an impossible feat. Technology makes workers
accessible around the clock. Fears of job loss incentivize longer hours. In fact, a whopping
94% of working professionals reported working more than 50 hours per week and nearly half
said they worked more than 65 hours per week in a Harvard Business School survey. Experts
agree: the compounding stress from the never-ending workday is damaging. It can hurt
relationships, health and overall happiness. Work-life balance means something different to

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every individual, but here health and career experts share tips to help you find the balance
that’s right for you.

1. Let go of perfectionism

A lot of overachievers develop perfectionist tendencies at a young age when demands on their
time are limited to school, hobbies and maybe an after-school job. It’s easier to maintain that
perfectionist habit as a kid, but as you grow up, life gets more complicated. As you climb the
ladder at work and as your family grows, your responsibilities mushroom. Perfectionism
becomes out of reach, and if that habit is left unchecked, it can become destructive, says
executive coach Marilyn Puder-York, PhD, The key to avoid burning out is to let go of
perfectionism, says Puder-York. “As life gets more expanded it’s very hard, both
neurologically and psychologically, to keep that habit of perfection going,” she says, adding
that the healthier option is to strive not for perfection, but for excellence.

2. Unplug

From telecommuting to programs that make work easier, technology has helped our lives in
many ways. But it has also created expectations of constant accessibility. The work day never
seems to end. “There are times when you should just shut your phone off and enjoy the
moment,” says Robert Brooks, a professor of psychology at Harvard Medical School and
coauthor of The Power of Resilience: Achieving Balance, Confidence and Personal Strength
in Your Life. Brooks says that phone notifications interrupt your off time and inject an
undercurrent of stress in your system. So don’t text at your kid’s soccer game and don’t send
work emails while you’re hanging out with family, Brooks advises. Make quality time
true quality time. By not reacting to the updates from work, you will developing a stronger
habit of resilience. “Resilient people feel a greater sense of control over their lives,” says
Brooks, while reactive people have less control and are more prone to stress.

3. Exercise and meditate

Even when we’re busy, we make time for the crucial things in life. We eat. We go to the
bathroom. We sleep. And yet one of our most crucial needs - exercise - is often the first thing
to go when our calendars fill up. Exercise is an effective stress reducer. It pumps feel-good

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endorphins through your body. It helps lift your mood and can even serve a one-two punch
by also putting you in a meditative state, according to the Mayo Clinic.

Puder-York recommends dedicating a few chunks of time each week to self-care, whether it’s
exercise, yoga or meditation. And if you’re really pressed for time, start small with deep
breathing exercises during your commute, a quick five minute meditation session morning
and night, or replacing drinking alcohol with a healthier form of stress reduction.

“When I talk about balance, not everything has to be the completion and achievement of a
task, it also has to include self-care so that your body, mind and soul are being refreshed,”
says Puder-York.

These exercises require minor effort but offer major payoffs. Psychotherapist Bryan
Robinson, who is also professor emeritus at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and
author of the book Desk, explains that our autonomic nervous system includes two branches:
the sympathetic nervous system (our body’s stress response) and the parasympathetic nervous
system (our body’s rest and digest response). “The key is to find something that you can build
into your life that will activate your parasympathetic nervous system,” says Robinson. Short,
meditative exercises like deep breathing or grounding your senses in your present
surroundings, are great places to start. The more you do these, the more you activate your
parasympathetic nervous system, which “calms everything down, (and) not just in the
moment,” says Robinson. “Over time you start to notice that in your life, your
parasympathetic nervous system will start to trump your sympathetic nervous system.”

4. Limit time-wasting activities and people

First, identify what’s most important in your life. This list will differ for everyone, so make
sure it truly reflects your priorities, not someone else’s. Next, draw firm boundaries so you
can devote quality time to these high-priority people and activities.

From there, it will be easier to determine what needs to be trimmed from the schedule. If
email or internet surfing sends you into a time-wasting spiral, establish rules to keep you on
task. That may mean turning off email notifications and replying in batches during limited

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times each day. If you’re mindlessly surfing Facebook or cat blogs when you should be
getting work done, try using productivity software like Freedom, LeechBlock or RescueTime.

And if you find your time being gobbled up by less constructive people, find ways to
diplomatically limit these interactions. Cornered every morning by the office chatterbox?
Politely excuse yourself. Drinks with the work gang the night before a busy, important day?
Bow out and get a good night sleep. Focus on the people and activities that reward you the
most.

To some, this may seem selfish. “But it isn’t selfish,” says Robinson. “It’s that whole airplane
metaphor. If you have a child, you put the oxygen mask on yourself first, not on the child.”
When it comes to being a good friend, spouse, parent or worker, “the better you are yourself,
the better you are going to be in all those areas as well.”

5. Change the structure of your life

Sometimes we fall into a rut and assume our habits are set in stone. Take a birds-eye view of
your life and ask yourself.

Puder-York remembers meeting with a senior executive woman who, for 20 years of her
marriage, arranged dinner for her husband every night. But as the higher earner with the more
demanding job, the trips to the grocery store and daily meal preparations were adding too
much stress to her life. “My response to her was, "Maybe it's time to change the habit,'” recalls
Puder-York. The executive worried her husband might be upset, but Puder-York insisted that,
if she wanted to reduce stress, this structural change could accomplish just that.

So instead of trying to do it all, focus on activities you specialize in and value most. Delegate
or outsource everything else. Delegating can be a win-win situation, says Stewart Freidman,
a management professor at the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School and author of
Freidman recommends talking to the “key stakeholders” in different areas of your life, which
could include employees or colleagues at work, a spouse or a partner in a community project.
“Find out what you can do to let go in ways that benefit other people by giving them
opportunities to grow,” he says. This will give them a chance to learn something new and free
you up so you may devote attention to your higher priorities.

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6. Start small. Build from there.
We’ve all been there: crash diets that fizzle out, New Year’s resolutions we forget by
February. It’s the same with work-life balance when we take on too much too quickly, says
Brooks. Many of his workaholic clients commit to drastic changes: cutting their hours from
80 hours a week to 40, bumping up their daily run from zero miles a day to five miles a day.
It’s a recipe for failure, says Brooks. When one client, who was always absent from his family
dinners, vowed to begin attending the meals nightly, Brooks urged him to start smaller. So he
began with one evening a week. Eventually, he worked his way up to two to three dinners per
week.

12 Examples of Work/Life Balance Initiatives

1. Create flexible leave policies.

In recent years, many organizations have changed their leave policies. Instead of offering
specific amounts of sick time, vacation time, and other categories, they’ve combined them
into a general category, usually called PTO (paid time off).Employees tend to find this helpful
as they don’t feel they have to account for how they are using their time off.

2. Engage in your community.

Whether you’re all working in a single location or spread across the country (or world!), your
employees want to feel connected to their communities. Create opportunities to engage the
communities around your workplace.

You might consider sponsoring a local charity or activity, such as a youth sports league.
Getting employees involved in volunteering is also helpful, as it gets them involved and
working together as a team.

3. Foster a healthy work environment.

Work can contribute to many health problems, especially if employees spend most of their
time sitting. Find ways to make your environment healthier.

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You could offer employees standing desks if they are interested. Additionally, you could look
into sponsoring gym memberships or offering healthy events in the workplace, such as
afterhours yoga.

Don’t forget the importance of mental health. Create spaces in the workplace where
employees can relax and find quiet.

And finally, if you have snacks in the workplace, make sure at least some of them are healthy.

4. Train your managers to help.

Line managers are the people in your organization who are best positioned to help employees
improve their work/life balance.

Train your managers to look for problems such as burnout and overwork. Work on improving
their coaching skills and give them options for supporting their team members. You might
allow managers to offer specific benefits to employees who are struggling.

5. Offer flexible scheduling.

Now that our world is so connected, it’s often not necessary for employees to adhere to a
strict 9-to-5 schedule. Explore ways to let your employees have more schedule flexibility.

You might want to go so far as to change to a results-oriented work environment, where

people can work as many or as few hours as necessary to complete their projects.

One other thing to consider is job share and part-time options. Some employees may be unable
to commit to a full-time job, but could contribute at half-time. Look into whether that makes
sense for your needs.

6. Create a family-friendly work environment.

“Family-friendly” can mean many different things, depending on your work. You probably
don’t want to have a “bring your child to work” day in a factory.

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But regardless of your work environment, look for ways to be family-friendly. Some
organizations can offer onsite or sponsored childcare. Others might offer after-school
programs. Others might just have occasional outings where families are welcome.

Unpaid family leave is also an option for people who might need to take time off to care for
a family member.

7. Apply change management best practices.

When you are going through a major change, employees experience significant upheaval.

Many employees may end up working extra time, changing their roles, or getting

overwhelmed.

8. Consider creative incentives.

While cash bonuses are always welcome, research has indicated that employees may get more
value from other incentives.

Look for ways to offer tangible bonuses for your team, such as vacation vouchers or even
extra time off. One recent study showed that offering time-saving services significantly
improved employees’ happiness.

9. Give employees time to foster creativity.

The most common example of creative time is Google’s 20% policy, where they allow
engineers to spend 20% of their time working on their own ideas.

You don’t have to be that flexible, but look for ways to create space for employees to be
creative. Even offering structured spaces for employees to contribute their own ideas and
suggestions can be helpful.

10. Provide educational support.

Most people are at their best when they are growing and learning. Look for ways to support
your employees as they grow.In some organizations, you might consider offering tuition
assistance for people pursuing ongoing education. Other firms might reimburse employees
for attending development sessions, or just offer in-house “lunch & learn” style programs.

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11. Create a “fun committee.”.

Rather than having one employee responsible for planning activities, let employees volunteer
to participate as a team. They can then be the ones responsible for planning holiday parties,
team excursions, and other events.

Make sure to allocate enough of a budget to let the team enjoy it.

12. Invest in team-building exercises.

Team-building exercises might seem trite, but they do work. The key is picking the right
exerciseand making sure your team is open to it.

Look for a mix of creative and tried-and-true team-building exercises, and time them for
opportunities when your team is engaged. Improving teamwork within your team will help
people form relationships with colleagues and be happier at work.

Examples of work/life balance initiatives

1. Ask Your Workers What They Need

You can’t fix a problem if you don’t know it exists. Sure, you know that a good work-life
balance is important to your employees, but that doesn’t help you figure out how to
accomplish this. So, who better to tell you how to to improve their balance than your
employees themselves? Have your workers fill out a survey about various balance-related
factors of your company – hours worked, flexible scheduling, support for working parents,
etc. This will help you identify the specific areas in which your company needs to improve,
allowing you to focus on implementing achievable solutions for problems that actually affect
your employees.

2. Educate Employees
One of the best ways to promote healthy work-life balance is to actually teach your employees
about it. Offer seminars on what work-life balance is, why it’s important, and different things
they can do to achieve it. You can host the seminar yourself, have them take a webinar, or
even hire a professional to come give the presentation for you. Motorola, for instance, allows
employees to participate in their LIVESMART program, which includes seminars on health

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and wellness, advice on commute management, and even free will preparation. Educating
your employees will give them the tools they need to help themselves.

3. Keep an Eye Out for Burnout

As an employer, part of your responsibility is to look after your employees’ well-being, in
addition to just their job performance. A key part of this is learning to spot burnout. Chances
are, your employees aren’t going to admit to you directly that they’re feeling overworked or
stressed (they don’t want you thinking they can’t handle their job, after all). This means that
most of the time, it will probably be up to you to recognize when your employees need more
balance. Signs can include excessive absenteeism, increased error rates, and clear physical
exhaustion. If you spot an employee who might be burning out, suggest they leave early one
day, or try not to give them any extra projects for a bit.

4. Embrace “Flextime”
Allowing your employees to have flexible work hours or days, often referred to as “flextime,”
is a great way to encourage a healthy work-life balance at your office. There are several
different options for flextime: you can give a weekly hour requirement, but allow them to
space the time out however they choose (10 hours on Tuesday but 6 on Wednesday, etc.) as
long as they reach the required total, you can offer an hour range (35-40 hours per week, for
example), or even have no requirement so long as the necessary work gets done. Flextime
like this will allow your employees to have a life outside of work as well – they can get their
work done and still attend their child’s soccer game or go to that housewarming party. This
shows your employees that you value them as people, not just as workers.

5. Support Telecommuting
In addition to letting employees set their own schedules, consider allowing them to work from
home at least a day or two. While there might be concern that employees won’t be as
productive from home, which is completely understandable, the truth is actually quite the
opposite. Companies as large as Appleand as small as UrbanBound (a Chicago-based,
52employee company that provides web-based relocation software) are allowing their
employees to telecommute, and are reaping the rewards. In fact, studies show that workers
are up to 13% more productive working from home than working at the office. Plus, this gives

47
employees the chance to get things done that might have required them to take a full day off
of work. For example, working parents might need to stay home with a sick child, or someone
could have a doctor appointment that was only available in the middle of the week.
Supporting telecommuting will allow them to take care of their personal needs, while still
getting work done.

6. Encourage Efficient Work – Not More Work

Working more and being productive are not necessarily one in the same. For example, Britain
has longer working hours than their European neighbors, yet still has lower productivity. In
addition to performance concerns, working long hours has proven to be damaging to
employee morale – The Mental Health Foundation reports that when working long hours,
27% of employees feel depressed, 34% feel anxious and 58% feel irritable. So instead of
encouraging your employees to work longer hours, instead encourage them to work more
efficiently. This will not only solicit better work quality from your employees, but will keep
morale high as well.

7.Bring the Home to Work

Trying to maintain a balance between home life and work life is no simple task. So why not make
it easier on your employees and bring their home to work?, where employees are encouraged to
invite their families (or a friend – working parents aren’t the only ones who need balance!). Events
like these will give employees the chance to spend time with their loved ones, but also give you a
chance to get to know your workers a little better. Plus, involving their families will make your
employees feel you value them as human beings (rather than just workers), which creates a better
working atmosphere for everyone.

8. Promote Health Initiatives

An integral part of work-life balance is prioritizing health. Long work hours (and frequently, long
commutes) often force employees to sacrifice health and fitness. However, as an employer, there
are a few things you can do to help your workers maintain healthy lifestyles. For example, you
can offer discount gym memberships for a fitness center near the office (this way, it will be more
affordable and convenient for employees). You could also hold optional classes at work (think
office-wide yoga at 3 pm on Tuesdays), or sponsor company club sports teams – this promotes
work-life balance and your company’s image at the same time!

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9. Foster Creativity
In addition to physical fitness, encouraging your employees’ to maintain healthy mental fitness is
just as important. Allowing them time and space to pursue creative projects (or even think more
creatively about current projects) will not only give them a better sense of balance, but foster the
kind of out-of-the-box thinking that will benefit your business in the long run. Google, for
example, offers a 20% programme, which allows developers to spend 20% of their time on
creative side projects.Your workers will appreciate a break from the norm and a chance to show
you what else they have to offer beyond their day-to-day duties.

10. Lead by Example

Even if you let employees know that you support their healthy work-life balance, that doesn’t
necessarily mean they will take responsibility for it themselves. We’ve all seen it – the boss says
employees don’t have set hours, but the workers stay until 8 pm anyways; employees are given
unlimited PTO, but they never actually take a vacation… balance is a lot easier said than done.
So, lead by example. Say you won’t be answering emails after work hours. If your employees see
that you value personal time, they won’t feel guilty for prioritizing theirs.

Most conversations surrounding work-life balance are focused on the employees: what can they
do to set their boundaries and priorities. However, as an employer, encouraging a healthy balance
shows your employees that you don’t just value their job performance, but that you respect and
value them as people.

Role of gender and family

Work–life conflict is not gender-specific. According to the Center for American Progress, 90
percent of working mothers and 95 percent of working fathers report work–family conflict.
However, due to social norms surrounding gender roles, and how the organization views its
ideal worker, men and women handle the work–life balance differently. Organizations play a
large part in how their employees deal with work–life balance. Some companies have taken
proactive measures in providing programs and initiatives to help their employees cope with
work–life balance.

The conflict of work and family can be exacerbated by perceived deviation from the "ideal
worker" archetype, leading to those with caretaker roles to be perceived as not as dedicated

49
to the organization. This has a disproportionate impact on working mothers, [14] who are seen
as less worthy of training than childless women.

Many authors believe that parents being affected by work–life conflict will either reduce the
number of hours one works, where other authors suggest that a parent may run away from
family life or work more hours at a workplace. This implies that each individual views work–
life conflict differently.

Research conducted by the Kenexa Research Institute (KRI) evaluated how male and female
workers perceive work–life balance and found that women are more positive than men in how
they perceive their company’s efforts to help them balance work and life responsibilities. The
report is based on the analysis of data drawn from a representative sample of 10,000 U.S.
workers who were surveyed through WorkTrends, KRI’s annual survey of worker opinions.
The results indicated a shift in women’s perceptions about work–life balance. In the past,
women often found it more difficult to maintain balance due to the competing pressures at
work and demands at home.

"The past two decades have witnessed a sharp decline in men’s provider role, caused in part
by growing female labor participation and in part by the weakening of men’s absolute power
due to increased rates of unemployment and underemployment," states sociologist Jiping
Zuo. She continues, "Women’s growing earning power and commitment to the paid
workforce together with the stagnation of men’s social mobility make some families more
financially dependent on women. As a result, the foundations of the male dominance structure
have been eroded."

In recent research by Pew Research Center, it is reported that half of working mothers and
fathers believe it is a challenge to simultaneously be a professional and a parent. Generally
speaking, men have more interests in financial gain which requires working longer hours.
Women tend to report higher desires of flexibility between profession and home life, which
can allow them to be at home more frequently.

Changed in perceived gender role

Today there are many young women who do not want to just stay at home and do housework
without having careers. About 64% of mothers whose youngest child was under age six—as
well as 77% of mothers with a youngest child age 6–17—were employed in 2010, indicating
that the majority of women with dependent-care responsibilities cannot, or do not, wish to

50
give up careers. While women are increasingly represented in the workforce, they still face
challenges balancing work and home life. Both domestic and market labor compete for time
and energy. "For women, the results show that only time spent in female housework chores
has a significant negative effect on wages"

Many men do not see work alone as providing their lives with full satisfaction, and they often
want a balance between paid work and personal attachments, without being penalized at work.
These men may desire to work part-time, in order to spend more time with their families.

More men are realizing that work is not their only primary source of fulfillment from life. A
new study on fatherhood (2010) shows that more men are looking for alternatives to their
40-hour workweek in order to spend more time with their family. Though working less means
a smaller paycheck and higher stress levels, men are looking for flexibility just as much as
women. However, with an ever-changing society, flexibility is becoming much more
apparent. "It seems that some traditional stereotypes are starting to lessen just a bit in terms
of who’s responsible for care of the children," says human resource specialist Steve Moore.
Traditionalism is becoming less frequent due to what’s actually practical for each individual
family.

Men often face an unequal opportunity to family life, as they are often expected to be the
financial supporter of the family unit. According to Garey and Hansen, "the masculine ideal
of a worker unencumbered by caregiving obligations is built into workplace structures and
patterns of reward.

Consequences of work life Imbalance

Stress
Steven L. Sauter, chief of the Applied Psychology and Ergonomics Branch of the National
Institute for Occupational Safety and Health in Cincinnati, Ohio, states that recent studies
show that "the workplace has become the single greatest source of stress". Michael
Feuerstein, professor of clinical psychology at the Uniformed Services University of the
Health Sciences at Bethesda Naval Hospital declares "seeing a greater increase in workrelated
neuroskeletal disorders from a combination of stress and ergonomic stressors" Seventy-five
to ninety percent of physician visits are related to stress and, according to the American
Institute of Stress, the estimated costs to industry is $200 billion–$300 billion a year.

51
Problems caused by stress have become a major concern to both employers and employees.
Symptoms of stress are manifested both physiologically and psychologically. Persistent stress
can result in cardiovascular disease, sexual health problems, a weaker immune system and
frequent headaches, stiff muscles, or backache. It can also result in poor coping skills,
irritability, jumpiness, insecurity, exhaustion, and difficulty concentrating. Stress may also
perpetuate or lead to binge eating, smoking, and alcohol consumption.

The feeling that simply working hard is not enough anymore is acknowledged by many other
American workers. "To get ahead, a seventy-hour work week is the new standard. What little
time is left is often divided up among relationships, kids, and sleep." This increase in work
hours over the past two decades means that less time will be spent with family, friends, and
community as well as pursuing activities that one enjoys and taking the time to grow
personally and spiritually.

According to a survey conducted by the National Life Insurance Company, four out of ten
U.S. employees state that their jobs are "very" or "extremely" stressful. Those in high-stress
jobs are three times more likely than others to suffer from stress-related medical conditions
and are twice as likely to quit. The study states that women, in particular, report stress related
to the conflict between work and family.

In the study, Work–Family Spillover and Daily Reports of Work and Family Stress in the
Adult Labor Force, researchers found that with an increased amount of negative spillover
from work to family, the likelihood of reporting stress within the family increased by 74%,
and with an increased amount of negative spillover from family to work the likelihood to
report stress felt at work increased by 47%. Shepherd-Banigan, Basu, Booth & Harris (2016)
conduct research on how stress can cause extremely negative effects on new parents. Between
trying to balance a new schedule, managing additional responsibilities, and lacking flexibility
and support, they can only increase stress, potentially causing depression to the employee.

Psychoanalysts diagnose uncertainty as the dominant attitude to life in the postmodern

society. The pressure that society exerts on individuals can cause them to have an uncertain
attitude. It is the uncertainty to fail, but also the fear of their own limits, not to achieve what
the society expects, and especially the desire for recognition in all areas of life. In today's
society, competition manifests itself in various settings. For example, appearance,
occupation, education of the children are compared to a media-staged ideal. This idea of

52
perfection is due to this deep-rooted aversion to all things average; the pathological pursuit
to excellence. Whoever wants more from the job—from the partner, from the children, and
from themselves—could one day burn out. The individual is then faced with the realization
that perfection does not exist. To date, burnout is not a recognized illness. It has been noticed
that a burnout affects those passionate people who seek perfection. This condition is not
considered a mental illness but only a grave exhaustion that can lead to numerous sick days.
It can benefit the term that it is a disease model which is socially acceptable and also, to some
extent, the individual self-esteem stabilizing. According to experts in the field, the individuals
who detain the following characteristics are more prone to burnouts: the hardworking, the
perfectionist, the loner, the grim and the thin-skinned. All together, they usually have a lack
of a healthy distance to work, leading to work–life imbalance.

Another example related to burnout is decision-makers in government offices and upper

echelons. They are not allowed to show weaknesses or signs of disease, because this would
immediately lead to doubts of their ability for further responsibilities. Only 20% of managers
(e.g. in Germany) do sports regularly, and only 2% regularly attend preventive medical check-
ups. In such a position other priorities seem to be set and the time is lacking for regular sports.
The highest priority seems linked to the job, and it leads individuals to waive screening as a
sign of weakness. Nonetheless, the burnout syndrome seems to be gaining popularity.
Nothing seems shameful about showing weaknesses, but quite the opposite: The burnout is
part of a successful career like a home for the role model family. In other terms, attributing
the highest priority and allotted time to work leads to a higher chance for success, but also
interrupts the balance between work and life. Since the description of burnout could be
"socially recognized precious version of the depression and despair that lets also at the
moment of failure the self-image intact", it concludes that "only losers become depressed,
burnout against it is a diagnosis for winners, more precisely, for former winners.".

Although burnout is linked to a more positive view, four out of five Germans complain about
high stress levels. In fact, one in every sixth individual under the age of 60 consumes
medication against insomnia, depression or to boost energy levels, at least once a week .The
phases of burnout can be described first by great ambition, then the suppression of failure,
isolation, and, finally, the cynical attitude towards the employer or supervisor. Often,
those individuals seem to have anxiety disorders and depression as well, which are serious
mental diseases. Depression is the predominant cause of nearly 10,000 suicides that occur

53
each year in Germany. The consequences of high stress levels could lead to depression, which
in turns affects the balance between work and life. For example, in Germany, early retirement
due to mental illness represented 15.4 percent of all cases in 1993. In 2008, the percentage
increased to 35.6 percent. The proportion of failures due to mental disorders seems to be
increasing. In 2008, statisticians calculated 41 million absent days that were related to these
crises, leading to 3.9 billion euros in lost production costs.

Role of technology
More recently, there has been a shift in the workplace as a result of advances in technology.
As Bowswell and Olson-Buchanan stated, "Increasingly sophisticated and affordable
technologies have made it more feasible for employees to keep contact with work".
Employees have many methods, such as emails, computers, and cell phones, which enable
them to accomplish their work beyond the physical boundaries of their office. Employees
may respond to an email or a voice mail after-hours or during the weekend, typically while
not officially "on the job". With the use of internet and other ICT technologies, academics
are more likely to spend their non-work time on doing unfinished work, online researching
related to their work, replying emails, and contacting with colleagues who are in different
time-zone. Researchers have found that employees who consider their work roles to be an
important component of their identities will be more likely to apply these communication
technologies to work while in their non-work domain.

Some theorists suggest that this blurred boundary of work and life is a result of technological
control. Technological control "emerges from the physical technology of an organization".In
other words, companies use email and distribute smartphones to enable and encourage their
employees to stay connected to the business even when they are not in the office. This type
of control, as Barker argues, replaces the more direct, authoritarian control, or simple control,
such as managers and bosses. As a result, communication technologies in the temporal and
structural aspects of work have changed, defining a "new workplace" in which employees are
more connected to the jobs beyond the boundaries of the traditional workday and workplace.
The more this boundary is blurred, the higher work-to-life conflict is self-reported by
employees. In a review of recent literature looking at the theory of technological control
suggests employers and employees often communicate and continue to work during "off
hours" or even periods of vacation. This added use of technology creates a confusion as to
what the purpose of the technology poses for the individual using it. Questions such as "what

54
is work usage media compared to non-work usage media look like" or "are we working more
because it is easier and more accessible or because we want to work more?"

Employee assistance professionals say there are many causes for this situation ranging from
personal ambition and the pressure of family obligations to the accelerating pace of
technology. According to a recent study for the Center for Work-Life Policy, 1.7 million
people in the United States consider their jobs and their work hours excessive because of
globalization.

55
REVIEW OF LITERATURE

56
REVIEW OF LITRATURE
The term ‘dual-career couple’ has been coined by Rapoport and Rapoport (1969) who were
among the first to investigate the research field of dual-career families, p. 44 and Rapoport
and Rapoport 1990, p. 351). Dual-career couples are defined as a couple in which both
partners are career-oriented

Career-orientation does not necessarily mean that they are currently pursuing a career, a
temporary break (e.g. parental leave, unemployment) does not mean that the couple can no
longer be referred to as a dual-career couple. Krause-Nicolai(, p. 226) identifies higher
education for women, changed employment patterns, change in family structure (fewer
children), lower fertility rates and changed gender roles as the main factors that have led to
the development of dual career couples.

which both partners are engaged in managerial or professional work; the dual-earner couple,
in which both partners have (low-paying) whereas the female partner has a ‘job’. In addition
to the above occupational-level differentiation. Harvey (1998, pp. 311–312) identifies three
different theoretical models that are frequently used to analyze family migration in regard to
organizational relocations: neoclassical market model (maximizes family well-being; each
spouse's potential gain or loss is weighted equally), relative resources and couples' decision
making (concept of power through which decisions are made; the partner with greater earning
capacity is likely to determine the outcome of a relocation decision) and, gender-role and
provider-role ideology (the potential trailing spouse has the right to exercise power in a given
area as well as his/her relative resources).

Ostermann (2002, pp. 128–132) clusters the different career perspectives into four major
groups (see figure below). The individual-chronological perspective represents the sequence
of an individual’s work. The focus for the organizational-chronological perspective is the
position in a corporate hierarchy. In contrast, the individual-expansive perspective
concentrates on the advancement of an individual and the organizational-expansive
perspective relates to a promotion in a corporate hierarchy.

Becker and Haunschild (2003, p. 720) argue that the main challenge for companies is reducing
paradoxes for decision-making and that career is helpful in that regard. However, the
development of non-linear, inter-organizational careers endangers this structure, as it impedes

57
organizations to successfully use career mechanisms. Clearly, these new, interorganizational
careers present major challenges for organizations, which need to be discussed in detail by
the concerned companies. In many organizations it has become a necessity to prove an
international track record. Whereas in the past the main reason for companies to send people
abroad was because of the specific know-how expatriates provided, nowadays personnel
development is considered the

Literature findings suggest that American two-career couples typically opt for the new
traditional model as soon as there is a stronger need for family time (Moen, Sweet 2004, p.
214). financial terms if not in regard to career development. The type of couple could also
change in a relationship because of an international assignment. bserved that expatriate
spouses turn into more traditional partners as caregivers and housekeepers after giving up
their career. Furthermore, this change of the family structure could easily lead to lower
wellbeing and decreased self-esteem

The literature concerning dual-career family stress and coping is reviewed. Sources of
dualcareer strain are delineated, and the coping patterns employed by couples in managing
the stress are summarized. Although acknowledging stressful aspects of dual-career living, it
was found that most participants defined their lifestyle positively. Achieving a balance
between the advantages and disadvantages of the lifestyle appears to be the overriding
concern of most dual-career couples. Some implications for family practitioners are
discussed.

dual career discourse with an increased understanding of the legitimacy (or even the
necessity) of dual-worker families, as well as a new focus on the support that they should be
offered – not only privately, but also from an institutional perspective. Whereas most authors
only use the general term ‘dual-career couples’, there are also researchers who distinguish
between different forms of couples. Duxbury, Lyons and Higgins (2007) identify four
different family types in modern families where both partners are in the labor force:
dualcareer couple.

A In the first Research Paper from Indian Journals reviewed, the authors in their paper state
that couples who work in the same place have more balance and also save time to a great
extent. They list one of the impact of imbalance as ‘Health disorder of self & other members
of the family’. They highlight that a helpful working environment & option to work part time

58
are initiatives of the employer which can help in maintaining balance. The organization
atmosphere should be family friendly. They highlight that woman having greater job
autonomy experience positive work life balance, having more commitment towards
organization. The challenges faced by working women in an organization has an impact on
their life beyond work too.3 B.In the second Research Paper from Indian Journals reviewed,
the research paper shows how Dual career couples is an outcome of the changing face of
society. The paper highlights the issues & challenges faced by Dual career couples in their
personal & professional lives. Dual career couples face guilt of not being able to devote full
time to their growing up kids. The author highlights Employers policies & practices as far as
Work life Balance is concerned viz. Tata’s SCIP Program(Tata Second Career Internship
Program for Women),Infosys Women Inclusivity Network (IWIN),Infosys Family Matters
Network, Infosys Women’s Inclusivity Initiatives Mentoring(IWINTOR);Government of
IndiaDepartment of Personnel & Training “Posting of Husband & Wife-same station” –
Order.4 C.1In the third Research Paper from Indian Journals reviewed among other attributes
for analysis, the authors’ list stress and physical illness. Out of a sample of 47 respondents,
31.93 %( ie.15) have stress, 25.53 %( ie.12) have physical illness. In the paper, the authors
suggest exercise as a stress reliever, dual career couples going out for a movie, dinner.
Physical illnesses can be kept at bay by maintaining a healthy lifestyle and a good work &
home environment.5 D.In the fourth Research Paper from Indian Journals reviewed, Role
characteristics –Role ambiguity, role conflict, role overload, role under load has been found
associated with stress. As an Empirical study, after filling Questionnaires, the researcher had
informal discussions with the Dual Career Couples to observe their feelings and note their
opinions. Among the reasons for stress among the sample was excessive workload, limited
time and strict words from boss, misunderstanding with seniors and boss and preparing
homework for the children and making them ready for the school, unfavorable decisions
related to increments, family responsibility and conflict with spouse, limited time. Reasons
for strain highlighted by the author was due to financial crisis, unpleasant comments from
boss, leave related matters, doing kitchen work after office hours, conflict with
spouse/colleague/ boss, long working hours without proper rest. Type of coping mechanisms
adopted by the working couples to Manage stress & strain situations were situated were
studied on the following parameters-watching comedy programs, sleeping pills, smoking,
drinking, Discussing problems with spouse, elders, friends or colleagues, Try to avoid
unnecessary things and try to cope with work, Practicing meditation, go for worship, movies

59
and outing etc, Try to handle responsibilities carefully and timely. Recommended Benefits
for better work life balance offered by employers can be -proper babysitting & child care
centers at the workplace.

the management of dual-careerists is particularly challenging for line-managers. It is the line

manager who plays an important role in the maintenance of an organizational culture that is
supportive of dual-career employees’ special needs (Gorissen, 2009).

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PROBLEM DEFINITION

61
 Objectives
1) To analysis the impact of working/ Job on couple life.

2) To study the need and importance of dual couple Career.

62
 RESEARCH
METHODOLOGY

61
 Research Methodology

Research methodology is a way of various factors affecting the work life balance in this
study.

Introduction: Dual career couple are families in which both heads of the house pursue
careers and the same time maintain family life together both have high degree of commitment
of their careers

Research type: Descriptive type

Research Design:

Research design is a framework conducting the research project. It specifies the details of the
procedure necessary for obtaining the information needed to structure or solve the problem.

In my research project we had followed descriptive research design because we are doing
research to analyse the work life balance in dual couple career.

Methods of data collection: - for this study primary and secondary data was collected so the
following techniques have been used to collect data:

Primary Research and secondary research

Primary data

Primary data is collected from couples who are working together by filling the questionnaire.

Secondary Data

Secondary data can be collected used only for the reference . the secondary data was
collected through various journals and websites through the help of the internet and books
related to dealership networking.

Sampling population

Population includes phagwara city. I have taken husband and wife for the study

Sample size

The sample size selected for the study is 50 people spouse (both husband & wife)
65
Q.1 Are you working together?
Option Husband wife Husband% Wife%

Yes 28 28 56% 56%

No 22 22 44% 44%

30

25

20

15 Husband
Wife
10 Column2

0
Yes No

Interpretation
The concept of together working has been applied on both husband and wife are
there response is the 56% of the couple is working together and 44% of the
couple are working separately.

Q.2 Who is earning is more?

OPTIONS NO.OF RESPONDENT %

Husband 35 70%

Wife 15 30%

66
 40
35
30
25
20 Husband
Wife
15 Column2
10
5
0
Yes No

Interpretation
The concept of earning has been applied on both husband and wife are there
response is the 70% of the couple is ask the husband is more earn there wife’s.
and 30% of the couple are response is wife earn is more then husband .

Q.3 Do you feel that you are able to balance your work life & personal
life ?
OPTIONS NO.OF RESPONDENT %

Yes 40 80%

No 10 20%

67
 45 Yes,40
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
No,10
5
0
Yes No

Interpretation
The 80% of the couple is feel that they are able to balance there work life and
personal life . 205 of the couple response is that they have not balancing in the work
life and personal life .

Q.4 Does children effect job choices of you and your Partner?
OPTIONS NO.OF RESPONDENT %

Yes 31 86%

No 19 14%

68
 35 Yes,31
30
25
20
No,19
15
10
5
0
Yes No

Interpretaton
The 86% of the couple response towards there job choice is effect on children &
14% of the response of couple is no there job is not effect on children’s.

Q.5 What impact on your children towards you & your partner Job?
OPTIONS NO.OF RESPONDENT %

Positive 5 10%

Negative 6 12%

Both 19 38%

Not relevant 20 40%

69
 Not
relevent,2
25 0
20 Both,19
15
Negative,
10 6
Positive,5
5
0
Positive Negative Both Not
relevent

Interpretaton
The 10% of the response of couple is the impact on your children towards you &
your partner Job is positive impact 12% of the response is negative . 38% of the response
is both impact on the child .40% of the response is Not relevant.

70
 NO.OF RESPONDENT %

Q.6 Whose career takes priority?

OPTIONS

Husband
31 62%

Wife 10 20%

Both 9 18%

35
30
Husba
25
nd,31
20
15 Wife,1
10 0
5 Both,9
0

71
 NO.OF RESPONDENT %

Interpretation
The 62% of the response is husband take priority there work as such.20% of the response

regarding wife takes the priority there work as such..18% takes both priority about the
work.
Q.7 Who takes family decision ?
OPTIONS

Husband
17 62%

Wife 13 20%

Both 9 18%

72
 NO.OF RESPONDENT %

18 Husba
16 nd,17
14 Wife,1
12 3
10
8
6 Both,9
4
2
0

Interpretaton
The 62% of the response is take a family decision through the husband . 20% of the
response is wife takes the family decision .18% of the both are taking the family decision.
Q.8 Do you have time for each other?
OPTIONS

Yes
27 54%

73
 NO.OF RESPONDENT %

No 23 46%

28
27
26 No,27
25
24
Yes,23
23
22
21

Interpretaton
The 54% of the response is couple have time for each other. 46% of the response is no.

74
Q.9 Who takes responsibility for maintaining the household chores?
OPTIONS NO.OF RESPONDENT %

Husband 10 20%

Wife 10 20%

Both 30 60%

28
27
No,27
26
25 undefine
24 d,23
23
22
21

Interpretation
The 20% of the husband takes responsibility for maintaining the household chores20% of
the response is tkes responsibility to wife.60% of the both are take responsibility.
Q.10 who leaves work or stay out of work to care for sick Child ?
OPTIONS NO.OF RESPONDENT %

Husband 14 28%

Wife 25 50%

Both 11 22%

75
 30
25 Wife,2
20 5
Husba
15 nd,14
Both,1
10 1
5
0

Interpretation
The response of 28% couple Husband leaves work or stay out of work to care for sick
Child .50% of the wife is care the sick child .22% of esponses in the case they are both care
about the sick child.
Q.11 who leaves work or stay out of work to care for sick parents?
OPTIONS NO.OF RESPONDENT %

Husband 14 28%

Wife 25 50%

Both 11 22%

76
 30
25 Wife,2
20 5
Husba
15 nd,14
Both,1
10 1
5
0

Interpretation
The response is couples is against the leaves work or stay out of work to care for sick
parents is28% of husband 50% of the wifes cares the sick Parents.22% of the response is
husband and wifes take care of it.
Q.12 Are you able to spend your time in other family fuctions?
OPTIONS NO.OF RESPONDENT %

Yes 21 42%

No 23 46%

Sometimes 6 12%

77
 25

20 Yes,21 No,23

15

10
Sometimes,6
5

0
Yes No Sometimes

Interpretation
The 42% is able to spend your time in other family functions regarding response is
yes.46% of the response is And 12% of response is couple are sometimes Spend the
sometimes.
Q.13 Do you discuss your problem with each other ?
OPTIONS NO.OF RESPONDENT %

Yes 11 22%

No 10 20%

Sometimes 29 58%

78
 35
30 Sometimes,2
25 9
20
15
10 Yes,11
No,10
5
0
Yes No Sometimes

Interpretation
The 22% response is Yes on discuss your problem with each other .20% of response is
no.58% of response is coupe is Sometimes discus their problem each other .

Q.14 How many times & your partner have conflict because of your professional life?
OPTIONS NO.OF RESPONDENT %

Usually 30 60%

Usually Not 20 40%

79
 35
30 Usually,30
25
20
Usually Not,20
15
10
5
0
Usually Usually Not

Interpretation
The 60% of of the couple response is Usually have conflict because of your professional life
40% of response is usually not have conflict because of his /her personal life.
Q.15 Do you ever miss out any quality time with your family and friends because pressure
of work?
OPTIONS NO.OF RESPONDENT %

Always 35 70%

Often 5 10%

Sometimes 5 10%

Never 5 10%

80
 40
35 Always,35
30
25
20 Sometime
15 s,5
10 Never,5
5 Often,5
0

Interpretation
The 70% of response is miss out any quality time with your family and friends because
pressure of work. 10% of the response is often , sometimes, never.
Q.16 Do you feel tired or depressed because of work ?
OPTIONS NO.OF RESPONDENT %

Always 5 10%

Often 10 20%

Sometimes 35 70%

Never 0 0%

81
 40
35 Sometime
30 s,35
25
20
15
10 Often,10
5 Always,5
0

Interpretation
The 10% of the couple is think about that thy feel tired or depressed because of work .20%
of the response is often.70% of the response is Sometimes .
Q.17 Does your company has a separate policy for work life balance?
OPTIONS NO.OF RESPONDENT %

Yes 20 40%

No 13 26%

Not Aware 17 34%

82
25

20 Yes,20
Not
15 Aware,17

10 No,13

0
Yes No Not Aware
Interpretation
The 40% of the couples is company has a separate policy for work life balance.26% of
response in No .34% of the couples are not aware about the work life policy.
Q.18 Have you or your partner changed your long term career goals because of issue
involved in dual- career couple?
Option Husband wife Husband% Wife%

Yes 28 28 56% 56%

No 22 22 44% 44%

83
 30

25

20

15 Husband
Wife
10 Column2

0
Yes No

Interpretation
The 56% partner changed your long term career goals because of issue involved in dual-
career couples 44% of the couple is not change their long term goal.

Q.19 Would you contributing charity towards society?

OPTIONS NO.OF RESPONDENT %

Yes 30 60%

No 20 40%

84
35
30 Yes,30
25
20
15 No,20
10
5
0
Yes No
Interpretation
The 60% of the couple is contributing to the charity . 40% of the couple is not contributing
to the society.
Q.20 Are you satisfied with work life is fits your personal life ?
OPTIONS NO.OF RESPONDENT %

Strongly Agree 25 50%

Agree 5 10%

Neutral 10 20%

Disagree 10 20%

85
30
Strongly
25 Agree,25
20
15
Neutral,
10 Agree,5 10 Disagree
5 ,10
0
Interpretation
The 50% of the couple is ask that they are strongly agree with his work life is fits
on our personal life 10% of couple is agree,20% . couple is disagree .20% of the
couple response is neutral..

86
87
 Findings

1. The concept of together working has been applied on both husband and wife are
there response is the 56% of the couple is working together and 44% of the
couple are working separately.

2. The concept of earning has been applied on both husband and wife are there
response is the 70% of the couple is ask the husband is more earn there wife’s.
and 30% of the couple are response is wife earn is more then husband

3. The 80% of the couple is feel that they are able to balance there work life and
personal life . 205 of the couple response is that they have not balancing in the
work life and personal life .

4. The 86% of the couple response towards there job choice is effect on children
& 14% of the response of couple is no there job is not effect on children’s.

5. The 10% of the response of couple is the impact on your children towards you &
your partner Job is positive impact 12% of the response is negative . 38% of the
response is both impact on the child .40% of the response is Not relevant.

6. The 62% of the response is husband take priority there work as such.20% of the response
regarding wife takes the priority there work as such..18% takes both priority about the
work.

7. The 62% of the response is take a family decision through the husband . 20% of the
response is wife takes the family decision .18% of the both are taking the family decision

8. The 54% of the response is couple have time for each other. 46% of the response is no

9. The 20% of the husband takes responsibility for maintaining the household chores20%
of the response is tkes responsibility to wife.60% of the both are take responsibility.

10. The response of 28% couple Husband leaves work or stay out of work to care for
sick Child .50% of the wife is care the sick child .22% of esponses in the case they are
both care about the sick child.

11. The response is couples is against the leaves work or stay out of work to care for
sick parents is28% of husband 50% of the wifes cares the sick Parents.22% of the
response is husband and wifes take care of it.

88
 12.The 42% is able to spend your time in other family functions regarding response is
yes.46% of the response is And 12% of response is couple are sometimes Spend the
sometimes.
13.The 22% response is Yes on discuss your problem with each other .20% of response is
no.58% of response is coupe is Sometimes discus their problem each other .

14. The 60% of of the couple response is Usually have conflict because of your
professional life 40% of response is usually not have conflict because of his /her personal
life.

15. The 70% of response is miss out any quality time with your family and friends
because pressure of work. 10% of the response is often , sometimes, never.

16. The 10% of the couple is think about that thy feel tired or depressed because of work
.20% of the response is often.70% of the response is Sometimes .

17. The 40% of the couples is company has a separate policy for work life balance.26%
of response in No .34% of the couples are not aware about the work life policy.

18. The 56% partner changed your long term career goals because of issue involved in
dual- career couples 44% of the couple is not change their long term goal.

19. The 60% of the couple is contributing to the charity . 40% of the couple is not
contributing to the society.

20.The 50% of the couple is ask that they are strongly agree with his work life is
fits on our personal life 10% of couple is agree,20% . couple is disagree .20% of
the couple response is neutral..

89
SUGGESTIONS

90
 Suggestion

\When employees feel a greater sense of control and ownership over their own lives, they
tend to have better relationships with management and are able to leave work issues at work
and home issues at home. Balanced employees tend to feel more motivated and less stressed
out at work, which thereby increases company productivity and reduces the number of
conflicts among coworkers and management.

Companies who gain a reputation for encouraging work-life balance have become very
attractive to workers and will draw a valuable pool of candidates for new job openings. These
companies also tend to enjoy higher employee retention rates, which results in less
timeconsuming training, more loyalty, and a higher degree of in-house expertise.

Stdies have a shows that employees who have a positive work-life balance do a better job
at work, so promoting this balance is beneficial to individuals and the company. This is a
practical guide for employers who want to promote a healthy work-life balance for their
teams.

91
92
 Conclusion

Dual career couples are going to be the preferred lifestyle of the present century. Married
men & women are going in for employment in larger proportions at present and their numbers
are likely to increase greatly in the coming decades. The study has revealed that dual career
couples’ way of managing their homes is somewhat different from traditional single earner
families of the city. The workplace will continue to challenge the traditional stereotyped
gender roles. As a result, dual career couples of the city will have to strive hard to maintain
their individual identities at home and in the workplace and at the same time, they will have
to change their mindset regarding traditional gender roles to some extent. As dual career
couples are a recent entry into the city’s economic landscape, they are in many ways still
walking through uncharted territory. To be successful in maintaining happy and successful
domestic and professional lives, they will have to constantly review their priorities in life and
make necessary changes in their roles according to the needs of the family, workplace and
the society at large. The dual career couples of the city will also have to understand the
importance of thinking creatively, so that they are successful in meeting the domestic
expectations and economic realities of life.

93
 Bibliography

❖ Inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream
❖ Researchgate.net/publication/271696907_Dual-
❖ Career_Family_Stress_and_Coping_A_Literature_Review
❖ www.google.com www.yourarticlelibrary.com
❖ www.wikipedia.com www.investopedia.com
❖ www.dealercircle.com

95
 Questionnaire
Q.1 Are you working together?

Yes ( ) No ( )

Q.2 Who is earning is more?

Husband ( ) Wife ( )

Q.3 Do you feel that you are able to balance your work life & personal life ?

Yes ( ) No ( )

Q.4 Does children effect job choices of you and your Partner?

Yes ( ) No( )

Q.5 What impact on your children towards you & your partner Job?

Positve ( ) Negative ( )

Both ( ) Not relevant ( )

Q.6 Whose career takes priority?

Husband( ) Wife ( ) Both ( )

Q.7 Who takes family decision ?

Husband ( ) Wife ( ) Both ( )

Q.8 Do you have time for each other?

Yes ( ) No( )

Q.9 Who takes responsibility for maintaining the household chores?

Husband( ) Wife ( ) Both ( )

Q.10 who leaves work or stay out of work to care for sick Child ?

Husband( ) Wife ( ) Both ( )

Q.11 who leaves work or stay out of work to care for sick parents?

Husband( ) Wife ( ) Both ( )

Q.12 Are you able to spend your time in other family functions?

Yes ( ) No( ) Sometimes( )

Q.13 Do you discuss your problem with each other ?

95
 Yes ( ) No( ) Sometimes( )

Q.14 How many times you & your partner have conflict because of your
professional life?

Usually( ) Usually Not( )

Q.15 Do you ever miss out any quality time with your family and friends because
pressure of work?

Yes ( ) No( ) Sometimes( ) Q.16

Do you feel tired or depressed because of work ?

Always( ) Often ( )

Sometimes( ) Never ( )

Q.17 Does your company has a separate policy for work life balance?

Yes ( ) No( ) Not aware( )

Q.18 Have you or your partner changed your long term career goals because of
issue involved in dual- career couple?

Yes( ) No( )

Q.19 Would you contributing charity towards society?

Yes( ) No( )

Q.20 Are you satisfied with work life is fits your personal life ?

Strongly Agree( ) Agree ( )

Neutral ( ) Disagree( )

96