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Recently, researchers have begun to recognize that the nature of jobs, the workplace environment, and more generally, the culture of the workplace can have a significant impact on the ability of workers to balance their work and family lives. This article examines the effect of high-performance work practices, job characteristics, and the work environment on workers' views about whether the company helps them balance work and family. Using data from a survey of workers across three manufacturing industries, we show that a high-commitment environment-characterized by high-performance work practices, intrinsically rewarding jobs, and understanding supervisors-positively influences employees' perceptions that the company is helping them achieve this balance. This article reinforces the view that helping workers balance work and family responsibilities is not just a matter of benefits and formal family-friendly policies. Rather, it also depends on the characteristics of jobs within the business enterprise.A        . The number of dual-earner families has increased, as has the combined hours parents are working, while the time-consuming demands of maintaining a family and caring for dependents are unchanged. With more people working for pay and family work hours rising, balancing work and family life is an increasingly critical issue. Partly in response to these concerns, employers have begun to adopt a range of family-oriented policies, and some have expanded the scope of their work and family programs to include assistance with elder care and a range of flexible work arrangements. More recently, researchers have begun to recognize that the nature *The authors' affiliations are, respectively,

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