Fighting for time: Spillover and crossover effects of long work hours among dual‐earner couples

Abstract

Drawing upon the spillover-crossover model, this study examined the extent to which one's work time demands spilled over to the family domain and crossed over to his or her spouse, utilizing data of 365 dual-earner couples from the 500 Family Study. The results of the distinguishable actor-partner interdependence model indicated that there was gender symmetry in the spillover processes such that the effects of work hours were identical between men and women. Further, although there was more bidirectional crossover between partners within couples, we observed some unidirectional crossover from husbands to wives. Specifically, husbands only increased their contribution to domestic work in response to wives' work fatigue, whereas wives increased their contribution to domestic work in response to husbands' work fatigue and high workloads. Finally, husbands' housework hours negatively related to wives' marital satisfaction and positively related to wives' depression, whereas wives' housework hours negatively related to husbands' marital satisfaction and depression. These findings have practical implications for improving the work-family balance, health, and well-being of dual-earner couples. K E Y W O R D Scrossover, distinguishable actor-partner interdependence model, domestic work hours, spillover, work hours

Is It Time for a Revolution in Work‒Life Balance? Reflections from Spain

“…Another persisting problem is that of the time dedicated to household chores, which was perceived to be more important to the women in this study, confirming what other studies had already pointed out: that women play a double role [36,46], and that this has been exacerbated during the COVID-19 crisis [34]. However, perhaps one of the most interesting results of this research is the different perceptions of men and women regarding time spent on care, as the problem of workload in the home is shown to represent a difference in perception, with the man perceiving that while his partner traditionally spends more time on care, both spend an equal amount of time on care during confinement.…”

“…This confirmed that, in addition to the actual time spent, the mental burden, which results in more stress and a greater frequency of arguments, must be considered. These reflections support what other studies had already concluded (e.g., [36]), that this burden leads to higher stress, which can generate episodes of emotional crisis and depression among women. In addition, according to the results, women are more concerned about losing their jobs.…”

“…There was a positive association between husbands' work hours and the increase in their wives' housework hours, but no significant relationship between wives' work hours and their husbands' housework hours [36].…”

“…However, women noted that, both before and during lockdown, they spent more time on care at home than their partners did. These differences in perception may be due to what is known as mental workload [36,47]. This is associated mainly with women, who, even when they are not performing care tasks, are often thinking about them.…”

Domain Satisfaction and Overall Life Satisfaction: Testing the Spillover-Crossover Model in Chilean Dual-Earner Couples

“…These findings confirm the relevance of the work role for man’s identity [ 74 ], but it also expands the relevance of this role for both members of the couple. In fact, it has been reported that men’s main family role is being the breadwinner and their paid work is a way to prove their masculinity [ 99 ], more so in cultures with predominantly a traditional masculinity framing [ 100 ], as is the case in Latin American countries.…”