Role Strain on Working Mothers

Jennifer M. Clark
Missouri Western State College
May 1, 1997

Abstract

It is commonly thought that mothers who work outside of the home experience more strain and stress than mothers who stay at home. This seems to be especially true for mothers of young children. I predicted, as past research indicates, that full-time working mothers will have higher role strain than mothers who only work part-time. I utilized a survey published by Pearlin and Schooler (1978) that measures marital, parental, economic, and occupational strain. The participants had to be mothers that work outside of the home and have a steady relationship with a man. The women ranged in age from 20 to 52 with one to four children. None of the results yielded statistical significance, but comparing education level to marital happiness yielded a trend towards significance (F(2,17)=3.415, p=.057). This pilot study should be expanded to cover unmarried, teenage, and/or unemployed mothers. It would be interesting to compare women with preschool age children to those whose children attend school.

Introduction

With women entering the work force on a regular basis, numerous opportunities to research the stresses of both work and home life have become abundant. In 1993, 67% of mothers with children under 18 worked outside of the home and 55% of mothers whose children are under three worked outside of the home. There are three main areas of research on this topic. Researchers have studied the effects of maternal employment on children, the consequences of the mother working on the marriage relationship, and the physical and mental health of the working mother (Hyde, Klein, Essex, & Clark, 1995).

Hyde et al (1995) suggest there are two main theories. The scarcity theory states that humans only have a fixed amount of energy to be used over all roles. In contrast, the enhancement theory says that the more roles one has leads to more psychological well being. This in turn increases self esteem, social status, and social identity.

Wiersma (1994) suggests that role overload leads to restriction of a social life, friendships, and family ties. If a woman has too many roles to juggle, her personal life will suffer.

To decrease depression, a simple pattern should be followed. The mother should stay home as long as possible, then return to work slowly going back part-time working into full-time (Hyde et al, 1995). The pressures of managing multiple roles is greatest and the psychological benefits of employment are the least among married women with small children (Collins, Tiedje, & Stommel, 1992).

Mothers that are employed full-time exhibit a higher level of anxiety than mothers who do not work outside of the home full-time. To fairly calculate the differences between working mothers and nonworking mothers the work environment and nonoccupational environment have to be taken into account. These studies have shown that employed women are less depressed. Mothers that take a short maternity leave of six weeks or less show a higher level of depression. These are the same women who have significant marital concerns (Hyde et al, 1995).

Hemmelgarn and Laing (1991) suggest that women with high maternal identity have lower role strain. Pleck said the "female work role is only partly actualized because it is especially vulnerable to family role demands" (Hughes & Galinsky, 1994).

The purpose of this study is to determine if there is a significant difference in level of role strain on working mothers depending on full-time employment or less than half-time employment.

Methods

Subjects

The subjects were women who work at least 20 hours per week outside of the home. These women had at least one child from newborn to college age living with them at home. The ages of these women are 18 to 52. They were all white lower to middle class women due to the demographics of St. Joseph, Missouri. There were 20 participants. Ten of which will have preschool age children and 10 with children in school.

Materials

Marital, parental, financial, and work satisfaction were measured by four scales developed by Pearlin and Schooler (1978). Respondents were asked how often they are satisfied with components of each of these life roles. A section of demographical information including age, number and ages of children, number of hours worked, and educational level were attached to the survey.

Procedure

Subjects were located on the Missouri Western State College campus, at place of employment, or within the community of St. Joseph, Missouri. This type of sampling should represent a variety of mothers and situations. Each was asked if she was a working mother, if she had a steady relationship with a man, and if she was interested in participating in this study. It did not matter if the man is the father of the child or if the two adults are married. They were asked to fill out the survey anonymously. Names were not used, nor was there any coding.

Results

Independent t tests were calculated comparing mothers who work part-time to those who work full-time in each aspect of the scale. In comparing full-time versus part-time employed mothers, there were no significant results. The mothers who worked part-time had an average score of 37 and full-time employed mothers averaged 21 on the scale related to parental happiness (t(3)=2.174, p>.05). When it comes to financial satisfaction, those who work less than full-time averaged 9.8 versus 10.6 for full-time workers (t(18)=-.651, p>.05). Marital satisfaction varied little between the groups; Part-time working mothers had an average score of 32.6 versus 30.5 for the other women (t=(18).602, p>.05). Part-time workers averaged 41 on the work satisfaction aspect of the scale while full-time workers averaged 44.5 (t=(18)-.919, p>.05).

I also calculated a one way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) comparing the level of education of the mother and her scores on the three scales. On the occupational strain segment non-highschool graduates averaged 36, high school graduates averaged 43.6, and college graduates averaged 42.8 (F(2,17)=.689, p>.05). Those who did not graduate averaged 21, high school graduates averaged 31.6, and college graduates averaged 31.5 on the marital strain section (F(2,17)=3.415,p=.057). On the financial strain segment those who did not graduate averaged 7, high school graduates averaged 10.2, and college graduates averaged 11.75 (F(2,17)=2.344, p>.05). On the scale measuring strain caused by children those who did not graduate averaged 28 and the women who did graduate averaged 23.3; there were no women with college a degree that had children ages 16 to 21 (F(1,3)=.171, p>.05).

The ages of the women ranged from 20 to 52 with an average age of 31.7. They had an average of two children each; the range was one to four. The age of the youngest child ranged from newborn to 22 with an average of 7 years old. The oldest child's age ranged from three to 33 with an average of 13. On the work strain scale, the range was 23 to 57 with an average score of 42.7; the maximum score possible was 60. On the financial strain scale, the range was six to 15 with an average of 10.2; the maximum possible was 15. On the marital strain scale, the range was 15 to 44 with an average of 31.5; the maximum possible was 45. On the scale measuring strain caused by children, the range was 14 to 37 with an average of 24.2; the maximum possible was 45.

Discussion

With the results found, I cannot support my original hypothesis that mothers who work only part-time outside of the home experience less role strain than mothers who work full-time. From this pilot study it is not evident that amount of employment effects a mother's stress caused by fulfilling so many roles.

This study was limited by the number of participants found who met the stringent requirements. Also, a majority of the participants were college students in addition to being a mother and working. These women may have more skills in balancing several roles. The scale used was published in 1978; there may be a more current survey that reflects life in the 1990s better than this scale.

For follow-up research, I hope to expand the topic to cover women who stay at home as well as those who work part-time or full-time. I want to also include single mothers and teenage mothers.

The results of this study are not consistent with past research. Past research indicated higher anxiety and role strain among mothers who work full-time. Please refer to the introduction for a summary of past research.

References

Collins, C., Tiedje, L. B., & Stommel, M. (1992). Promoting positive well-being in employed mothers: A pilot study. Health Care for Women International, 13. 77-85.

Hemmelgarn, B. & Laing, G. (1991). The relationship between situational factors and perceived role strain in employed mothers. Family Community Health, 14. 8-15.

Hughes, D. L. & Galinsky, E. (1994). Gender, job and family conditions, and psychological symptoms. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 18. 251-270.

Hyde, J. S., Klein, M. H., Essex, M. J., & Clark, R. (1995). Maternity leave and women's mental health. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 19. 257-285.

Pearlin, L.I. & Schooler, C. (1978) The structure of coping. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 19. 2-21.

Wiersma, U. J. (1994). A taxonomy of behavioral strategies for coping with work-home role conflict. Human Relations, 47. 211-221.

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