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Maintaining a Sustainable Work–Life Balance
An Interdisciplinary Path to a Better Future
9781803922331 Edward Elgar Publishing
This is an open access title available under the terms of a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 License. It is free to read, download and share on Elgaronline.com.
This thought-provoking book provides a detailed exploration of work–life balance, considering the perspectives of specific groups such as parents, academics, the self-employed, and migrants. Moreover, it sheds more light on the dynamics of self-care, childcare as well as informal care. Collaborative and interdisciplinary in its approach, featuring researchers ranging from quantitative to interpretative scholars, it highlights the importance of a sustainable work–life balance and the instruments needed to improve this.
This thought-provoking book provides a detailed exploration of work–life balance, considering the perspectives of specific groups such as parents, academics, the self-employed, and migrants. Moreover, it sheds more light on the dynamics of self-care, childcare as well as informal care. Collaborative and interdisciplinary in its approach, featuring researchers ranging from quantitative to interpretative scholars, it highlights the importance of a sustainable work–life balance and the instruments needed to improve this.
More Information
Critical Acclaim
Contributors
Contents
More Information
This thought-provoking book provides a detailed exploration of work–life balance, considering the perspectives of specific groups such as parents, academics, the self-employed, and migrants. Moreover, it sheds more light on the dynamics of self-care, childcare as well as informal care. Collaborative and interdisciplinary in its approach, featuring researchers ranging from quantitative to interpretative scholars, it highlights the importance of a sustainable work–life balance and the instruments needed to improve this.
Focusing on both working arrangements and life events, this book assembles a diverse range of researchers to provide a holistic understanding of work–life balance, with chapters covering the organizational aspects of work-life balance and the effects of digitalization. The authors analyse the experiences of working parents and how work–life balance changes after retirement, and provide diagnostic instructions for employees and employers to re-organize the way they work across the life-span in order to maintain and enhance work–life balance.
Exploring newly emerging work-life issues, this expansive book will be an invaluable resource for practitioners, scholars, and for students of business management, public administration, Human Resource Management, social policy and the sociology of work. Its extensive policy recommendations will also make it a crucial reading for policy makers and employers seeking to improve workplace support.
Focusing on both working arrangements and life events, this book assembles a diverse range of researchers to provide a holistic understanding of work–life balance, with chapters covering the organizational aspects of work-life balance and the effects of digitalization. The authors analyse the experiences of working parents and how work–life balance changes after retirement, and provide diagnostic instructions for employees and employers to re-organize the way they work across the life-span in order to maintain and enhance work–life balance.
Exploring newly emerging work-life issues, this expansive book will be an invaluable resource for practitioners, scholars, and for students of business management, public administration, Human Resource Management, social policy and the sociology of work. Its extensive policy recommendations will also make it a crucial reading for policy makers and employers seeking to improve workplace support.
Critical Acclaim
‘This edited book provides an updated, critical, multidisciplinary, and comprehensive overview of the current state of knowledge concerning work–life balance by encompassing contributions from an amazing and diverse group of well-known international scholars. Either if you are a student, a HR practitioner, a line manager, or a researcher, you’ll find here insights about the impact of digitalization, the consequences of being a working parent, practical tips for enjoying a more sustainable work–life balance, and so on.’
– Alessandro Lo Presti, Università degli studi della Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, Italy
‘A community of scholars, working together virtually amidst the Covid pandemic, surveys the present and future of work-life balance from multiple disciplinary and stakeholder (workers, spouses and families, employers, communities, nations) perspectives. Fresh theorizing and sound research reveal how gig work, digitalization, shifting gender roles, and post-pandemic sensibilities are transforming how we work and live across career stages and the life span. The result is a must-read for work–life researchers, policy makers, and practitioners, a valuable resource for organizational and community scholars, and an inspiration and example for those who do (or aspire to do) relevant research.’
– Philip Mirvis, Babson College, US
– Alessandro Lo Presti, Università degli studi della Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, Italy
‘A community of scholars, working together virtually amidst the Covid pandemic, surveys the present and future of work-life balance from multiple disciplinary and stakeholder (workers, spouses and families, employers, communities, nations) perspectives. Fresh theorizing and sound research reveal how gig work, digitalization, shifting gender roles, and post-pandemic sensibilities are transforming how we work and live across career stages and the life span. The result is a must-read for work–life researchers, policy makers, and practitioners, a valuable resource for organizational and community scholars, and an inspiration and example for those who do (or aspire to do) relevant research.’
– Philip Mirvis, Babson College, US
Contributors
Contributors include: Jos Akkermans, Tammy Allen, Stéfanie André, Roseriet Beijers, Inge Bleijenbergh, Cécile Boot, Michael Coker, Jessica de Bloom, Melanie de Ruiter, Ans De Vos, Laura den Dulk, Caroline Essers, Leire Gartzia, Emily Godager, Marc Grau-Grau, Ron Hameleers, Mark Heemskerk, Philipp Kerksieck, Shelena Keulemans, Sanna Konsti, Ellen Ernst Kossek, Gerbert Kraaykamp, Peter Kruyen, Miika Kujanpää, Chang-Qin Lu, Anne Mäkikangas, Sanna Markkula, Saija Mauno, Samantha Metselaar, Gabriele Morandin, Ariane Ollier-Malaterre, Sabrina Pellerin, Pascale Peters, Gary Peterson, Palina Prysmakova, Johanna Rantanen, Chantal Remery, Sarah Riforgiate, Ashkan Rostami, Marcello Russo, Pablo Sanabria-Pulido, Hans Schilderman, Inyoung Shin, Jessica Sowa, Yidong Tao, Marjolein van de Pol, Beatrice van der Heijden, Joëlle van der Meer, Koen van Eijck, Marloes van Engen, Karen van Hedel, Ellen Verbakel, Brenda Vermeeren, Klaske Veth, Mark Visser, Mara Yerkes
Contents
Contents:
Foreword xxiii
Han van Krieken
Preface xxv
PART I SETTING THE STAGE
1 Introduction to maintaining a sustainable work–life balance 2
Peter Kruyen, Stéfanie André, and Beatrice Van der Heijden
2 Questioning the balance of work and life: some
philosophical observations 9
Hans Schilderman
3 Work hard, play hard: on the reciprocity of work
conditions and leisure lifestyles 16
Koen Van Eijck
4 Volunteering and work–life balance 23
Jessica Sowa
5 The impact of life and career stages on workers’ career
sustainability 30
Beatrice Van der Heijden, Ans De Vos, and Jos Akkermans
6 The value of work–life balance: cross-country and
cross-worker comparisons 38
Mara Yerkes and Karen van Hedel
PART II WORKPLACE SUPPORT
7 Combining work and informal caregiving: workplace
support to reduce work–care conflict 53
Ellen Verbakel and Cécile Boot
8 Leadership support and work–life balance 61
Laura den Dulk, Samantha Metselaar, Joëlle van der
Meer, and Brenda Vermeeren
9 Leadership, social support, and work–life balance of employees 69
Marloes Van Engen and Leire Gartzia
10 Work–life balance in essential and non-essential
occupations in the Netherlands 79
Stéfanie André and Chantal Remery
11 The use of work–life arrangements in academia: a critical
analysis of the potential to transform organizational norms 87
Inge Bleijenbergh
PART III DIGITALIZATION AND HOMEWORKING
12 Digital regulation in the service of sustainable work–life balance 96
Ariane Ollier-Malaterre, Tammy Allen, Ellen Ernst
Kossek, Chang-Qin Lu, Gabriele Morandin, Sabrina
Pellerin, Ashkan Rostami, and Marcello Russo
13 Signaling support for work–family balance in order to
retain (tele)workers in hybrid work contexts: lessons from
the COVID-19 pandemic 104
Pascale Peters and Melanie De Ruiter
14 Balancing work and life at home: a longitudinal analysis
of working from home and work–life balance before and
during the pandemic 112
Laura den Dulk, Joëlle van der Meer, Samantha
Metselaar, and Brenda Vermeeren
15 Workplace flexibility and homeworking after COVID-19
in public-sector and private-sector organizations 120
Pablo Sanabria-Pulido and Palina Prysmakova
16 When you just can’t “let it go”: a study of work-to-life
conflict and job performance among Dutch public servants 129
Shelena Keulemans and Peter Kruyen
PART IV WORKING PARENTS
17 Returning to work after childbirth: maternal experiences
and spillover-crossover effects on the infant 139
Roseriet Beijers
18 Engaged fathers: towards a fatherhood premium or penalty? 146
Marc Grau-Grau and Stéfanie André
19 “Dadpreneurship”: a new practice among
second-generation Chinese-Dutch entrepreneurs to
achieve work–life balance 156
Yidong Tao and Caroline Essers
20 Work–family balance and mental well-being across
Europe: does a supportive country context matter? 163
Mark Visser, Gerbert Kraaykamp, and Stéfanie André
PART V WORK–LIFE BALANCE AND RETIREMENT
21 Sustainable work–life balance after retirement 172
Klaske Veth
22 Balancing retirement age and termination of employment 179
Mark Heemskerk
PART VI INDIVIDUAL STRATEGIES FOR FOSTERING
WORK–LIFE BALANCE
23 Taking care of your own wellbeing 186
Marjolein van de Pol
24 Impact of strategies and interventions for
improving work–life balance 196
Marjolein van de Pol and Ron Hameleers
25 The Vocational Meaning and Fulfillment Survey: a new
tool for fostering employees’ work–life balance and career
sustainability 205
Johanna Rantanen, Saija Mauno, Sanna Konsti, Sanna
Markkula, and Gary Peterson
26 Sustainable work through crafting 213
Anne Mäkikangas, Jessica de Bloom, Philipp Kerksieck,
and Miika Kujanpää
27 Resetting time and priorities: communicative sensemaking
and implications of homeworking 220
Michael Coker, Sarah Riforgiate, Emily Godager, and
Inyoung Shin
Foreword xxiii
Han van Krieken
Preface xxv
PART I SETTING THE STAGE
1 Introduction to maintaining a sustainable work–life balance 2
Peter Kruyen, Stéfanie André, and Beatrice Van der Heijden
2 Questioning the balance of work and life: some
philosophical observations 9
Hans Schilderman
3 Work hard, play hard: on the reciprocity of work
conditions and leisure lifestyles 16
Koen Van Eijck
4 Volunteering and work–life balance 23
Jessica Sowa
5 The impact of life and career stages on workers’ career
sustainability 30
Beatrice Van der Heijden, Ans De Vos, and Jos Akkermans
6 The value of work–life balance: cross-country and
cross-worker comparisons 38
Mara Yerkes and Karen van Hedel
PART II WORKPLACE SUPPORT
7 Combining work and informal caregiving: workplace
support to reduce work–care conflict 53
Ellen Verbakel and Cécile Boot
8 Leadership support and work–life balance 61
Laura den Dulk, Samantha Metselaar, Joëlle van der
Meer, and Brenda Vermeeren
9 Leadership, social support, and work–life balance of employees 69
Marloes Van Engen and Leire Gartzia
10 Work–life balance in essential and non-essential
occupations in the Netherlands 79
Stéfanie André and Chantal Remery
11 The use of work–life arrangements in academia: a critical
analysis of the potential to transform organizational norms 87
Inge Bleijenbergh
PART III DIGITALIZATION AND HOMEWORKING
12 Digital regulation in the service of sustainable work–life balance 96
Ariane Ollier-Malaterre, Tammy Allen, Ellen Ernst
Kossek, Chang-Qin Lu, Gabriele Morandin, Sabrina
Pellerin, Ashkan Rostami, and Marcello Russo
13 Signaling support for work–family balance in order to
retain (tele)workers in hybrid work contexts: lessons from
the COVID-19 pandemic 104
Pascale Peters and Melanie De Ruiter
14 Balancing work and life at home: a longitudinal analysis
of working from home and work–life balance before and
during the pandemic 112
Laura den Dulk, Joëlle van der Meer, Samantha
Metselaar, and Brenda Vermeeren
15 Workplace flexibility and homeworking after COVID-19
in public-sector and private-sector organizations 120
Pablo Sanabria-Pulido and Palina Prysmakova
16 When you just can’t “let it go”: a study of work-to-life
conflict and job performance among Dutch public servants 129
Shelena Keulemans and Peter Kruyen
PART IV WORKING PARENTS
17 Returning to work after childbirth: maternal experiences
and spillover-crossover effects on the infant 139
Roseriet Beijers
18 Engaged fathers: towards a fatherhood premium or penalty? 146
Marc Grau-Grau and Stéfanie André
19 “Dadpreneurship”: a new practice among
second-generation Chinese-Dutch entrepreneurs to
achieve work–life balance 156
Yidong Tao and Caroline Essers
20 Work–family balance and mental well-being across
Europe: does a supportive country context matter? 163
Mark Visser, Gerbert Kraaykamp, and Stéfanie André
PART V WORK–LIFE BALANCE AND RETIREMENT
21 Sustainable work–life balance after retirement 172
Klaske Veth
22 Balancing retirement age and termination of employment 179
Mark Heemskerk
PART VI INDIVIDUAL STRATEGIES FOR FOSTERING
WORK–LIFE BALANCE
23 Taking care of your own wellbeing 186
Marjolein van de Pol
24 Impact of strategies and interventions for
improving work–life balance 196
Marjolein van de Pol and Ron Hameleers
25 The Vocational Meaning and Fulfillment Survey: a new
tool for fostering employees’ work–life balance and career
sustainability 205
Johanna Rantanen, Saija Mauno, Sanna Konsti, Sanna
Markkula, and Gary Peterson
26 Sustainable work through crafting 213
Anne Mäkikangas, Jessica de Bloom, Philipp Kerksieck,
and Miika Kujanpää
27 Resetting time and priorities: communicative sensemaking
and implications of homeworking 220
Michael Coker, Sarah Riforgiate, Emily Godager, and
Inyoung Shin
