Work-Family Interface and Parental and Child Wellbeing in Challenging Times

We are witnessing an unabated rise in social inequality and in the competitiveness, precarity and polarization of the labour markets. These trends negatively impact families and children, particularly families with less resources. We held a stimulating session on this theme in the ISA 2021 Forum. For the ISA 2023 Congress, we propose a session to follow up on this theme by focusing on how families experience and cope with the work-family interface in challenging times. A challenging time may be defined as a protracted period of a global crisis, like the COVID-19 pandemic, a natural disaster, or mass violence and destruction resulting from wars and terrorist attacks. We are particularly interested in papers that address these issues: 1) How work-family interface impacts parents’ and children’s wellbeing under a crisis; 2) How social inequality in this impact is exacerbated under a crisis; 3) Implications for social policy aimed at alleviating social inequality; 4) Theoretical and empirical challenges, opportunities and implications for research on work-family interface under crises.

We invite papers that examine the connection between parents’ employment (unsociable, unpredictable and precarious schedules and long working hours, work mode (home office vs office), work flexibility) and parent wellbeing (physical and mental health and life satisfaction/happiness) and child/adolescent outcomes (physical health, sleep, nutrition, social and emotional wellbeing, and academic performance). Papers that analyze longitudinal data and examine mechanisms or moderators (low income, single-parenthood, migrant families), using multidisciplinary perspectives are especially welcome. We welcome papers using quantitative, qualitative or mixed methods.