Work-Family Conflict During the Pandemic Induced State of Emergency in Serbia: The Female Perspective

• Published in: Polish sociological review 2021, Vol.216 (4), p.553-570
• Main Authors: Čikić, Jovana M, Bilinović Rajačić, Ana Lj
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Behavior; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; Elder care; Exploitation; Family and social welfare; Family conflict; Family relations; Family roles; Family work relationship; Female employees; Gender; Gender Studies; Health and medicine and law; Medical research; Pandemics; Population; Socio-Economic Research; State of emergency; System theory; Women; Work at home; Work life balance; Working women
• ISSN: 1231-1413; 2657-4276
• DOI: 10.26412/psr216.07

Work-family conflict (WFC) has major consequences for both work and personal life outcomes, especially for women. The COVID-19 pandemic has set the stage for deepening the already existing gender gaps, especially in the semi-peripheral societies, such as Serbia. We argue that working from home during the pandemic-induced state of emergency aggravated the WFC among working women. To collect data, we applied mixed research plan on a sample of 265 women. Results showed that women who worked from home experienced a greater WFC than usual since they had to play professional and family roles simultaneously. Being a sort of social crises, COVID-19 pandemic and state of emergency led to over-exploitation of female resources and instrumentalization of family relations. Furthermore, the intensity of the WFC was shaped by both women’s personal characteristics and their family/household’s features.