The interconnection between work and family has been a subject of great deal of
interest over the past 3 decades due to the influx of women in the workforce, as
well as the increase in the proportion of dual-earner families and single-parent
households (International Labour Office 2009). Following the notion that individuals
have limited time and energy to devote to multiple roles (Goode 1960),
much of this research has focused on conflict experienced when meeting competing
demands from work and family domains. In essence work–family conflict
occurs when pressures associated with the work and family roles are incompatible
(Greenhaus and Beutell 1985). Extant research has provided ample evidence of
work–family conflict as a pervasive phenomenon with negative consequences for
individuals, families and organisations (for example, Allen et al. 2000; Frone
2000; Shockley and Singla 2011).