wow-inequalities/02-data/intermediate/wos_sample/92bbb0b6bc4d5d8496f88eef80adc57e-christensen-kathlee/info.yaml

abstract: 'Most working parents face a common dilemma-how to care for their

  children when they are not in school but the parents are at work. In

  this article Kathleen Christensen, Barbara Schneider, and Donnell Butler

  describe the predictable and unpredictable scheduling demands school-age

  children place on working couples and single working parents.

  The authors assess the potential capacity of schools to help meet the

  needs of working families through changes in school schedules and

  after-school programs and conclude that the flexibility parents need to

  balance family-work responsibilities probably cannot be found in the

  school setting. They argue that workplaces are better able than schools

  to offer the flexibility that working parents need to attend to basic

  needs of their children, as well as to engage in activities that enhance

  their children''s academic performance and emotional and social

  well-being.

  Two types of flexible work practices seem especially well suited to

  parents who work: flextime arrangements that allow parents to coordinate

  their work schedules with their children''s school schedules, and

  policies that allow workers to take short periods of time off-a few

  hours or a day or two-to attend a parent-teacher conference, for

  example, or care for a child who has suddenly fallen ill. Many companies

  that have instituted such policies have benefited through employees''

  greater job satisfaction and employee retention.

  Yet despite these measured benefits to employers, workplaces often fall

  short of being family friendly. Many employers do not offer such

  policies or offer them only to employees at certain levels or in certain

  types of jobs. Flexible work practices are almost nonexistent for

  low-income workers, who are least able to afford alternative child care

  and may need flexibility the most.

  Moreover the authors find that even employees in firms with flexible

  practices such as telecommuting may be reluctant to take advantage of

  them, because the workplace culture explicitly or implicitly stigmatizes

  or penalizes employees for choosing these work arrangements. The authors

  conclude by making a case for creating a workplace culture that supports

  flexibility. Such a culture, they argue, would enable working parents to

  better meet the responsibilities of their jobs as they care for and

  build strong relationships with their children.'
affiliation: Schneider, Barbara, Michigan State Univ, E Lansing, MI 48824 USA.
author: Christensen, Kathleen and Schneider, Barbara and Butler, Donnell
author_list:
- family: Christensen
  given: Kathleen
- family: Schneider
  given: Barbara
- family: Butler
  given: Donnell
da: '2023-09-28'
eissn: 1550-1558
files: []
issn: 1054-8289
journal: FUTURE OF CHILDREN
keywords-plus: 'PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT; EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES; ACADEMIC-ACHIEVEMENT;

  AFRICAN-AMERICAN; METAANALYSIS; PATHWAYS; WORK; TIME'
language: English
month: FAL
number: '2'
number-of-cited-references: '97'
pages: 69-90
papis_id: 8ea5a24612251bec91e42d0656a1062e
ref: Christensen2011familiesschoolage
times-cited: '8'
title: Families with School-Age Children
type: article
unique-id: WOS:000296020800004
usage-count-last-180-days: '1'
usage-count-since-2013: '26'
volume: '21'
web-of-science-categories: 'Family Studies; Health Policy \& Services; Social Sciences,

  Interdisciplinary'
year: '2011'