Work-family stage and satisfaction with work-family balance

Voydanoff's (1987) three constructs for the sequencing of work and family stages are integrated with family development theory to produce three hypotheses in regard to work-family career stages and its relationship to satisfaction with the balance between work and family. Canadian findings indicate that the effects for work-family stages are moderated by gender. Mothers who work over twenty hours a week are less satisfied with the balance between work and family than fathers and mothers who work less than twenty hours or are at home full time. Part time dual earner families show relatively high satisfaction with work-family balance for both genders. These finding are discussed in the contexts of family development theory and current social change.