Combining work and child care: The experiences of mothers in Accra, Ghana

Work-family research has focused predominantly on Western women. Yet the forms of economic labour in which women are typically involved and the meaning of motherhood are context-specific. This paper aims to explore the experience of combining economic activity and child care of mothers with young children using urban Ghana as a case study. Semi-structured interviews (n=24) were conducted in three locations in the Accra Metropolitan Area. Transcripts were analysed using the general inductive approach. The results found women’s experience of role conflict to be bi-directional. With regard to role enhancement, economic activity allowed women to provide materially for their children. The combination of work and child care had negative consequences for women’s wellbeing. This research questions policy makers’ strategy of frequently targeting women in their roles either as generators of income, or as the primary care-takers of children by highlighting the reality of women’s simultaneous performance of these roles

Economy and Divorces: Their Impact Over Time on the Self-Employment Rates in Spain

The paper used time-series data and examined the effect of economic and social variables on the male and female self-employment rates in Spain. We also employed cointegration analysis (with and without) structural breaks. We thus find strong evidence that long run relationships exist among the variables. More precisely, we find that the unemployment rates and the ratio of self-employment to employees’ earnings have a positive effect on self-employment, whereas, economic development and divorce rates have a negative effect. Importantly, we find that the economic variables have equal or stronger long run impact on females than males, with both groups reacting to changes in family circumstances. Finally, we show that the short run family circumstances are better predictors of self-employment choices rather than economic factors, with self-employment being a means of adjustment to new personal circumstances and economic needs

Leveraging the macro-level environment to balance work and life: an analysis of female entrepreneurs' job satisfaction

This study investigates the interactive effect of female entrepreneurs’ experience of work–life imbalance and gender-egalitarian macro-level conditions on their job satisfaction, with the prediction that the negative linear relationship between work–life imbalance and job satisfaction may be buffered by the presence of women-friendly action resources, emancipative values, and civic entitlements. Data pertaining to 7,392 female entrepreneurs from 44 countries offer empirical support for these predictions. Female entrepreneurs who are preoccupied with their ability to fulfill both work and life responsibilities are more likely to maintain a certain level of job satisfaction, even if they experience significant work–life imbalances, to the extent that they operate in supportive macro-level environments

Nonlinear influences of stressors on general adjustment: the case of Japanese expatriates and their spouses

Integrating research on parental demands, learning, and expatriate adjustment, we examine potential nonlinear influences of two stressors – parental demands and perceived culture novelty – on general adjustment of expatriates and their spouses. Using a sample of 170 matched pairs of Japanese expatriates and spouses assigned to the US, we found a quadratic effect of parental demands and a cubic effect of cultural novelty on spouse general adjustment but not on expatriate general adjustment. Implications and directions for future research are discussed. Journal of International Business Studies (2007) 38, 928–943. doi:10.1057/palgrave.jibs.8400298