Do working parents in the United States expect work location to impact job and family satisfaction in the post-pandemic period? Evidence from a survey experiment

The pandemic response allowed many parents in the United States and globally to work remotely for the first time ever which, for many, continued into the recovery. It is unclear whether, after a period when a large segment of the United States labor force worked remotely, remote work is viewed favorably or unfavorably among employed parents. We present results from a survey experiment assessing whether employed parents in the United States perceive that remote work will impact a hypothetical employed parents’ job and family satisfaction and, critically, whether perceptions of work–family conflict and anticipated job rewards mediate this relationship. We find that respondents who are also employed parents perceive that hypothetical employed parents who access remote work will report lower job satisfaction and higher family satisfaction. Perceptions of work–family conflict do not mediate this association. Rather, we find that job rewards (e.g., pay, promotion, etc.) fully mediate the relationship between remote work and perceived job satisfaction. Ultimately, this indicates that employed parents perceive that remote work will bring workers like them less pay and thus lower job satisfaction but greater family satisfaction. This extends arguments about remote work in the light of the conceptualization of a flexibility stigma and a flexibility paradox. Implications for practice and theory are discussed

Gender and Wealth in the Super Rich: Asset Differences in Top Wealth Households in the United States, 1989–2019

Wealth inequality is extreme and growing in the United States, and researchers have begun to explore the factors that are associated with membership in the top one percent of net worth owners. We contribute to this important literature by examining the association between gender and net worth in the U.S. super-rich. We propose that unmarried women, unmarried men, and married couples in the one percent are likely to have different levels of net worth and distinct patterns of asset holdings that reflect gender differences in income and saving, the household division of labor, work, and demographics. We use data from the 1989–2019 U.S. Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF), a unique data set that contains a high-income, high-wealth sample designed to accurately represent wealthy households. We find modest differences in total net worth among unmarried women, unmarried men, and married couples with unmarried women owning slightly less net worth than either unmarried men or married couples. We also find that unmarried women hold a lower percentage of their net worth in business assets and a higher percentage of their assets as trust accounts compared to unmarried men and married couples. Our findings contribute to the literature that explores the wealth of the super-rich and highlight the role that gender plays in these families. Our results also build on research on the role that business assets and trusts play in wealthy families and suggest that women may be dependent on others for access to the super-rich