Understanding the Role of Family-Specific Resources for Immigrant Workers

Abstract

Very few studies to date have examined immigrant workers’ (i.e., workers who were not born in the United States) experiences of the work-family interface. In a sample of healthcare workers across two time points, the present study evaluates the role of different family-specific resources for immigrant workers compared to native-born workers (i.e., workers born in the U.S.). The results suggest that family-specific support from coworkers is especially beneficial for reducing immigrant workers’ experiences of family-to-work conflict. For both native-born and immigrant workers, those who experience more family-specific support from supervisors and coworkers, and those who work in an organization that does not expect workers to sacrifice their family or personal life for work (i.e., has perceptions of a positive organizational work-family climate), have lower work-to-family conflict and lower family-to-work conflict. Thus, family-specific support from coworkers, supervisors, and the organization have beneficial effects for workers, with coworker support being especially helpful for immigrant workers, which provides important insights for future work-family research and practice with increasingly diverse workforces

    Similar works