The family life cycle: a forgotten variable in the study of women's employment and well-being
Haw, C.E.
Psychological Medicine 25(4): 727-738
1995
ISSN/ISBN: 0033-2917 PMID: 7480450 DOI: 10.1017/s0033291700034978Document Number: 301731
One hundred and sixteen working-class housewives, part-time and full-time employees were compared on a range of well-being measures in three different lifestages. A group of factory employees was contrasted with a 'mixed occupation' group for a comparison of type of employment. The general contention that the association between employment and well-being would vary with position in the life cycle was confirmed for distress, physical illness and some of the satisfaction measures. Only one measure (personal competence) suggested that employment had a positive influence on well-being irrespective of lifestage. Young employees working for longer hours and older housewives were both defined as 'cases' by the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12). However, their profiles on the other well-being variables were very different.