Family work-life balance and parenting

Abstract

Objective: The study sought to explore first-time parents’ psychosocial and emotional experiences in relation to the woman’s work-life plan during the transition to parenthood. Background: Increasing numbers of Maltese women are gainfully employed outside the home and return to work earlier after childbirth. This paper will focus on how new socioeconomic developments call for a renegotiation of relations between parents. Method: Quantitative and qualitative data was collected during the antenatal period, at six weeks and again at six months postnatal. Only the quantitative findings that relate to the focus of the paper will be discussed. 115 men and 117 women answered the questionnaire during the three time frames. Participants were divided into four groups according to the maternal work-life plan: unemployed, terminated employment during pregnancy and either resumed employment before or after six months postnatal. A mixed between-within repeated measures analysis of variance was used to look for differences among the four different groups. Women and men were asked about how they actually divided their family responsibilities using the ‘Who Does What’ questionnaire (Cowan & Cowan, 1992).