Melissa Johnstone

Influences of Marriage, Motherhood, and Other Life Events on Australian Women’s Employment Aspirations

The study contributes to the understandings of how women negotiate work and family over the life course by investigating what factors impact young women’s aspirations for full time, part-time, and other forms of work. Using data from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health (ALSWH) with its nationally representative sample of Australian women, the authors examine how women moving from their 20s to early 30s change their aspirations for employment (at the age of 35) after significant life events and changes, including the birth of a child. Multinomial logistic regression analyses across two transition periods (N = 7,505 and N = 7,584) showed that changes in employment aspirations co-occurred with movement into marriage or stable relationships and with changes in aspirations for family size. As young women become mothers, or move into situations in which motherhood is likely, many adjusted their employment aspirations away from full-time employment and toward part-time work. The findings suggest a growing awareness of the practical difficulties of balancing paid work and family roles within the current context of work and family policy and practice in Australia. Women’s choices are not free of constraints; rather, younger generations of women negotiate work and family life by adjusting and changing their own aspirations within the context and circumstances of their lives.

Breaking the cycle of homelessness: Housing stability and social support as predictors of long-term well-being

Abstract It is increasingly acknowledged that homelessness involves more than just being without a house. Indeed, more recent definitions of what constitutes a home highlight the role of social connections and support (including, for example, access to space to engage in social relations). This study examined the role of secure housing and social support as predictors of psychological well-being of individuals following a period of homelessness. Using linear mixed models for longitudinal data, we investigated how changes in social support predicted changes in individuals’ self-reported personal well-being, life satisfaction and mood following a period of homelessness (n = 119), controlling for housing status, alcohol use and employment status. The results showed that remaining homeless predicted poorer personal well-being, life satisfaction and mood. In addition, changes in social support predicted well-being over and above housing stability. Implications of findings for policy and practice in the homeless sector are discussed.

Qualitative accounts of teenage and emerging adult women adjusting to motherhood

Objective: The aim of this study was to better understand how young women in their early 20s transition and adjust to motherhood in the first year postpartum, compared to teenage mothers. Background: A body of research suggests that teen mothers have unique challenges and experiences adjusting to motherhood. However, less research has focussed on mothers in their early 20s, who have increasingly become a minority in Western countries, and are supposedly adjusting to motherhood in a new developmental period characterised by self-focussed identity exploration and individual freedom. Method: Using a semi-structured interview format, 12 Australian women (mean age 20.5 years; mean baby age 6.5 months) were interviewed, and verbatim transcriptions analysed with thematic analysis. Results: Two broad themes identified were Change within the self and Involvement of others. Some of the early 20s women reported more difficulties with identity adjustment compared to that of teen women, and this appeared primarily related to women’s background and circumstance. Social support was important for all women, while experiences of stigma were common and negatively impacted on women’s adjustment to motherhood. Conclusions: The extent to which first-time mothers in their early 20s experience conflict between responsibilities of motherhood and self-focussed identity exploration appeared to be largely dependent on background and prior circumstances, suggesting that emerging adulthood norms do not consistently apply to these women.

Discrimination and well-being amongst the homeless: the role of multiple group membership

The homeless are a vulnerable population in many respects. Those experiencing homelessness not only experience personal and economic hardship they also frequently face discrimination and exclusion because of their housing status. Although past research has shown that identifying with multiple groups can buffer against the negative consequences of discrimination on well-being, it remains to be seen whether such strategies protect well-being of people who are homeless. We investigate this issue in a longitudinal study of 119 individuals who were homeless. The results showed that perceived group-based discrimination at T1 was associated with fewer group memberships, and lower subsequent well-being at T2. There was no relationship between personal discrimination at T1 on multiple group memberships at T2. The findings suggest that the experience of group-based discrimination may hinder connecting with groups in the broader social world — groups that could potentially protect the individual against the negative impact of homelessness and discrimination.

Lifestyle Preference Theory: No match for young Australian women

Women’s work and family choices are affected by social pressures and external constraints. Understanding young women’s aspirations for future work and family is important for understanding their future needs and for developing supportive work–family practices and policies. Despite criticism, Lifestyle Preference Theory has been argued to explain women’s life choices, and historically has been used to inform Australian policy. We address three issues: whether Lifestyle Preference Groups are consistent with young Australian women’s stated preferences; whether aspirations are consistent over time; and whether women’s later lives are consistent with their earlier stated preferences. Using four waves of data from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health (ALSWH), young women’s work and family aspirations were investigated cross-sectionally and longitudinally. Most aspired to both paid work and family; most changed their preferences over time; and the fit between preferences in 2000 and lifestyle in 2009 was modest. Lifestyle Preference Theory was not an adequate fit to the data.

The Florence Nightingale Effect: Organizational Identification Explains the Peculiar Link Between Others’ Suffering and Workplace Functioning in the Homelessness Sector

Frontline employees in the helping professions often perform their duties against a difficult backdrop, including a complex client base and ongoing themes of crisis, suffering, and distress. These factors combine to create an environment in which workers are vulnerable to workplace stress and burnout. The present study tested two models to understand how frontline workers in the homelessness sector deal with the suffering of their clients. First, we examined whether relationships between suffering and workplace functioning (job satisfaction and burnout) would be mediated by organizational identification. Second, we examined whether emotional distance from clients (i.e., infrahumanization, measured as reduced attribution of secondary emotions) would predict improved workplace functioning (less burnout and greater job satisfaction), particularly when client contact is high. The study involved a mixed-methods design comprising interview (N = 26) and cross-sectional survey data (N = 60) with a sample of frontline staff working in the homelessness sector. Participants were asked to rate the level of client suffering and attribute emotions in a hypothetical client task, and to complete questionnaire measures of burnout, job satisfaction, and organizational identification. We found no relationships between secondary emotion attribution and burnout or satisfaction. Instead, we found that perceiving higher client suffering was linked with higher job satisfaction and lower burnout. Mediation analyses revealed a mediating role for identification, such that recognizing suffering predicted greater identification with the organization, which fully mediated the relationship between suffering and job satisfaction, and also between suffering and burnout. Qualitative analysis of interview data also resonated with this conceptualization. We introduce this novel finding as the ‘Florence Nightingale effect’. With this sample drawn from the homelessness sector, we provide preliminary evidence for the proposition that recognizing others’ suffering may serve to increase job satisfaction and reduce burnout – by galvanizing organizational identification.

Young Australian Women and Their Aspirations: "It's Hard Enough Thinking a Week or Two in Advance at the Moment".

Previous findings from quantitative research have shown that the majority of young Australian women aged 18 to 23 years aspire to be married, with children, and in the paid workforce when they are 35 years of age. However, the Theory of Emerging Adulthood suggests that this period of the lifespan is characterized by a prolonged stage of exploration and self-focussed identity formation, and young women could be expected to be in the process of formulating and changing their future plans and aspirations. Qualitative analysis is conducted on over 600 comments provided by young Australian women from The Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health across three time points, on topics related to these women’s aspirations for the future. This analysis contextualizes existing, quantitative, findings on women’s aspirations for work and family, and provides a richer understanding of women’s thoughts about work and family, and their progression toward decision making around these future roles, in contemporary society.