Tanja van der Lippe

Personality moderates the links of social identity with work motivation and job searching

Work motivation is critical for successful school-to-work transitions, but little is known about its determinants among labor market entrants. Applying a social identity framework, we examined whether work motivation and job searching are social-contextually determined. We expected that some job seekers are more sensitive to contextual influence, depending on their personality. Mediation analyses on 591 Dutch vocational training students indicate that the perception of more positive work norms in someones social context was related to higher levels of intrinsic motivation, which in turn predicted higher preparatory job search behavior and job search intentions. Multi-group analysis shows that perceived work norms more strongly predict work motivation among overcontrollers compared to resilients and undercontrollers. In conclusion, work motivation and job searching appear contextually determined: especially among those sensitive to contextual influence, people seem to work when they believe that is what people like them do.

Combination Pressure The Paid Work-Family Balance of Men and Women in European Countries

People today lead busy, hurried lives with competing time claims between the spheres of paid work and the household. The aim of this article is to provide more insight into the way men and women experience the multiple claims on their time and to attempt to understand the differences between European countries in this respect. Are we able to draw a sharp line in the work-family balance experienced in eastern and western Europe? Expectations are formulated at the individual level (work and home-related factors) and at the contextual level (gender culture and family policy). Data were gathered in 2001 within the international research programme ‘Households, Work and Flexibility’, financed by the European Union. The eight countries included in the analyses are Sweden, the Netherlands, UK, Slovenia, Hungary, Czech Republic, Romania and Bulgaria, and hypotheses are tested using multivariate regression analyses. At the contextual level, results reflect more support for the gender culture hypothesis than for the family friendly policy hypothesis. The multiplicity of options in western European countries due to the emancipation process causes time pressure. Individual factors are especially important in explaining combination pressure in the three western European countries: long working hours, overtime work, demanding job and having young children all add to the pressure men and women experience.

Dutch workers and time pressure: household and workplace characteristics

Balancing work with family life has become one of the most important issues for families nowadays. In this article I study the varying degrees of success of governance structures in households and firms in dealing with competing time claims. Using Dutch data from firms, employees and their spouses and performing regression analyses with robust estimation to test the hypotheses, the results show that more modern organizations characterized by heavy deadlines and a large amount of autonomy for individual employees give more feelings of time pressure. With respect to the organization of the household, especially the presence of young children, time spent on domestic and paid work and existing household rules explain feelings of time pressure. Gender also appears to be important. Men are influenced more by workplace characteristics, and women more by household characteristics.Balancing work with family life has become one of the most important issues for families nowadays. In this article I study the varying degrees of success of governance structures in households and firms in dealing with competing time claims. Using Dutch data from firms, employees and their spouses and performing regression analyses with robust estimation to test the hypotheses, the results show that more modern organizations characterized by heavy deadlines and a large amount of autonomy for individual employees give more feelings of time pressure. With respect to the organization of the household, especially the presence of young children, time spent on domestic and paid work and existing household rules explain feelings of time pressure. Gender also appears to be important. Men are influenced more by workplace characteristics, and women more by household characteristics.

Outsourcing of Domestic Tasks and Time-saving Effects

The increased participation of women in paid labor has changed the organization of domestic work. This article deals with a strategy to cope with remaining domestic duties; to what extent are domestic tasks outsourced, what are the main determinants, and does it indeed save time spent on housework? Five outsourcing options are investigated: domestic help, take-out meals, the microwave, the dishwasher, and the dryer. Hypotheses are formulated with respect to household resources, time availability, demand, and adaptability to new appliances. These hypotheses (except the adaptability hypothesis) assume that outsourcing saves time. This underlying assumption is tested as well. Using time budget data of the Dutch population in 1995, results show that especially households with higher incomes and double earners more often make use of all kinds of outsourcing options. Furthermore, the domestic help as well as the dishwasher saves time for women, whereas the microwave is time saving for men.

Social Contacts and the Economic Performance of Immigrants: A Panel Study of Immigrants in Germany

Using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel, we examined the impact of social contacts on immigrant occupational status and income. In addition to general social contacts, we also analyzed the effects of bonding (i.e., co-ethnic) and bridging (i.e., inter-ethnic) ties on economic outcomes. Results show that general social contacts have a positive effect on the occupational status and, in particular, annual income of immigrants. We also find that bridging ties with Germans lead to higher occupational status, but not to increased income. These effects remain visible even when social contacts are measured (at least) 1 year prior to the economic outcomes, as well as when earlier investments in German human capital are considered. Finally, we show that co-ethnic concentration in the region of residence weakly affects economic returns to German language proficiency and schooling.

The time-pressure reducing potential of telehomeworking: the Dutch case

Nowadays, people in all walks of life are increasingly pressed for time. This may be engendered by the intensification of paid work, the increase in female labour-market participation resulting in a growing number of workers having substantive family obligations, and people’s higher expectations of personal development and leisureconsumption (see Robinson and Godbey, 1997; Schor, 1992). In the present study we are concerned with how time and time use are experienced and how specific work and household conditions influence feelings of time pressure. We particularly focus on one work condition and its supposed capacity to reduce time pressure, i.e. telehomeworking. Telehomeworking refers to working at or from home during (at least part of) the employees’ contractual working hours, often, but not necessarily, mediated by IT (Felstead et al., 2000). Among the drivers for telehomeworking is its widely perceived potential to help workers cope with the mutual incompatability of paid work and the rest of life, and to reduce related time pressures, which may improve both the functioning of organizations, individual workers and their households. In previous telehomeworking studies, time pressure is often covered under the general heading ‘quality of life’ (France et al., 2002; Vitterso et al., 2003). Like many other work–family arrangements, however, telehomeworking can be double-edged (Mirchandani, 2000). The relationship between telehomeworking and time pressure has been occassionally looked into (Hill et al., 1996) but rarely explicitly, let alone for various telehomeworking categories. The present study, therefore, questions whether telehomeworking can be regarded as a time-pressure reducing strategy, and whether this differs across gender and ‘occassional’, ‘light’ and ‘heavy’ telehomeworkers. Its main objective is to analyse the time-pressure reducing potential of the telehomeworking practice by showing how male and female telehomeworking categories differ with respect to their perceived levels of time pressure from their on-site working equivalents, and how the relationship between employees’ telehomeworking behaviour and time pressure is mediated by factors that relate to work–life balance (WLB). The study uses data from a large-scale Dutch research programme entitled Time Competition: Disturbed Balances and New Options in

Trust Problems in Household Outsourcing

This article addresses the issue of domestic outsourcing. We view outsourcing decisions as the result of utility-maximizing behavior on the part of households. Earlier studies have shown that households with more time constraints, the most common reason for outsourcing, do not always outsource more. To account for these unexpected empirical findings, we provide a new explanation for outsourcing decisions that focuses on trust problems associated with outsourcing household and caring tasks. Trust problems are related to the competence, values, and possibilities as well as incentives for opportunism on the part of the supplier of the product or service. Using insights from the transaction cost approach, new hypotheses are formulated on the influence of the problem potential on the make-or-buy decision (whether or not to outsource a task). The embeddedness of the supplier is introduced as a way to generate trust, thus decreasing the problem potential.

The role of social contacts in the employment status of immigrants A panel study of immigrants in Germany

Several studies in the migration literature have hypothesized that social contacts, in particular contacts with natives, are important for immigrant employment. Empirical work, however, has been inconclusive whether social contacts indeed have a causal effect. This study uses the German Socio-Economic Panel (1984—2004) to estimate the effect of social contacts of male and female immigrants on their employment position. Results show that contacts with family, friends and neighbours and being active as a volunteer have no significant effect on employment for both immigrant men and women. It is also found that having contacts with Germans increases the likelihood of male and female employment. The positive effect of having German contacts remains when social contacts are lagged, when host-country human capital is taken into account and also when unmeasured time-constant characteristics of immigrants are considered.

Effects of Job Features on Domestic Outsourcing as a Strategy for Combining Paid and Domestic Work

This article examines the influence of job features on domestic outsourcing. The central hypothesis is that households use outsourcing more often if the partners are less available for domestic chores and caregiving because of job demands. Analyses of data on 795 Dutch couples show that if they work longer hours, there is more of a demand for the outsourcing of female tasks. Flexible availability resulting from autonomy and working at home facilitates the use of outsourcing alternatives. Working at home by women reduces the amount of formal child care; however, for men it increases the outsourcing of child care.This article examines the influence of job features on domestic outsourcing. The central hypothesis is that households use outsourcing more often if the partners are less available for domestic chores and caregiving because of job demands. Analyses of data on 795 Dutch couples show that if they work longer hours, there is more of a demand for the outsourcing of female tasks. Flexible availability resulting from autonomy and working at home facilitates the use of outsourcing alternatives. Working at home by women reduces the amount of formal child care; however, for men it increases the outsourcing of child care.

Crossover of distress due to work and family demands in dual-earner couples: a dyadic analysis.

Abstract Distress resulting from work and family overload is likely to be interdependent between partners, as both men and women increasingly participate in work and family tasks. We attempted to explain distress of both partners by looking at their work and family demands and the resulting time and energy deficits experienced by each partner. Furthermore, we investigated how time deficit, energy deficit and distress due to such demands crossover between partners. The study, which used a precise measurement of family demands, was based on a sample of both partners from 828 dual-earner couples in The Netherlands. The results showed that for both partners work and family demands increase time deficit and energy deficit. Energy deficit due to heavy demands resulted in more feelings of distress, whereas time deficit did not contribute significantly to distress. We found different patterns of crossover between male and female partners. Feelings of time deficit and energy deficit crossed over from the man to the woman, whereas feelings of distress crossed over from the woman to the man. These results indicate that the demands on each partner contribute to their own distress, as well as to their partners distress, either through the crossover of energy deficit or through the crossover of distress