Work-life conflict in Britain: job demands and resources

Abstract

This article examines the influence of job demands and job-related resources on the experience of two dimensions of work-life conflict (WLC) in Britain. Theory suggests that higher levels of resources should reduce WLC but empirical analyses often fail to find this effect. We address the issue by examining the impact of a wide range of resources as well as their interactions with job demands. Analyses of the Working in Britain 2000 survey suggest that job resources and demands affect WLC through different processes, which differ for the two types of WLC. They fail to find evidence that job resources dampen the effects of job demands on WLC. They also document that many effects of job characteristics depend on context or vary by gender, for example, the effects of job pressure and job autonomy.