Work-Family Conflict

Overall, more Democratic and Republican respondents felt that work took away from the time and resources they had for their family, in contrast to family taking priority or time away from work.

Employed respondents tended to agree on the impact of work on family and vice versa, with only small differences. More than half (58 percent) of employed respondents, regardless of political identification, reported they sometimes or often experience the demands of their jobs interfering with their family or personal time. Similarly, 60 percent reported that sometimes or often, things they want to do at home do not get done because of demands from their job, and 53 percent said that the amount of time their job takes up makes it difficult to fulfill family and personal commitments. In contrast, only about a third of employed respondents (35 percent) felt that the demands and needs of family interfered with their ability to complete job-related tasks, with no significant differences by party identification. In short, regardless of political party, respondents felt that work took away from the time and resources they had for their family more than family responsibilities take priority or time away from work.

While Democratic and Independent men and women reported similar levels of work-family conflict, Republican men were more likely than Republican women to say that the demands of their job interfere with their family or personal time. Among men, there is not a significant difference between the percentages of Democrats (61 percent) and Republicans (63 percent) who agree that work interferes with family/personal time. Among women, in contrast, significantly more Democrats (60 percent) than Republicans (50 percent) agree that work interferes with family/personal time.

Regardless of gender and across party lines, over two-thirds of caregivers (68–70 percent) said they have been employed while providing care assistance, and the majority of these employed caregivers said they had at some point missed work to provide assistance. Two-thirds (68 percent) of employed caregivers reported missing work to provide care, and 43 percent had reduced work hours to provide care, with no significant differences among Democrats, Republicans, and Independents. Democrats and Republicans were both significantly more likely to have left the workforce or retired early to provide care compared to Independents (54 percent of Democrats and 53 percent of Republicans, versus 31 percent of Independents).

Taken together, these results point toward a greater need for work-family balance than is currently available in the American business world.