WINSTON-SALEM, N.C., July 30 Male Latino immigrants working in low-wage, non-professional jobs report infrequent work-family conflict, found a U.S. study.
Lead author Joseph G. Grzywacz of Wake Forest University School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, N.C., said work-family conflicts are situations in which the demands and responsibilities of work and family roles are incompatible in some respect.
It can occur in both directions. For example, family can interfere with work if a worker is distracted by marital problems or a sick child and work can interfere with family when work schedules make it impossible to attend family functions or complete household chores.
Researchers asked 226 recent immigrants from rural communities in Mexico and Central America who were employed in the poultry processing industry about their experiences combining work and family.
While the Latino men frequently report that work had little or no effect on their families, the women provided clear illustrations of how their work interfered with family, according to the study published in the August issue of the Journal of Applied Psychology.
Copyright 2007 by UPI
