ISSN: 2249-7196

IJMRR/March 2016/ Volume 6/Issue 3/Article No-3/341-347

Anila KP et. al., / International Journal of Management Research & Review

INFLUENCE OF FAMILY ENVIRONMENT AND WORK ENVIRONMENT ON

WORK LIFE BALANCE AMONG WOMEN EMPLOYEES
Anila KP*1, Dr.V.Krishnaveni2
1
Research Scholar, Department of Management, Karpagam Academy of Higher Education,
Coimbatore, TamilNadu, India.
2
Asst. Prof, Dept. of Management, Karpagam Academy of Higher Education, Coimbatore,
TamilNadu, India.
ABSTRACT
Work life balance is the maintenance of balance between the responsibilities at work and at
home. An imbalance leads to stress and strain. The problem in this regard work life balance
may be found more among the women than their counterparts due to the responsibilities
which the women share especially at home. Thus the present study focused on the work life
balance of the women employees. The findings of the study show that the women employees
had a moderate level of work life balance. The findings also show that family environment
and work environment had a significant influence on the work life balance of the women
employees.
Keywords: work life balance, family environment, working environment
INTRODUCTION
The families face a lot of challenges and problems for survival. To deal with the same both
husband and wife are engaged in earning. The dual working couples are increasing day by
day due to the economic pressure .This necessitates balancing the responsibilities at work and
at family among the family members. In particular, women may face more problems
compared to men as they have to take care of the household chores more than men. Thus
work life balance may pose a bigger challenge to women compared to men. Employers are
becoming increasingly aware of the cost implications associated with the over-worked staff
such as operational and productivity costs, absenteeism, punctuality, commitment and
performance. There are five main reasons why companies participate in work life balance
programs: High return on investment, recruitment and retention of the staff, legislation, costs
and union regulations. Work-life balance is a form of metaphor; but a metaphor of what? In
the English language “balance” is a complex word with a variety of meanings. As a noun, a
balance is a set of scales, a weighing apparatus; it is also the regulating gear in clocks. If we
use the scales, then balance occurs when there is “an equal distribution of weight or amount”
(OED); but this presents problems for work-life balance since both sides may be very heavy
or very light. However, balance also has a physical and psychological meaning as “stability
of body or mind” so that suicide is sometimes officially recorded as taking one’s life “while
the balance of the mind was disturbed”. However, this version of the metaphor, whether it
*Corresponding Author www.ijmrr.com 341
 Anila KP et. al., / International Journal of Management Research & Review

applies to body or mind is somewhat more appropriate since it implies both the possibility of
external verification and human agency. Put another wayone can observe when someone has
lost his balance And , it is also known that in given circumstances some people havea better
balance than others and may perceive that they have better balance. This gives rise to the
need to recognize that balance can have both objective and subjective meanings and
measurements, and vary according to circumstances and also vary across individuals.
Work-life balance is about creating and maintaining supportive and healthy work
environments, which will enable the employees to have balance between work and personal
responsibilities and thus strengthen loyalty and productivity. Today’s workers have their
many competing responsibilities such as work, children, housework, volunteering, spouse and
elderly parent care and this places stress on individuals, families and the communities in
which they reside. Work-life conflict is a serious problem that impacts workers, their
employers and communities. Long work hours and highly stressful jobs not only hamper the
ability to harmonize work and family life but also are associated with health, such as
increased smoking and alcohol consumption, weight gain and depression. Thus this study
focuses on the work life balance of the women employees in relation to their work and family
environments.
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
Krishna Reddy N. (2010).The result of one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) on the
ratings of WFC and FWC across the different categories of the women showed significant
(F=3.246; P<0.05) WFC and FWC (F=5.424; P<0.01) among the women whose eldest child
was in the age group of 6–10 years. Similarly, women belonging to different educational
attainment, especially SSLC background, differently rated their WFC (F=3.456;P<0.05) and
FWC (F=4.226; P<0.01). Further, high FWC was found among those who were having one
child, whereas less FWC was found among those who were childless.
Rincy V. Mathew and N. Panchanatham (2011). This study revealed that role overload,
dependant care issues, quality of health, problems in time management and lack of proper
social support are the major factors influencing the WLB of women entrepreneurs in India.
Lalita Kumari (2012). The findings of the study emphasized that each of the WLB factors on
its own is a salient predictor of job satisfaction and there is a significant gap among the
female and male respondents regarding job satisfaction various factors of WLB. The positive
correlation indicates that job satisfaction is an important indicator of WLB.
Vijayshri Ramesh kumar Mehtha (2012). It was found that 79 % respondent’s WLB Index
was below benchmark . Only 16 % of them had WLB above benchmark, 5 % of them fell
exactly on the benchmark . The majority of the respondents who were below benchmark were
married females . This indicates that the female employees under study faced the problem of
balancing Work and Personal life . More imbalance observed among the married females due
to more family responsibilities, Nature of job, and work life balance have a positive
relationship with job satisfaction, etc.
Asamoah Kwabena (2013). Results from the data reveal that as per the demographic
characteristics of the sample,the majority of the women married, signifying that they faced

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 Anila KP et. al., / International Journal of Management Research & Review

with the demanding role of being a wife, and probably a mother at home together with the
demands of work.
Chandrasekar K. S. (2013). The major findings of the study were that there are some factors
of work that interfere with the personal life of the employee which leads to an imbalance
state.Work-life balance is different based on gender and nature of jobs andWork life balance
has a positive relationship with job satisfaction ,etc.
Santhana Lakshmi and S. SujathaGopinath (2013). Their findings showed that volume and
length of working hours influence work life balance. The findings also stated the problem of
work life balance was found more among the married women who engaged in overtime
work. It showed that marital status had a significant influence on work life balance of the
women employees. Larger is the balance, lesser is the work life balance among the women
employees.Parul Agarwal (2014). The results shows that the nature of job had a significant
impact on the work life balance of the employees and there is no significant difference in the
work life balance among the employees working in night and day shifts.
SahanaMaiya and M.M. Bagali (2014). The results reveal the picture of difficulties faced in
balancing the demandsof the work and the family responsibility of family. There was a high
correlation between the difficulties faced and the balancing act to be performed. The
significant results reflected in the areas of career advancement factors, organizational support
and psychological factors.
OBJECTIVES
1. To assess the level of work environment, family environment and work life balance of the
respondents.
2. To study the influence of demographic factors on work environment, family environment
and work life balance of the respondents.
3. To study the relationship between work environment, family environment and work life
balance of the respondents.
METHODOLOGY
The present study is descriptive in nature. The universe of the study was the women
employees working in the public sectors concerns in Kerala. A sample size of 368 women
employees was selected from the universe using random sampling technique. Both primary
data and secondary data were used in the study. The primary data was collected using a
questionnaire. The questionnaire consisted of four sections, namely demographic profile,
work environment, family environment and work life balance. Standardised five point scales
were used for assessing the work environment, family environment and work life balance of
the employees. The reliability of the scales was work environment (0.887), family
environment (0.871) and work life balance (0.882). The collected data were analysed using
percentage analysis, t-test, ANOVA, chi-square, correlation and multiple regression.

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 Anila KP et. al., / International Journal of Management Research & Review

ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

Table 1: Family Environment of the Respondents
S. No Family Environment No. of Respondents Percentage
1 Very Good 82 22.3
2 Good 76 20.7
3 Normal 128 34.8
4 Poor 82 22.3
Total 368 100.0
Source: collected and interpreted through a questionnaire

The above table shows that 34.8 percent of the respondents had a normal family environment,
22.3 percent of them had a very good family environment, 22.3 percent of them had a poor
family environment and 20.7 percent of them had a good family environment.
Table 2: Work Environment of the Respondents
S. No Family Environment No. of Respondents Percentage
1 Very Good 92 25.0
2 Good 86 23.4
3 Normal 116 31.5
4 Poor 74 20.1
Total 368 100.0
Source: collected and interpreted through a questionnaire
The above table shows that 31.5 percent of them had a normal work environment, 25 percent
of them had avery good work environment, 23.4 percent of them had a good family
environment and 20.1 percent of them had a poor family environment.
Table 3: Work Life Balance of the Respondents
S. No Work Life Balance No. of Respondents Percentage
1 Very High 99 26.9
2 High 73 19.8
3 Moderate 138 37.5
4 Low 58 15.8
Total 368 100.0
Source: collected and interpreted through a questionnaire
Table 3 depicts that 37.5 percent of the had a moderate level of work life balance, 26.9
percent of them had a very high level of work life balance, 19.8 percent of them had a high
level of work life balance and 15.8 percent of them had a low level of work life balance.
Table 4: Influence of Demographic variableson Work Environment, Family
Environment and Work Life Balance
Variables Work Environment Family Environment Work life balance
Age F = 3.455 (p<0.01) (**) F = 3.275 (p<0.01) (**) F = 3.629 (p<0.01) (**)
Managerial Level F = 4.118 (p<0.01) (**) F = 5.437 (p<0.01) (**) F = 4.916 (p<0.01) (**)
Edu. Qualification F = 4.619 (p<0.01) (**) F = 3.014 (p<0.01) (**) F = 3.619 (p<0.01) (**)
Marital Status t = 1.634 (p>0.01) (NS) t = 1.761 (p>0.01) (NS) t = 1.192 (p>0.01) (NS)
Experience F = 4.110 (p<0.01) (**) F = 4.833 (p<0.01) (**) F = 5.259 (p<0.01) (**)
Dependents F = 3.526 (p<0.01) (**) F = 3.027 (p<0.01) (**) F = 5.767 (p<0.01) (**)
Income F = 6.278 (p<0.01) (**) F = 4.226 (p<0.01) (**) F = 6.609 (p<0.01) (**)

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 Anila KP et. al., / International Journal of Management Research & Review

NS- Not Significant; (**) - Significant at 0.01 level; Source : collected and interpreted
through a questionnaire
Table 4 reveals that age, managerial level, educational qualification, experience, dependants
and income do significantly influence the work environment, family environment and work
life balance of the respondents. Marital status does not influence the work environment,
family environment and work life balance of the respondents.
Table 5: Relationship between Work Environment, Family Environment and Work Life
Balance
Family environment Working environment Work life balance
Family environment 1
Working environment .858** 1
**
Work life balance .892 .853** 1

Source: collected and interpreted through a questionnaire

The coefficient of correlation value shows that there is a significant relationship amoung
work environment, family environment and work life balance. It is inferred that higher the
work environment ishigher is the work life balance higher the family environment is higher is
the work life balance and vice versa.
Table 6: Influence of work and family environments on Work Life Balance Using
Multiple Regression
Model Summary
Model R R Square Adjusted R Std. Error of the
Square Estimate
1 .908 .825 .824 6.73660

The R-square is the proportion of variation in the dependent variable (work life balance) that
is explained by the two independent variables. The above table shows that 82.5 percent of the
variation in work life balance can be explained by two independent variables in the model.
Anova
Model Sum of Squares df Mean Square F Sig.
1 Regression 78038.129 2 39019.064 859.796 .000a
Residual 16564.350 365 45.382
Total 94602.478 367
The above table shows whether the proportion of variance explained in the table is
significant. It also tells whether the overall effect of the two independent variables on work
life balance is significant. The sig.(or p-value) is .000 which is below the .05 level; hence, it
is concluded that the overall model is statistically significant, or that the variables have a
significant combined effect on the dependent variable.
Coefficients
Model Unstandardized Coefficients Standardized t Sig.
Coefficients
B Std. Error Beta
1 (Constant) 6.326 2.553 2.478 .014

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 Anila KP et. al., / International Journal of Management Research & Review

Family environment .612 .043 .607 14.248 .000

Working environment .330 .042 .332 7.805 .000

An inspection of individual predictors revealed that family environment (Beta = 0.607, p <
.001) and working environment (Beta = 0.332, p < .001) are significant predictors of work
life balance. Thus it is inferred that family environment and working environment influence
the work life balance of the respondents.
SALIENT FINDINGS
 One third (34.8 percent) of the respondents had a normal family environment,
 Less than one-third (31.5 percent) of them had a normal work environment
 More than one third (37.5 percent) of them had a moderate level of work life balance
 The ANOVA results show that age, managerial level, educational qualification,
experience, dependants and income do significantly influence the work environment, family
environment and work life balance of the respondents.
 The coefficient of correlation value shows that there is a significant relationship among
work environment, family environment and work life balance.
 An inspection of individual predictors reveal that family environment (Beta = 0.607, p <
.001) and working environment (Beta = 0.332, p < .001) are significant predictors of work
life balance.
SUGGESTIONS
 WLB improves the productivity and eliminates job stress, employers can also make
efforts to know the workload and job demands.
 Undertake a review of existing policies and improve current practices on flexible working
arrangements.
 Employer need to examine employee training, communication, reward system, co-worker
relationship and work environment.
 Regular exercises, mediation and other soft skill practices can improve the emotional
balance of the employees.
 Consider the implications for work-life balance in relation to workloads and work outside
conventional hours.
 Specific Counselling programs on Work Life Balance and Family welfare programs and
family counselling programs can be conducted.
 Employees‟ social gathering programs and public contact programs will be the better
option to reduce the mental pressure in the work place as the study reveals more mental
pressure for the Women employees.
 More and more career and advancement opportunities should be provided to the young
employees for professional as well as personal growth.
CONCLUSION
Work life balance has become a challenge today due to the nature of job and technological
advancement. Maintaining the balance between the work responsibilities and family
responsibilities determines the quality of life of the people. Women in particular are more
vulnerable to such problems as they have to take care of their work, children, home, etc. It is

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 Anila KP et. al., / International Journal of Management Research & Review

the responsibility of the men to share the household responsibilities of women to have a
better life with better work life balance. Though the present study reveals that a moderate
level of work life balance is being enjoyed by women.
REFERENCES
[1] Krishna Reddy N. Work–Life Balance among Married Women Employees. Indian J
Psychol Med 2010; 32(2): 112–118.
[2] Mathew RV, Panchanatham N. An Exploratory Study on The Work-Life Balance of
Women Entrepreneurs In South India. Asian Academy of Management Journal 2011; 16(2):
77–105.
[3] Kumari L. Employees’ Perception on Work Life Balance and It’s Relation with Job
Satisfaction in Indian Public Sector Banks. IJEMR 2012; 2(2).
[4] Lakshmi S, Sujatha Gopinath S. Work Life Balance of Women Employees–With
Reference To Teaching Faculties. International Monthly Refereed Journal of Research In
Management & Technology 2013.
[5] Maiya S, Bagali MM. An Empirical Investigation on Work-Life Balance among
Working Mothers: Emerging HRM Interventions. International Journal of Business and
Administration Research Review 2014; 1(5).

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