THE ROLE OF JOINT FAMILY IN THE FACILITATION OF WORKING WOMEN TO ATTAIN A BALANCE IN WORK AND FAMILY LIFE

Abstract

The present qualitative phenomenological research aims to explore the role of joint family to facilitate married working women to attain work and family balance. The study is based on understanding of working women’s life while living with in- laws, and different roles which can be played by the in-laws. This study was conducted in Rawalpindi and Islamabad cities of Pakistan. Twenty semi-structured interviews from married working women living with their in-laws were done. Non-participant observations were also done. Spillover theory is used as a theoretical framework to get an in-depth understanding of married working women’s lived experiences. The research findings present that in-laws of married working women play different (negative and positive) roles in facilitating women to attain a balance. Furthermore, it is suggested that organizations need to make such policies that could facilitate married working women in a better way to cope their double roles. Flexplace and flextime policies regarding work and timing could also be introduced for married working women.