The Dual Burden: A Comparative Sociological Study of Work–Life Balance among Rural and Urban Women Public Servants
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.68219/ss3z9t10Keywords:
Women public servants, Work–life balance, Gender inequality, Public employment, Gender roles, Work–family conflictAbstract
Women have increasingly participated in the public workforce, resulting in a dramatic transformation of the social and employment landscape; however, that transformation will not be evenly reflected in the remapping of the household. Consequently, women employed in the public sector continue to carry a dual burden, having to complete the duties associated with their employment while also being the primary caregivers and home managers. Women find it difficult to reconcile their family and job responsibilities in rural and urban settings because of differing systemic support mechanisms such as social norms, transportation infrastructure, and family structure. As the project's objective is to examine the experience of women working in the public sector in both a rural and urban setting from a sociological standpoint, data will be collected to assess how geographic differences influence women in the context of their job responsibilities, their home responsibilities, the amount of available institutional support, and how these factors influence the overall well-being of women employed in the public sector. The theoretical foundations for this project include three areas: role theory, gender role theory, and conflict theory, which will be used to define how gendered expectations and social roles contribute to role overload and how the two systems create an imbalance between work and family. Qualitative and quantitative methods will be used in the study, utilising secondary data (for example: government policy documents, current research into female employment and public service and peer-reviewed literature). Rural and urban female public servants will be compared using a comparative sociological analysis of the differences and similarities in their lived experiences. The results of this study indicate that female public servants who live in rural communities have more traditional social expectations placed on them; experience less flexibility from institutions regarding their jobs; have more continuous domestic labour to perform than urban-based public servants; and face more pressure in their jobs and less time available for their families. Even though there is considerable variation in the context between both settings, female public servants continue to experience disproportionate amounts of unpaid care after hours in addition to working full-time. The study suggests that work-life balance should be considered as a structural and societal issue rather than an individual problem. There must be gender-equitable policies, increased care facilities and the equitable distribution of care will be important to achieve sustainable gender equity in public sector employment.
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