Chairs: Anja-Kristin Abendroth (Bielefeld University), Tanja van der Lippe (Utrecht University), Judith Treas (University of California Irvine)
Information and communication technologies and the extension of digital infrastructures increasingly allow for digital social contacts in work and family life. Moreover, the global COVID-19 pandemic, with social distancing measures in place, increased the experiences with digital social contacts with colleagues and supervisors as well as family members. The implications for workplace flexibility in time, place and employment contract as well as family relationship quality are highly debated. An optimistic scenario foresees improved maintenance of existing relationships and improved flexible adaption of the work and family spheres. A more pessimistic perspective suggests that digital social contacts erode social capital, involve more precarious work contracts and/or result in a blurring of boundaries between work and family life fostering conflicts between the life domains.
Empirical evidence, typically based on small-scale, single country studies, has yielded mixed findings, suggesting that social circumstances produce different effects. Opportunities-based arguments from research on the digital social divide point to differences in home and workplace access to digital communication and digital capacities from state investments in technology and skill development. Needs-based arguments refer to restrictions on face-to-face contact due to geographic distance, living arrangements, teleworking or long work hours--all differing between countries/regions depending on employment rates, welfare and labor protections, or family policies. Following trust-based arguments, the generalized trust, openness, and privacy policies of countries reflect privacy concerns limiting the use of digital communication and the digital exchange of support and appreciation. Influence-based arguments address individuals’ agency to limit the costs involved in digital communication, depending on country context and work or family cultures.
The session on DSC invites contributions on the respective module on “Digital Social Contexts in Work and Family Life” in the ESS Round 10 on the following guiding questions:
Does digital social contact in work and family life, its evaluation, and consequences differ between European countries and to what extent can these differences be explained by differences in digital infrastructures, national policies, demographic composition, and economic circumstances?
Are there gender, parenthood, migration and class-specific patterns of digital social contacts in the spheres of work and family or their interfaces?
How does digital social contact shape relationship quality, well-being, resources and demands in work, family and/or community as well as the intersection of these life spheres?
Does digital social contact mitigate or reinforce gender or other social inequalities in the family or workforce?
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Do Digital Communications in Work and Family life increase well-being?
Ana Suárez Álvarez, María R. Vicente
University of Oviedo, Spain
The growing impact of the digital transition on individual well-being, especially in family and work life, is a topic of increasing importance. Despite the widespread influence of online communications, limited attention has been given to its association with individuals' happiness. This study seeks to address this gap by examining how digital communications influence the well-being of individuals.
Recent studies have studied the effects of digital communications on individuals’ lives, for instance, Scharf et al. (2023) analyse workers’ use of digital technologies during the Covid-19 pandemic and observe significant changes in the distribution of work weeks and hours. Nguyen et al. (2020) analyse changes and inequalities in digital communication during the pandemic and discuss the growing importance of digital communications on our lives, concluding that further research in this aspect is needed. Nguyen et al. (2022) analyse the role of digital communications on individuals’ level of social connectedness. Likewise, Nieuwenhuis & Yerkes (2021) analyse the well-being of workers during the pandemic but without considering the role of digital communications.
Limited evidence exists regarding digital communications among family members. Typically, research in this domain focuses on parental control of children's digital interactions, leaving a gap in understanding the impact of individuals' communications with family members on their well-being. In this context, we aim to answer three research questions: (1) How are online communications with family members associated with individuals’ well-being? (2) How does online communications at work relate to people’s well-being? and (3) How have changes in communication patterns due to the pandemic affected the well-being of individuals?
We conducted a cross-country analysis of 25 countries, using microdata from the latest round of the European Social Survey (ESS). The ESS serves as an ideal database due to its inclusion of measures of subjective well-being, socio-economic and socio-demographic variables, a special module on digital communications. Our approach involved cross-country regressions on individuals' subjective well-being, employing country dummies and socio-demographic variables as controls. Key regressors included variables measuring the frequency of online communications tools in both work and family contexts.
The findings revealed a generally positive correlation between digital communications and individual well-being in the family environment. It is observed that, communicating with children under 12 years of age via video and text results in significantly higher level of happiness, whilst in the case of communications with parents, a significant positive effect is only observed for video communications.
With regard to digital communications in work, communication via text with managers increases the level of happiness of individuals (which seems to suggest that they prefer this type of communication channel over in-person or video communication) and surprisingly, our results show that teleworking does not increase the level of happiness of individuals.
Finally, we also analyse the effect of pattern changes in online communications due to the Covid-19 pandemic on well-being, our findings show that individuals who report more frequent use of digital communications to communicate with their children compared to before the pandemic show a significantly lower level of happiness.
How do digital work arrangements shape individual attitudes toward ICTs? Autonomy at work as the crucial explanator
Ebru Isikli1, Mathew Creighton2
1University College Dublin, Geary Institute for Public Policy; 2University College Dublin, School of Sociology
Employees in the workplace communicate digitally with colleagues and superiors via a range of channels, each differing in frequency and content. While digital communication is integral to contemporary work life, understanding its influence on individual attitudes about information communication technology (ICT) remains limited. This study aims to explore the impact of work experience on individuals’ attitudes toward digital communication. We test the hypothesis that workplace autonomy is the key determinant of employees’ attitudes towards ICT.
Examining positive and negative attitudes toward digital communication as dependent variables, we analysed a range of work-related factors as independent variables. These factors include employee’s workplace autonomy, support received from supervisors and colleagues, and communication frequency with supervisors and colleagues through different digital modes (messaging, phone, screen). Using a unique set of questions on Digital Social Contacts in Work and Family Life only included in the 10th round of the European Social Survey (ESS) conducted during the 2021-2022 COVID-19 pandemic, our findings confirm that expectation of responsiveness during non-working hours limiting autonomy is the key determinant of employees’ attitudes towards ICT, paradoxically influencing both positive and negative perceptions.
Furthermore, non-work-related support from superiors and digital communication through phone and messaging modes with them are identified as a factor that enhances positive approaches to ICT. Our results reveal a paradoxical relationship between autonomy and employees' perceptions of ICT, offering insights into creating a more supportive workplace for employee wellbeing in a digital work environment.
Inequalities in digital social contacts in Europe
Michael L. Smith
Institute of Sociology, Czech Academy of Sciences, Czech Republic
This paper uses data from the innovative ESS 10 module on digital social contacts (DSC). Based on the cross-national file, I map cross-national differences in digital social contacts, particularly in family life, and then analyze social inequalities in these digital contacts within and between countries using a multi-level model approach. The paper builds on previous research on the "digital divide" to identify variation in DSC, especially in terms of the frequency and significance of those contacts, by family background and respondent socio-economic status. While the ESS' "Topline Results" on the DSC items showed significant cross-national variation, the role of social inequality and country-specific factors remain unexplored. Therefore, using EU data on the cost of mobile and fixed-line broadband across European countries, I am also investigating the degree to which the cost of broadband (on a PPP basis) impacts inequalities in digital social contacts, which could also provide actionable insights for policy makers interested in reducing such inequalities. While my initial results are only preliminary, it does seem to be the case that the cost of average broadband access, along with low respondent socio-economic status, has a negative impact on written digital communication with children and other family members. The paper also explores other cross-national factors, such as relatively economic development. Lastly, the paper also presents results on family status, especially how DSC are improving communication between teenage children and parents who do not live with them. Overall, the paper makes an important contribution to the analysis of the DSC module and would benefit from the feedback from conference participants.
Navigating the Flexibility Paradox: Exploring Digital Communication Dynamics in Work and Family Life
Ebru Isikli1, Sarah Carol2, Micheál Collins3, Dorren McMahon4
1University College Dublin, Geary Institute for Public Policy; 2University College Dublin, School of Sociology; 3University College Dublin, School of Social Policy, Social Work and Social Justice; 4University College Dublin, Geary Institute for Public Policy
Recent advances in digital information and communication technologies, and associated digital infrastructures, have transformed communications within the world of work and family life. These trends, further accelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic, bring opportunities for convenience and connectivity for some, but also pose challenges regarding work-life balance for others. The flexibility paradox (Chung, 2022) is evident in ICT (Information communication technologies) users’ attitudes toward ITC. More than half of the Europeans have both positive and negative attitudes towards ITC (ESS 10).
This study aims to investigate the correlation between digital communication in the home environment and the work experience of individuals. Specifically, we explore whether there is an association between increased work demands and a subsequent rise in digital communication with family members. The inquiry delves into the hypothesis that heightened work demands may lead individuals to engage in more frequent digital communication with family members as a strategy to manage reproductive responsibilities more effectively. Furthermore, we anticipate that individuals' attitudes towards ICT will manifest a greater reflection of the flexibility paradox.
Based on an examination of data from the European Social Survey (ESS) Round 10, the special module on ‘Digital Social Contacts in Work and Family Life’ in face-to-face mode this paper explores the digital communications experience of the working population having family members in 21 European countries at home and work and the interplay between them. We modelled the relationship between spillover experienced from work to home and digital communication intensity at home with family members.
Chung, H. (2022). The Flexibility Paradox: Why Flexible Working Leads to (Self-) Exploitation. Policy Press.
Western Balkans perspective: Remote Work and Work-life Balance
Branka Matijević
Institute of Social Sciences, Serbia
Discussions about the role and impact of technology in today's societies represent an important part of theoretical and empirical studies in sociology. The perspective of technological determinism has been reduced a lot, due to the opinion that technology is society, and society cannot be understood without its technological tools. The aforementioned debates gain importance because of the powerful development of information and communication technologies (ICTs), especially in the working sphere. Primarily the use of the Internet, social networks, mobile smartphones, collaborative and cloud computing tools, and new channels for business have been opened, where technology increasingly takes on an intermediary role and significantly changes the way of working. The high degree of popularity and acceptance of working via the Internet globally, makes companies redefine the rules of work by allowing their employees to work remotely, flexible working hours, etc. In this paper, we aim to determine the extent to which employees in Western Balkan countries have the opportunity to engage in remote work. Additionally, we seek to explore how remote work influences the work-life balance of employees in the Western Balkans. As the COVID-19 pandemic imposed conditions that further accelerated the process of wider and more intensive adoption and application of information technologies among individuals, businesses, and wider society, we wanted to understand whether the coronavirus pandemic influenced respondents working from home to a greater extent. Furthermore, we wanted to identify whether respondents who more often work remotely have greater work-life balance, more precisely if they mostly perceive work and personal life as interrupting each other, perceive the job as preventing them from giving time to their partner/family, and feel tired of enjoying things they like at home. We rely on the 10th wave of the European Social Survey results in the context of WB countries. The preliminary results show that respondents are more likely to work remotely after the pandemic and that the work remotely positively affects work-life balance.
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