Deconstructing “Family Supportive Cultures”: A Vision for the Future

Most research on work and family has been conducted in liberal market economies where the integration of paid work and personal roles is considered primarily a private matter. In these contexts work—life support is dependent on market forces, rather than being viewed as a public concern requiring government regulation (although in the UK this is tempered to some extent by European Union requirements). Consequently the focus has been on “family supportive organizations” to a greater extent than family supportive cultures and societies. Nevertheless the study of family supportive organizational cultures remains important for the field of work—life research more broadly, because even in more family supportive national contexts, public policies have to be implemented at the workplace level where culture and management support also matter and, increasingly, global forces intersect with national cultures.