Wayne State work-family study receives NSF RAPID grant

COVID-19 has disrupted the way the world operates - perhaps irrevocably in some cases. In the US alone, more than 297 million people were placed on lockdown and left to juggle work and family needs from the same location: their homes.

With the support of a National Science Foundation (NSF) RAPID grant, a team of Wayne State University social scientists will examine how work, family and health among dual-income couples have changed within the context of COVID-19.

"The RAPID grant allows us to examine work-family conflict under unprecedented circumstances to examine how couples manage the competing demands of work and family," says Krista Brumley, an associate professor of sociology and principal investigator. "We follow couples over the course of one year - baseline, transition back to work, and adaptation, one year after our initial contact with couples."

In addition to illuminating the effects of work to family conflict, the study could encourage employers to reconsider their often restrictive work policies to offer more options to their workers.

"COVID disrupted what has been a long-standing expectation that work is best done at the workplace," Brumley adds. "Now we need to understand more about how employees managed remote work combined with their family responsibilities."

In addition to Brumley, the research team includes Shirin Montazer, Sociology; Katheryn Maguire, Communication; Boris Baltes, Psychology.

The NSF's Rapid Response Research (RAPID) program funds proposals that require quick-response research on disasters and unanticipated events.

The award number for this NSF grant is #2031726. For more information about the National Science Foundation, visit nsf.gov.