The Impact of Job Insecurity on Marital and Family Relationships.

The recent economic recession and slow economic rebound are major stressors for many American families. "The U. S. workplace is in a profound, historic state of turmoil that for millions of individuals is approaching panic" (Dan Lacey, labor consultant, cited in Gwynne, 1992, p. 35). The results of this turmoil include unemployment, underemployment, and job insecurity for many Americans. The negative effects of unemployment on individuals and marital and family relations are well documented (Larson, 1984; Voydanoff, 1990; Voydanoff & Donnelly, 1988). In contrast, researchers have virtually ignored the effects of job insecurity upon individuals and on marriage and family relations (Voydanoff, 1990; Wilson, Larson, & Stone, 1993). As businesses and government agencies continue to restructure and downsize, it is expected that the number of job insecure Americans will increase. This insecurity may result from several circumstances, including threat of job loss, job description changes, added responsibility due to the lay-off of coworkers, salary or benefits freezes or cutbacks, forced relocation, or loss of potential for promotion. Some of these circumstances (e.g., threat of job loss, job description changes, and added responsibilities) may create boundary ambiguity for workers. Boundary ambiguity is a construct in stress theory that makes it possible to predict an individual's and family's level of stress (Boss & Greenberg, 1984). When a worker is unclear about who will have a job tomorrow, what his/her job description and responsibilities are, or who is working with him/her, the worker's job boundaries are said to be ambiguous (Boss & Greenberg, 1984). Ambiguity leads to increased stress for both the worker and the worker's family. Studies of the impact of job insecurity and ambiguity on employee mental health and family functioning are almost nonexistent, even though job security is an important prerequisite for establishing and maintaining strong families and job insecurity affects many more workers than does unemployment (Voydanoff, 1990; Wilson et al., 1993). Only three marginally related studies were found in the research literature Cobb and Kasl (1977) found the anticipation period before termination to be more detrimental than actual job loss to the mental and physical health of a group of workers who were later unemployed. Kuhnert (1386) found that job security had a greater impact on the employee's self-esteem and physical well-being than job satisfaction or involvement with the job. The only study on the impact of job insecurity on family relations was conducted by Voydanoff and Donnelly (1988). Results showed that, for wives, job insecurity for themselves and for their spouses was negatively related to overall marital and family satisfaction. However, job insecurity was not significantly related to overall marital and family satisfaction for husbands. Voydanoff (1990), in a review of the research conducted in the 1980s on economic distress and families, concluded "certain changes in American corporate policy, such as mergers, acquisitions, moving jobs to other countries, and forced retirement have created substantial employment uncertainty. The effects of this uncertainty on individual adjustment and family relations have yet to be explored" (p. 1111). The purpose of the present study was to build upon Voydanoff and Donnelly's (1988) research by conducting a more comprehensive and detailed study of the effects of job insecurity stress on the family. More specifically, this study's objectives were to: (a) determine the effects of job insecurity on the marital relationship and specific family dynamics, such as family communication, family role clarity, and family affection; (b) gather information on the number of family problems encountered; (c) deter is mine the clinical significance of the marriage and family problems reported by a sample of job-insecure individuals by comparing them with a nonclinical standardization sample; and (d) determine the types of family services desired by job insecure employees and their spouses. …