Work and family

The Families at Work study (2016-2017) was focussed on understanding the job conditions linked to optimal health and wellbeing for parents (with children aged 0-18 yrs), including lower work-family conflicts, job stress and burnout.

Given the overarching changes to jobs, work, childcare and education in 2020, we invited the same sample to participate in a brief, 6-month prospective study across the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The research aims of Families at Work during COVID-19 are to: establish what workplace supports remained critical for parents, what new risks to parents’ health and family wellbeing might be emerging and how these are patterned by gender, socio-economic status and job type.

Research team:  Stacey Hokke, Sharinne Crawford, Shannon Bennetts, Jan Nicholson, Simon Mason, Jasmine Love, Kate McCredie, Clair Bennett, Jodi Oakman; in collaboration with Liana Leach and Lyndall Strazdins, Australian National University.

This project received funding from Australian Research Council

Publications:

• Love, J., Hokke, S., & Cooklin, A. R. (2025). Time Pressure in Employed Parents of Adolescents: The Role of Work and Family Drivers and Workplace Supports. Journal of Family and Economic Issues, 46(1), 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10834-024-09963-x
• Hokke, S., Mason, S., Crawford, S. B., Cooklin, A. R., Giallo, R., & Bennetts, S. K. (2024). Flexible work patterns and experiences of the work-family interface among Australian parents. Journal of Industrial Relations, 66(2), 161-185. https://doi.org/10.1177/00221856231221637
• Cooklin, A., Mason, S., Widiss, D., Leach, L., Hokke, S., Bennetts, S. K., Allen-Leap, M., & Oakman, J. (2024). Perceived Workplace Discrimination on the Basis of Parent Status in Australia: Who Is Vulnerable and How Does It Link to Mothers' and Fathers' Mental Health?. Journal of occupational and environmental medicine, 66(7), 564–571.  https://doi.org/10.1097/JOM.0000000000003113 
• Hokke, S., Bennetts, S. K., Love, J., Leach, L., Crawford, S. B., & Cooklin, A. R. (2023). What happened to parents’ work-family conflict from before to during COVID-19? Findings from a longitudinal Australian study. Community, Work & Family, 1-22.  https://doi.org/10.1080/13668803.2023.2252159
• Leach, L., Butterworth, P., Hokke, S., Love, J., Bennetts, S. K., Crawford, S., & Cooklin, A. (2023). How the mental health of working parents in Australia changed during COVID-19: A pre- to during pandemic longitudinal comparison. J Affect Disord, 325, 564-571. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2023.01.014
• Hokke, S., Bennetts, S. K., Crawford, S., Leach, L., Hackworth, N. J., Strazdins, L., Nguyen, C., Nicholson, J. M., & Cooklin, A. R. (2020). Does flexible work ‘work’ in Australia? A survey of employed mothers’ and fathers’ work, family and health. Community, Work & Family, 1-19. https://doi.org/10.1080/13668803.2019.1704397
• Bennetts, S. K., Hokke, S. H., Crawford, S., Hackworth, N. J., Leach, L. S., Nguyen, C., Nicholson, J. M., & Cooklin, A. R. (2019). Using paid and free Facebook methods to recruit Australian parents to an online survey: An evaluation. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 21(3), e11206. https://doi.org/10.2196/11206

Identifying workplace barriers and supports for fathers to combine work and care

Gender inequities in work and care persist and have likely been exacerbated by the “she-cession” due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Evidence suggests that fathers’ unpaid care work has increased slightly due to the pandemic – but so has mothers’, and all parents remain constrained by gendered notions of ‘who works and who cares’.

This project aims to explore Australian fathers’ work-family experiences to investigate how workplaces have (or have not) supported fathers to combine work and care, before, during and since the pandemic. We use a qualitative phenomenological study design; data are collected using in-depth semi-structured interviews with fathers of child(ren) aged 0–18 years, employed in an organisation.

Our research will provide critical insight into how organisations can enable fathers to combine work and family, to provide parents of all genders with more equal opportunities to engage in work and care-giving roles.

Research team: Stacey Hokke, Sharinne Crawford, Shannon Bennetts, Jasmine Love, Jan Nicholson, Amanda Cooklin; in collaboration with Liana Leach, The Australian National University

Funding for this study was provided by La Trobe's Transforming Human Societies Research Focus Area Grant Ready Scheme.

Summary of study findings

Identifying the adverse effects of poor-quality jobs and work-family conflict on parents and children

This ongoing, collaborative program of research uses available national, longitudinal and cohort data to identify the adverse effects of poor-quality jobs, work-family conflict, and time pressure on families across the life-course.

In 2022, we published four papers. The first investigated the links between time pressure and mental and physical health for recent mothers (child age <5 yrs) participating in the Millennium Mums survey. A second paper used prospective data collected from employees working at home to explore work-family conflict and health. Two further papers used data from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children, one investigating work-study conflicts and mental health associations for employed (secondary and tertiary) students; and one explored the link between exposure to early-life inter-parental conflict and later socio-emotional development for children.

The study uses data from over 5,000 employed parents and their children (Longitudinal Study of Australian Children, collected since 2004).

Research team: Amanda Cooklin, Jan Nicholson; in collaboration with Liana Leach, Lyndall Strazdins, Yixuan Zhao, Tianying Wang, Australian National University; Belinda Hewitt, University of Melbourne; Mara Yerkes, Utrecht University, The Netherlands; Rebecca Giallo, Deakin University

Funding for this study was provided by the Australian Research Council (A Cooklin Future Fellowship FT200100209)

Publications:

• Giallo, R., Seymour, M., Treyvaud, K., Christensen, D., Cook, F., Feinberg, M., Brown, S., & Cooklin, A. (2022). Interparental Conflict Across the Early Parenting Period: Evidence From Fathers Participating in an Australian Population-Based Study. Journal of Family Issues, 43(7), 1760-1781. https://doi.org/10.1177/0192513X211030042
• Giallo, R., Seymour, M., Fogarty, A., Feinberg, M., Christensen, D., Gartland, D., Wood, C., Brown, S. J., & Cooklin, A. (2022). Trajectories of interparental conflict and children's emotional-behavioural functioning at 10-11 years: an Australian population-based study. European child & adolescent psychiatry, 31(4), 625–635. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-020-01700-7
• Zhao, Y., Cooklin, A. R., Richardson, A., Strazdins, L., Butterworth, P., & Leach, L. S. (2020). Parents’ Shift Work in Connection with Work–Family Conflict and Mental Health: Examining the Pathways for Mothers and Fathers. Journal of Family Issues, 42(2), 445-473. https://doi.org/10.1177/0192513X20929059
• Ramakrishna, S., Cooklin, A. R., & Leach, L. S. (2019). Comorbid anxiety and depression: a community-based study examining symptomology and correlates during the postpartum period. Journal of reproductive and infant psychology, 37(5), 468–479. https://doi.org/10.1080/02646838.2019.1578870  
• Nguyen, C. D., Strazdins, L., Nicholson, J. M., & Cooklin, A. R. (2018). Impact of missing data strategies in studies of parental employment and health: Missing items, missing waves, and missing mothers. Social science & medicine, 209, 160–168. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2018.03.009
• Dinh, H., Cooklin, A. R., Leach, L. S., Westrupp, E. M., Nicholson, J. M., & Strazdins, L. (2017). Parents' transitions into and out of work-family conflict and children's mental health: Longitudinal influence via family functioning. Social science & medicine, 194, 42–50. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2017.10.017  
• Cooklin, A. R., Dinh, H., Strazdins, L., Westrupp, E., Leach, L. S., & Nicholson, J. M. (2016). Change and stability in work-family conflict and mothers' and fathers' mental health: Longitudinal evidence from an Australian cohort. Social science & medicine, 155, 24–34. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2016.02.036
• Cooklin, A. R., Westrupp, E. M., Strazdins, L., Giallo, R., Martin, A., & Nicholson, J. M. (2016). Fathers at work: Work–family conflict, work–family enrichment and parenting in an Australian cohort. Journal of Family Issues, 37(11), 1611–1635. https://doi.org/10.1177/0192513X14553054  
• Westrupp, E.M., Strazdins, L., Martin, A., Cooklin, A., Zubrick, S.R. and Nicholson, J.M. (2016), Maternal Work–Family Conflict and Psychological Distress: Reciprocal Relationships Over 8 Years. J. Marriage Fam, 78: 107-126. https://doi.org/10.1111/jomf.12262

Exploring if gender and parent status matter in ‘upwards support’ for managers at work.

This project aims to investigate whether stereotypes about ‘working mothers’ influence the support managers receive from their staff in the workplace. Based on gender role theory, we hypothesize that asking for support may serve as a penalty for mothers but not for men and fathers in supervisory roles.

This project is a collaboration between researchers in Germany, Singapore, Norway and Australia.

Research team: Amanda Cooklin; in collaboration with Nina Junker, Goethe University, Frankfurt; Wendy Nilsen, Oslo Metropolitan University; Eunae Cho, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

This project aims to highlight new possibilities to  reduce parents’ work-family conflicts. Covid-19 brought an unprecedented disruption to Australian parents' work-care routines, with different effects for women, and those working ‘at work’ versus at home. Using mixed-methods approaches and multiple Australian datasets collected pre- and post-pandemic, this unique project intends to identify families who are at risk of longer-term scarring to family wellbeing from work-care conflicts; and critical workplace supports which may prevent this. Together, this urgently-needed evidence contributes to family-friendly work for diverse parents, employers and policy, protecting social and economic participation for Australian parents.

Research Team: Amanda Cooklin, Liana Leach (ANU), Stacey Hokke, Jodi Oakman (La Trobe) Rebecca Giallo (Deakin) and Jan Nicholson

This program received funding from the Australian Research Council, 2023-2025

Policy Brief

Summary of findings from interviews with parents about working from home

Publications:

• Leach, L., Doan, T., Giallo, R., Love, J., Hokke, S., Oakman, J., Findley, H., Nicholson, J. M., & Cooklin, A. R. (2025). Disruption and inequity in work, family and mental health: a longitudinal study of Australian mothers before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. BMC Public Health, 25(1), 2292. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-025-23503-8
• Weale, V., Lambert, K. A., Stuckey, R., Graham, M., Cooklin, A., & Oakman, J. (2022). Working From Home During COVID-19: Does Work-Family Conflict Mediate the Relationship Between Workplace Characteristics, Job Satisfaction, and General Health?. Journal of occupational and environmental medicine, 64(10), 848–855. https://doi.org/10.1097/JOM.0000000000002635

This project is an international collaboration and aims to investigate whether stereotypes about ‘working mothers’ influence the support managers receive from their staff in the workplace.  Based on gender role theory, we hypothesize that asking for practical support at work may serve as a penalty for women and mothers, but not for men and fathers, in supervisory roles. It is a collaboration between researchers in Germany, Singapore, Norway and Australia, with data collected in each setting to yield cross-national comparisons. In 2022, we completed further fieldwork in Germany and Norway to add to the original sample (collected in 2020) and analyses are underway.

Research team:  Amanda Cooklin, Stacey Hokke; in collaboration with Nina Junker and Wendy Nilsen, Oslo Metropolitan University, Norway; Eunae Cho, Taipei Medical University, Taiwan

Publications:

• Nilsen, W., Nordberg, T., Drange, I., Junker, N. M., Aksnes, S. Y., Cooklin, A., Cho, E., Habib, L. M. A., Hokke, S., Olson-Buchanan, J. B., & Bernstrøm, V. H. (2024). Boundary-crossing ICT use – A scoping review of the current literature and a road map for future research. Computers in Human Behavior Reports, 15, 100444  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chbr.2024.100444

This project aims to identify the priority job stressors that impact working families' wellbeing and child development, and to generate innovative job-based strategies to reduce work-family conflicts for working parents. Conflicts between work and family are common in Australia, reported by one in three parents. These affect productivity, family relationships and ultimately, child development. Evidence reveals that employers have struggled to implement family-friendly practices despite recent national policy initiatives. Using national cohort data and industry partnerships, this project investigates solutions to this urgent national dilemma to benefit those most affected by parents' job stressors – working parents and their children.

Researcher:  Amanda Cooklin

This project was funded by ARC Future Fellowship 2021-2025

Publications:

• Wang, T., Butterworth, P., Cooklin, A., Strazdins, L., & Leach, L. (2025). Investigating the association between Work Family Conflict (WFC) and Major Depression Disorder (MDD). Journal of occupational and environmental medicine, 10.1097/JOM.0000000000003448. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1097/JOM.0000000000003448
• Wang, T., Butterworth, P., Cooklin, A., Strazdins, L., & Leach, L. (2025). Investigating the association between work family conflict (WFC) and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) in an Australian community-based cohort study. Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology, 60(2), 463–473. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-024-02672-8
• McCredie, K., Hokke, S., Leach, L. S., & Cooklin, A. R. (2025). Longitudinal associations between parents' job characteristics, parenting, and adolescent academic outcomes. Family Relations, 74(1), 197–214. https://doi.org/10.1111/fare.13098
• Wang, T., Butterworth, P., Cooklin, A., Strazdins, L., & Leach, L. (2024). Investigating the association between Work Family Conflicts (WFC) and suicidal ideation in an Australian community-based cohort study. Journal of affective disorders, 363, 483–491. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2024.07.047 
• Wang, T., Cooklin, A., Strazdins, L., Zhao, Y., & Leach, L. (2023). What are the potential impacts of work-study conflict for adolescents’ mental health? Findings from a national Australian cohort study. Community, Work & Family, 27(3), 321–338. https://doi.org/10.1080/13668803.2022.2163880
• Zhao, Y., Cooklin, A., Butterworth, P., Strazdins, L., & Leach, L. S. (2021). How does working nonstandard hours impact psychological resources important for parental functioning? Evidence from an Australian longitudinal cohort study. SSM - population health, 16, 100931. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssmph.2021.100931
• Dinh, H., Martin, A., Leach, L., Strazdins, L., Nicholson, J., Allen, T., & Cooklin, A. (2021). Is self-employment a good option? Gender, parents and the work-family interface. Sex Roles: A Journal of Research, 84(11-12), 731–746. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-020-01195-1
• Leach, L. S., Dinh, H., Cooklin, A., Nicholson, J. M., & Strazdins, L. (2021). Australian parents' work-family conflict: accumulated effects on children's family environment and mental health. Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology, 56(4), 571–581. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-020-01944-3