The Work Family Life Balance Of Married Working Women During The Time Of Covid-19

Abstract

This present study aimed to investigate the experiences of married working women regarding the Work-Family life balance (WFLB) during the time of lockdown during the Covid-19 pandemic. Three main objectives were explored in this research. Firstly, it explored the understanding of WFLB among married working women. Then, it explored the challenges faced by women in attaining WFLB during the lockdown period. Lastly, the coping strategies were explored and adopted by women to attain WFLB during the time of lockdown. The qualitative research methodology was used for the present research. A purposive sampling technique was used to select the sample of 12 married teachers from Government College University (GCU), Lahore. In-depth interviews were conducted as a method of data collection and an in-depth interview guide was used as a data collection tool. Saturation was achieved during the tenth, eleventh and twelfth interviews. The research findings indicate various conflicting situations during work from home which are further categorized into three categories i.e. work-life challenges, family-life challenges and challenges related to mental wellbeing. However, findings also reveal that women were able to achieve WFLB by adopting coping strategies such as compromising in situations, time management,  seeking help from family, seeking help from organizations and religiosity.