Improvements and Deteriorations in Work-Life Balance Among LGBTQ Young Adults

• In Event: 20469 - Early Life Course Dynamics

Abstract

Past studies showed that people experience changes in their work-life balance (WLB) over the life course. Many of these changes occur during family transitions, for example, when people start an intimate relationship, get married, and become a parent. However, these studies were based on general populations, where heterosexual, cisgender people comprise the majority, and it remains unclear to what extent these family transitions are relevant to LGBTQ people’s WLB changes. Previous studies of the LGBTQ people underscored that workplace heteronormativity increases their emotional workload and undermines their WLB, but these studies focused on LGBTQ people’s current WLB and could not address their WLB changes. The present paper seeks to fill these gaps in the literature by analyzing in-depth interview data from a longitudinal study of LGBTQ young adults. The analysis showed that many factors that shifted LGBTQ people’s WLB are intertwined with their sexual and gender identities (e.g., accumulating stress on identity-inspired careers such as DEI, renouncing those careers, moving to LGBTQ-friendly cities). As found in the broader population, family transitions shifted WLB, but those transitions operated in different ways for LGBTQ people, who had unique family expectations and career histories. The results also highlighted that the subjective meaning of work, nonwork life, and WLB changed with age, and that these changes were intertwined with sexual and gender identities.

Authors

• Koji Ueno, Florida State University

• Hope Mimbs, Florida State University

• Tomas Sanjuan, Florida State University

• Rachael N. Dominguez, Florida State University

• Skyler K. Bastow, Florida State University