Multi-Level Sources of Work-Life Balance: Evidence from the Public Health Sector in Tanzania

Purpose - This study aims at examining different sources of work-life balance support using survey data obtained from the public health sector employees in Tanzania. We further explore gender differences in employees’ work-life balance satisfaction, investigating how male and female workers perceive different levels of work-life balance support depending on whether work-life balance support comes from government, organization, direct supervisor, or family.

Design/methodology/approach - A quantitative study was carried out among 253 full-time male(N= 108) and female(N=145) employees in the Tanzanian public hospital employees. The hierarchical multiple regression analyses were conducted to analyze the data.

Findings - We find strong support for our hypotheses. Employee satisfaction with work-life balance is significantly related to each and every support he or she obtains from different, multi-level entities, that is, government, organization, direct supervisor, or family. Moreover, our findings suggest that female and male slightly differ in their perceived level of work-life balance support and this difference appears varied contingent on sources of work-life balance support.

Research implications or Originality - This study responds to explicit calls for understanding divergent sources of work-life balance satisfaction and gender differences in such phenomenon. The current study using the context of public health sectors in Tanzania is expected to contribute to shedding better light on the contextual factors shaping gender differences in employees’ work-life balance satisfaction, with theoretical as well as practical implications for organizations and policy makers in their endeavors toward designing more effective work-life balance measures.