Linking household income and work–family conflict: a moderated mediation study

Research on the work-family interface has not often explored the role of structural characteristics such as income in the associations among work stressors, work-family conflict and family stressors. The goal of this study was to examine household income as a moderator of the relations among these variables. Results from a nationally (US) representative sample of 1472 employed individuals who were married with children indicate that the relations between work-to-family interference and family strain were stronger for individuals with lower household incomes than for those with higher household incomes. Furthermore, family strain was more strongly associated with family-to-work interference for individuals in low-income households. Household income did not moderate other relations examined in the study. Potential explanations for these moderating effects are discussed, along with their implications for the generalizability of findings in the work-family literature across contexts.