How Gender Differences and Role Expectations Shape Work-Family Conflict in Remote-Working Parents: A Mixed-Methods Study in Japan

Working parents face significant challenges in balancing work and childcare, which often results in work-family conflict (WFC). Previous work suggests that remote work complicates the management of boundaries between work and home, but WFC among remote working parents remains underexplored. To address this gap, we conducted an online survey (n=1,200) and semi-structured interviews (n=20) with remote workers in Japan with children paying close attention to gender differences. We found that remote-working mothers experience a higher WFC, but a spouse’s understanding of their work role and alignment with the expectations of the management of their work-family role are related to a lower WFC for both genders. In addition, an interaction analysis showed that remote working mothers face higher WFC than fathers, especially when work-centric or eager to conform to workplace norms. Given these findings, we discuss design implications for technologies that support the management of work-family roles for parenting remote workers.