Stability and Change in Negative Work-Life Spillover among American Adults

Katherine Y. Lin, University of Michigan

Changes to American workplaces and families in the latter half of the 20th century have led to an increase in the number of individuals assuming multiple roles in both the work and family domain. Researchers have documented how participation in one domain can have negative consequences for the other – a phenomenon labeled negative spillover. Despite its high prevalence, our understanding of negative spillover is still developing. As such, we ask, how do reports of spillover evolve as an individual ages and transitions into different life stages? We examine individuals’ reports of negative spillover over a ten-year period in a nationally representative sample of U.S. adults (National Survey of Midlife in the U.S. (MIDUS I and II) (N=2,044)). Fixed effects estimates show that individuals moving into and out of different work and family responsibilities report changes in negative spillover, and that these changes differ by gender.