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Does Family‐Friendly Policy Matter? Testing Its Impact on Turnover and Performance
Author(s) -
Lee SooYoung,
Hong Jeong Hwa
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
public administration review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.721
H-Index - 139
eISSN - 1540-6210
pISSN - 0033-3352
DOI - 10.1111/j.1540-6210.2011.02416.x
Subject(s) - subsidy , family friendly , agency (philosophy) , turnover , work (physics) , business , child care , public economics , demographic economics , labour economics , economics , medicine , nursing , management , engineering , mechanical engineering , market economy , philosophy , epistemology
This study investigates the relative effects of four types of family‐friendly policies—child care subsidies, paid leave for family care, telework, and alternative work schedules—on turnover rates and effectiveness in federal agencies. Contemporary social exchange theory predicts that an agency’s average level of satisfaction with a specific family‐friendly policy is negatively associated with turnover in the agency but positively associated with overall performance. This analysis differs from common expectations. Only child care subsidies show a positive, significant influence on reducing turnover. Child care subsidies and alternative work schedules reflect positive and significant influences on agency effectiveness. Ironically, an agency’s average satisfaction with telework arrangements proves to be a significant but negative effect on performance.