Work–family conflict in context: The impact of structural and perceived neighborhood disadvantage on work–family conflict q Marisa Young ⇑ McMaster University, Canada article info Article history: Received 28 October 2013 Revised 3 December 2014 Accepted 5 December 2014 Available online 13 December 2014 Keywords: Work–family conflict Neighborhood disadvantage Sense of control Multilevel modeling Perceived disorder abstract Despite increasing levels of work–family conflict (WFC) among North Americans, few scholars examine the broader contexts in which these conflicts occur. I address this gap by examining how the neighborhood of residence impacts WFC, with a focus on social inequality and disadvantage across neighborhoods. I hypothesize that neighborhood disadvantage may impact WFC directly—by introducing ambient stressors that inhibit individuals from successfully balancing competing domain demands, and indirectly—by undermining the psychological resources that would combat the harmful effects of disad- vantaged contexts. Using individual and census-level data from Canada, I consider both objective and subjective measures of neighborhood disadvantage and find that, overall, individuals in more disadvantaged neighborhoods are worse off because these contexts increase WFC, while reducing the psychological resources that would otherwise buffer these deleterious effects. However, some of these associations vary by gender. I discuss the broader implications of these findings for neighborhood effects and WFC research. Ó 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Difficulty balancing time and behavioral-based obligations across work and family domains is becoming more common among North Americans (Aumann et al., 2011; Duxbury et al., 2008; Nomaguchi, 2009). These competing expectations result in what scholars refer to as work–family conflict (WFC) (Greenhaus and Beutell, 1985). From a mental health perspective, WFC can be conceptualized as a chronic stressor which, defined by the Stress Process Model, is embedded within the broader social context (Pearlin et al., 1981; Young and Wheaton, 2013). Given that WFC involves multiple role domains (e.g., work, family), it may be influenced by multiple social contexts depending on when and where exposure to conflict occurs. I focus on one such context—the neighborhood of residence. I argue that this is where individuals spend the majority of their time, and where they are most likely to experience WFC—especially interference of ‘‘work’’ expectations with ‘‘family’’ obligations, given that the family unit is physically embedded within the broader neighborhood of residence. Previous research on the topic tends to neglect the impact of neighborhood context on WFC, despite strong evidence of neighborhood effects on related outcomes, including family conflict, marital satisfaction, and well-being (Aneshensel and http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ssresearch.2014.12.001 0049-089X/Ó 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. q Grants awarded by Canadian Institute for Health Research Grant MOP-84439 and the Social Science and Health Research Council Grant 410-2007-1499 (Blair Wheaton, Patricia O’Campo, P.I’s). ⇑ Address: Department of Sociology, McMaster University, 1280 Main St. W. Hamilton, Ontario L8S 4M4, Canada. E-mail address: myoung@mcmaster.ca Social Science Research 50 (2015) 311–327 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Social Science Research journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ssresearch