The dilemma of work-family balance for the dual-career couples with child/children: qualitative evidence from Bangladesh based on Family Systems Theory

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this qualitative study is to identify and highlight the challenges faced by the dual-career couples with one or multiple child/children in maintaining their work–family balance based on family systems theory.

Design/methodology/approach

The author purposely selected 26 families (52 participants) in Bangladesh where both husbands and wives work on a full-time basis having one or multiple child/children. The author used focus group discussion (FGD) technique to identify the challenges encountered by them.

Findings

After summarising the FGD results, the study identified several challenges faced by those dual-career couples, such as inability to differentiate between professional and family lives, lack of quality time for partners/children, challenges to raise children, lack of childcare centres and lack of professionalism of care workers; and tension and anxiety for their child/children while at offices.

Originality/value

The author expects the results of this qualitative study to be conductive as groundwork for upcoming research studies concerning dual-career couples with child/children. The author also hopes that such results will assist the human resource managers in efficiently crafting and executing some policies regarding dual-career couples with one or multiple child/children.

Citation

Hosain, M.S. (2025), "The dilemma of work-family balance for the dual-career couples with child/children: qualitative evidence from Bangladesh based on Family Systems Theory", International Journal of Organizational Analysis, Vol. 33 No. 1, pp. 25-42. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJOA-11-2023-4096