Date of Award

Fall 11-18-2020

Document Type

Undergraduate Honors Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Business Administration in Business Administration

Department

Business Administration

Advisor

Dr. Eileen Daspro

Abstract

Around the world people must work for a living, but also must raise their families. To balance these obligations, parents need high levels of support. But the existence of family friendly work policies, defined as paid parental leave and affordable, high-quality childcare, vary significantly across nations, making it difficult for many to obtain the necessary support. Research indicates that countries providing supportive family friendly policies see economic benefits, increases in profitability, and stronger overall youth development. Even though research reveals strong positive outcomes, there is a deficiency of exploration into why more countries still lack comprehensive policies that support working parents, specifically women. Most existing research focuses on how economic barriers, like high financial costs, impact mandating national family friendly work policies. This study is unique in that it instead explores the relation between national cultural values, defined by the Hofstede model of national culture, and the presence of family friendly policies across nations. The study examines the relationship between individualism and the amount of federal paid leave provided to mothers and fathers, and the relationship between masculinity and the amount of federal paid leave provided to mothers and fathers. The study hypothesizes that countries with higher individualism scores will provide less paid leave to parents, and countries with higher masculinity scores will provide less paid leave to parents. These will be tested using a Pearson correlation. The results of the study will help identify whether cultural values may play a role in the existence of family friendly policies globally.

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