Work–Life Balance, Organizations and Social Sustainability: Analyzing Female Telework in Spain

Abstract

The concept of work&ndash ; life balance has recently established itself as a key component on route maps drawn up in the pursuit of social sustainability, both on a local scale, represented by individual organizations, and on a more general one, represented by global institutions such as the United Nations. Our article analyzes telework&rsquo ; s use as a political tool within organizations that either boost or hinder the development of social sustainability. Additionally, we propose the notion of &ldquo ; life sustainability&rdquo ; to analyze how female teleworkers describe the link between specific work cultures and the possibility of fulfilling social sustainability goals in local work environments through the achievement of a good work&ndash ; life balance. Our research was performed following a qualitative approach, drawing from a sample of 24 individual interviews and 10 focus groups with a total of 48 participants, all of which are female teleworkers with family responsibilities. Our main findings allow us to summarize the interviewees&rsquo ; social perceptions into two categories, which we have dubbed &lsquo ; life sustainability ecologies&rsquo ; and &lsquo ; presence-based ecologies&rsquo ; . We conclude by discussing female teleworkers&rsquo ; claim that work&ndash ; life balance is directly linked to social sustainability and that the latter goal will remain out of reach as long as the issue of balance goes unresolved.