KNOWLEDGE, RESOURCES AND SUPPORT AFFECT WORKING WOMEN'S MENTAL AND PHYSICAL HEALTH DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Abstract

It is demanding for female employees to balance duties to their family and job. They experience issues juggling demands and pressures at home and work that cause daily stress, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. The escalation of their stress level affected both their physical and mental health. Thus, this study investigated the impact of work and family life balance on working women’s health. Five hundred-one working women from Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia, and Singapore participated in the study. The influence of three independent variables - knowledge, support, and resources –concerning their health was examined. The findings indicated that knowledge, resources, and support have positive and significant relationships with physical and mental health. It indicates that the model has substantial predictive relevance. This positive relationship of knowledge, resources, and support with health exhibits that women employees would be able to balance their work life and family life better if they had or were provided with sufficient and relevant knowledge, resources, and support from family at home as well as the people from office – subordinates or superiors. This study has some limitations in terms of the number of respondents from each country and the industry chosen. The study must be expanded to a more extensive and varied population and industry to generalize the findings. The variables chosen were relevant for the study. Perhaps other variables, such as coping strategies, should be introduced into the model for future study.