Abstract
Although work-family issues have received nascent attention in the hospitality industry due to their value to stakeholders (e.g., organizations, employees, and their families), the existing literature is not conclusive. And there is a need to seek ways of creating work-family support to help employees balance between work and family spheres. Taking a systematic review approach aided by structured synthesis and meta-analysis across disciplines, this research provides a comprehensive conceptual model of work-family support literature. The model includes formal work-family support policies, supporting theories, and outcomes on multiple levels, thus representing the relational mechanisms of key variables. By doing so, this study presents the current status of hospitality literature. It offers valuable future research avenues: increased academic attention to a need for more research on work-family support policy in the hospitality industry, a call for studies on childcare policies, and a comprehensive perspective of work-family issues by taking into account individual differences of employees, various countries as a research context, and far-reaching outcomes of work-family support policies.
•This study assesses the current status of workplace work-family support research.•A systematic literature review on the topic was performed both within and outside of the hospitality discipline.•A conceptual framework on mechanism of key ariables and supporting theories was developed.•Meaningful research gaps in and future research directions are discussed.