Identification and verification of demands and resources within a work–life fit framework: evidence from the Australian construction industry

Demands and resources are central to work–life fit. However, they are often not clearly defined within the work–life literature, lack consistency and/or are ambiguous or too narrowly defined. Furthermore, there has been more emphasis on the work and family domains, while the community domain has often been excluded. In seeking to better understand the work–life experience of individuals, interviews were held with nine construction workers to review and verify a full set of specific demands and resources originating in the work, family and community domains in a specific Australian industry. There was evidence of an additional domain of work–life strain relating to personal activities. A total of 112 demands and resources were identified in the research. The structure and nature of work undertaken in the construction industry is different from that in many other industries, therefore the demands and resources identified through the study may not be generalizable to other industries. However, the methodological approach may be applied in other industries to explore industry-specific demands and resources across the work, home, community and personal domains.