How We Can Help Working Moms “Win”: The Impact of Social Support During Pregnancy on Postpartum Working Mom Guilt

Using signaling theory, this research examines the role that social support during pregnancy plays in reducing work–family guilt upon returning to work after maternity leave. Specifically, we consider four sources of social support (two from the work domain: supervisor and coworkers; and two from the non-work domain: spouse and friends) and the signaling effect they have on a mother’s work–family guilt upon returning to work after maternity leave and her subsequent job and family satisfaction. Based on a sample of 247 women who completed surveys both before taking maternity leave and upon returning to the workforce, we found that supervisor, coworker, and friend support enhanced job satisfaction through reduced work-induced guilt. Further, both supervisor and spouse support contributed to family satisfaction through reduced family-induced guilt. Spouse support reduced family-induced guilt significantly more than coworker support, offering some modest support for domain specificity. Further, when considering the interaction of within-domain effects, we found that the work domain sources of support interact to provide a stronger effect on job satisfaction, but the non-work domain sources do not interact significantly. This provides an enlightening look at social support’s different roles in working mom guilt during a pivotal time in a woman’s life, her return to work after childbirth.