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Perceived Fairness of a Child-care Subsidy in a Temporary Agency: An Equity Theory Approach

The purpose of this study was to extend research findings on perceived equity into the context of the contingent workforce by examining employees' perceived fairness of a child-care subsidy (i.e., distributive justice perception) in a temporary employment agency. The variables of interest to the study were perceived fairness, comparison other, input importance, organizational responsibility and family-friendliness. The variables were examined on three levels of subsidy status (i.e., subsidy group, parents/no-subsidy group, and nonparents group). A cover letter and a questionnaire regarding perceived fairness of the child-care subsidy were mailed to all employees who had worked for the temporary agency in the last three years. In addition, a stamped self addressed envelope was attached, so respondents could mail the questionnaire directly to the researcher within 2 weeks. Respondents were instructed to anonymously answer the entire questionnaire, and to indicate the degree of their agreement or disagreement with respect to each of the statements in the questionnaire. Findings are based on 64 survey responses, which represented a return rate of 9.5%. The data were analyzed using separate analyses of variance and regression analyses. Results indicated significant differences among parents with subsidy, parents without subsidy and non-parents on their perceived importance of inputs such as level of education, hours per week and "other'' inputs (i.e., client satisfaction and work environment). Specifically, parents without subsidy perceived the level of education and the number of hours worked per week as more important inputs than did either the non-parents and the parents with subsidy. However, non-parents perceived the level of education and the number of hours worked per week as more important inputs than did the parents with subsidy. Furthermore, non-parents and parents without the subsidy perceived "other'' inputs as more important input than did the parents with subsidy. Significant differences were also found between the subsidy group and no-subsidy group and perceived fairness. Specifically, the subsidy group perceived the child care subsidy as more fair than the no-subsidy group (i.e., parents without subsidy and non-parents). A significant interaction of the effect of family-friendliness on the relationship between subsidy status and perceived fairness was also found.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:pdx.edu/oai:pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu:open_access_etds-5982
Date01 December 1995
CreatorsBermudez, Pamela
PublisherPDXScholar
Source SetsPortland State University
Detected LanguageEnglish
Typetext
Formatapplication/pdf
SourceDissertations and Theses

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