Return on Investment of a Work-Family Intervention: Evidence From the Work, Family, and Health Network.
OBJECTIVE
To estimate the return on investment (ROI) of a workplace initiative to reduce work-family conflict in a group-randomized 18-month field experiment in an information technology firm in the United States.


METHODS
Intervention resources were micro-costed; benefits included medical costs, productivity (presenteeism), and turnover. Regression models were used to estimate the ROI, and cluster-robust bootstrap was used to calculate its confidence interval.


RESULTS
For each participant, model-adjusted costs of the intervention were $690 and company savings were $1850 (2011 prices). The ROI was 1.68 (95% confidence interval, -8.85 to 9.47) and was robust in sensitivity analyses.


CONCLUSIONS
The positive ROI indicates that employers' investment in an intervention to reduce work-family conflict can enhance their business. Although this was the first study to present a confidence interval for the ROI, results are comparable with the literature.
From the Behavioral Health Economics Program (Dr Barbosa), RTI International, Chicago, Ill; Department of Economics (Dr Bray), University of North Carolina at Greensboro; Behavioral Health Economics Program (Mr Dowd and Mr Mills), RTI International, Research Triangle Park, NC; Department of Sociology (Drs Moen and Kelly), University of Minnesota, Minneapolis; Oregon Institute of Occupational Health Sciences (Drs Wipfli and Olson); and Department of Public Health and Preventive Medicine (Dr Olson), Oregon Health & Science University, and Department of Psychology, Portland State University, Ore.
Carolina
C
Barbosa
Jeremy W
JW
Bray
William N
WN
Dowd
Michael J
MJ
Mills
Phyllis
P
Moen
Brad
B
Wipfli
Ryan
R
Olson
Erin L
EL
Kelly
D000328:Adult; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis / Q000379:methods*; D005190:Family; D005260:Female; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000191:economics*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016272:Occupational Health / Q000191:economics*; D014940:Work Schedule Tolerance