Family-friendly policy evolution: a bibliometric study

Abstract

Abstract This paper uses the bibliometric method to analyze the basic characteristics and disciplinary knowledge structure of family-friendly policy research, as well as research hotspots and trends. The basic data source is the literature in the Web of Science Core Collection from 1985 to 2022. The following findings were obtained. First, the number of publications and citations in this field have increased exponentially, with scholars and research institutions from the US dominating the field of family-friendly policy research. Second, family-friendly policy research has been concentrated in the fields of management, sociology, and psychology, with a gradual trend toward cross-disciplinary integration, but a core group of authors has yet to be formed. Third, most of the family-friendly policy research has been conducted at the organizational level to explore the impact of family-friendly policies, with married women as the main research object. Finally, current family-friendly policy research focuses on policy fairness, childcare services, employee satisfaction, and work flexibility. Future research should focus on the dynamics of family-friendly policies and the empirical analysis of cross-level integration to improve the matching of policies with employee orientation. This study fills an analytical gap in the integration of family-friendly policies and scientometrics, proposes an expandable field of family-friendly policy research and research methods, and provides references and insights for future family-friendly policy research and practice.