Media Release
June 28 2008
Work-life pressure crunches families and singles
New
research on how Australians are managing to balance work and life
demands shows that men working long hours are suffering more from work
life pressures, but women working the same hours as men, have even worse
outcomes.
The latest study from UniSA’s Centre for Work + Life found that more than half of all those included in the representative national survey of 2831 workers conducted in April, felt that work sometimes, often or almost always interfered with activities outside work.
The report Work, Life and Workplace Culture is authored by Dr Natalie Skinner and Professor Barbara Pocock. They say the study reveals that work-life issues are causing stress for many people beyond the traditional “working family”.
“We’ve found many men and women without children are negatively affected too,” Prof Pocock says.
“More than half of all people surveyed said they often or almost always felt rushed or pressed for time – that is six out of 10 women and seven out of 10 mothers. The worst outcomes are experienced by people in lower income households as well as those in the upper end of the income scale. Mid-rangers, those on salaries between $30k and $90k are faring a little better.”
Prof Pocock said while there seemed to be a lot of focus on work pressure for professional and managerial workers, the study results suggests low income households need some attention too.
Almost half of the respondents said they had low flexibility in their jobs, over half felt that they often had too much work to do, and more than one in five worked long hours.
More than half of the respondents said there was a poor fit between their actual and preferred working hours (defined as at least four hours different from preferred hours) and three-quarters of those wanted to work less.
The study found that workers who lack flexibility, have an unsupportive boss, are overloaded, put in long hours, or work different hours than they would prefer, have much worse work-life outcomes than others.
Working on weekends or nights is also associated with worse work-life outcomes.
“Part-time workers are better off than full-time or long-hours workers, so measures to increase quality part-time work or reduce long hours are likely to be helpful,” Prof Pocock says.
“What is interesting is that the much touted ‘work flexibility’ revolution of the past 20 years has just not delivered for many workers. We are hearing that long hours, weekend and night work, as well as casual work are delivering worse work-life outcomes.”
Professor Pocock said while most people are positive about the support they receive from supervisors, more than a third of employees surveyed said they were expected to prioritise work over personal/family life. Men felt the impact of this slightly more than women.
“The strongest work-life effects arise from an unsupportive organisational culture and work overload, so employers who provide employee-centred flexibility and reasonable workloads can make a difference,” she said.
The research is funded by the Governments of South Australia, Victoria and Western Australia (through its Department of Health Advisory Committee on Work Life Balance) and the Australian Research Council.
The report Work,
Life and Workplace Culture is being launched by the
SA Minister
for Industrial Relations, Employment, Training and Further Education,
Paul Caica, at the Hilton Hotel in Adelaide at 9.30am on Tuesday
July 29, 2008.
Professor Pocock will present the main findings and Ms Cheryl Davenport,
Chair of the WA Department of Health Advisory Committee on Work Life
Balance will speak on the implications of the research for governments
and employers.
Contacts for interview
- Professor Barbara Pocock mobile 0414 244 606 email barbara.pocock@unisa.edu.au
- Chair WA Department of Health Advisory Committee on Work Life Balance, Cheryl Davenport mobile 0418 936 642
Media contact
-
Michèle Nardelli office (08) 8302 0966 mobile 0418 823 673
email michele.nardelli@unisa.edu.au