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FORUM on Corrections Research
The Challenge of Balancing Work and Family
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In 1951, less than one quarter of Canadian women worked for pay outside the home. By 1987, more than
half did, and the Conference Board of Canada estimates that, by 1993, almost two thirds of Canadian
women will work for pay outside the home. This tremendous influx of women into the paid labour force has had, and will continue to have, an impact on family and work domains for both men and women. Thirty years ago, when most women worked in the home, men may have counted on their wives to manage the family aspects of their lives. Today, with more and more women working outside the home, work and family roles for men and women need shuffling. A recent study of public service employees explored how the changing relationship between family and work affected organizations, families and employees. The study also examined the effects of alternative work arrangements (such as flexible hours and work locations) in helping staff juggle family and work demands. Sponsored by the Department of Health and Welfare, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and the National Centre for Management Research and Development, the project surveyed 5,921 randomly selected public-sector employees working in six departments in the National Capital Region. The 19-page, 57-question survey yielded a wealth of information about their work and families, only a fraction of which can be reported here. Sample About half the sample were women. The average age of subjects was about 40 years; however, the men in the sample were older than the women on average (41.6 years versus 37.8 years). Three quarters of the sample were married or living with a partner at the time of the survey. Significantly more men than women were married (80% versus 67%). Two thirds of respondents had children at home. Of these, one quarter had children who were younger than school age (under five years old). Men in the sample were more likely than women to have children at home (70% versus 62%), but the average number (about two) and age (about 13) of children at home were similar for both men and women. In the vast majority of families represented in this sample (87%), both the husband and wife worked for pay. Only 13% of respondents were members of traditional families where the male was the "breadwinner" and the female was the homemaker. About 11% of respondents were single parents; of these, two thirds were women and one third were men. The Work Domain These public sector employees worked an average of eight-and-a-half hours per day. Most (55.6%) had the traditional 9-to-S workday, but women were significantly more likely than men to work traditional hours (60% versus 51%). Both men and women found the 9-to-5 workday to be less appealing than flexible hours, compressed work weeks and work-at-home arrangements. About 42% of the sample worked under some type of arrangement that allowed them work-time flexibility - approximately 25% had flexible work hours, and about 17% worked a compressed work week. A notable proportion of the sample regularly devoted enough time to work that their family life was affected - 25% worked overtime at home. In fact, on average, 22% worked more than 10 hours per day or approximately 52 hours per week, excluding time spent working on weekends. These figures are above the national average. Although men were more likely than women to work overtime on workdays (25% versus 19%), women who did work overtime spent significantly more time at it than men. This finding was true of all three types of overtime work examined in the study (work at home on workdays, and work at home or at the office on non-workdays). Individuals who had access to a lap-top computer, a personal computer or a modem at home spent approximately one hour a day at home using the computer for work-related activities. These individuals said they did so to help fit work in around family demands, to meet deadlines and to increase their productivity. The Family Domain On average, respondents in this study spent just over two hours per workday on home chores and errands. Despite the increase in women 5 participation in the labour force, there has been little concurrent change in the division of labour at home: women still performed the majority of housework and child-care tasks. Women in this study spent significantly more time on home chores than men (2.6 hours per workday versus 2 hours per workday). They also spent more time in activities with their children (1.9 hours per workday for women compared to 1.7 hours per workday for men). Looking at how time was spent by men and women on days off work, we see that women spent more time than men on home chores (4.8 hours per day off for women versus 4 hours for men) and with their children (3.8 hours per day off for women versus 3.5 hours for men). Conversely, women spent less time than men on self-related activities such as recreation: on average, men spent 5.9 hours per day off on self-related activities compared with 5.1 hours for women. The majority of women in the sample seemed to have added the demands of work to their lives without a concomitant reduction in family responsibilities. Almost 70% of mothers answering the survey indicated that they had the main responsibility for child care, while almost 60% of fathers said their spouse, the mother, had that responsibility. Looked at another way, only 6% of women indicated that their spouse, the father, had main responsibility for the children. Similarly, only 6% of fathers in this study stated that they themselves had main responsibility. Furthermore, less than one third of the sample believed that child-care arrangements were shared equally between both parents; however, men were significantly more likely than women to believe this statement (37% versus 25%). Most of the staff members in this sample (70%) had their children cared for outside their home and appeared to be satisfied with their child-care arrangements. Balancing Work and Family Work-family conflict occurs when an individual has to perform multiple roles as worker, spouse and, in many cases, parent. Each role imposes demands that require time, energy and commitment to perform it adequately. Half of the public sector employees surveyed (19% of men and 26% of women) experienced greater-than average conflict between work and family (as based on reports in the literature). They also experienced role overload. The measures of role overload were arranged on a five-point scale with high scores indicating higher role overload. Average scores generally indicated that respondents felt that they had more to do than they could handle (3.44); that they were physically and emotionally drained when they got home from work (3.44 and 3.28); and that they felt rushed (3.58) and did not have enough time for themselves (3.48). Women scored higher on all five measures of role overload. Respondents also perceived that their work interfered with their family responsibilities. Three types of interference were examined. The first measured the extent to which the individual perceived that work demands interfered with the performance of family responsibilities. The survey found that staff members wished they had more time for their families (average score of 3.62) and for their children (average score of 2.89 on a scale where low scores indicate a problem with time). Although women spent more time on home chores and child care than men, they were more likely than men to feel that their job interfered with their family life. The second measure of interference evaluated the extent to which the individual perceived that family demands interfered with the achievement of work responsibilities. Lower scores on this measure (average score of 1.84) indicated that individuals were significantly less likely to allow family to interfere with their work. The researchers offered two possible explanations for this: first, North American work ethics traditionally require that work demands take priority over family demands, and second, many workers perceive that there are fewer negative consequences from short-changing their family in terms of time or effort than short-changing their work. The final assessment of interference, an overall rating, revealed that staff members, in general, did not perceive that they balanced their work and family roles well. The average score on this measure was 2.73 on a five-point scale, with lower scores indicating problems in balancing work and family. Alternative Work Schedules Since society makes certain events possible only at certain times, timing becomes important in determining the effects of work hours. Work-schedule incompatibility affects family members and their ability to spend time together. Conflict is also caused by the clash of an employee's work schedule with school events or necessary services (e.g., doctor or dentist appointments). Work-time and work-location flexibility may have the potential to balance work and family by increasing an employee's ability to control, predict and absorb change in work and family roles. If flexibility is provided for when, and where, work is performed, staff can select the most efficient hours and locale according to work style, the demands of family members and the scheduling of leisure activities. This study found, though, that work-time flexibility did not appear to help men or women balance work and family demands. Men and women working flexible hours and compressed work weeks were just as likely to have difficulty managing their own and their family's time. They were also just as likely to experience workfamily conflict as men and women who worked a traditional work week. This finding suggests that increasing flexibility with respect to when one works may not be enough to reduce conflict between work and family demands. The researchers suggested that this may be because many government departments do not offer truly flexible work arrangements; that is, they do not allow workers to vary the times when they arrive for work and leave each day as needed. Rather, they allow staff to negotiate convenient arrival and departure times that must be adhered to quite rigidly. Employees who have this type of arrangement likely experience the same types of problems as individuals who work a regular workday. Work-location flexibility was assessed by whether jobs allowed individuals to work at home or whether there was technology available (e.g., a portable computer) that would allow the individual to work at home. In this study, work-location flexibility had a significant impact on how employees spent their time. Individuals with access to technology in their homes worked significantly more hours per week than those who did not - an average of 2.5 hours more per day. On the other hand, these individuals spent significantly less time on child care, home chores and themselves than did individuals without access to portable technology. The study concluded that public sector organizations cannot afford to ignore the issue of balancing work and family demands. Some recommendations to help organizations address this issue included restructuring the work environment to offer greater work-time and work-location flexibility; introducing courses to help employees learn how to cope with conflicts between work and family; and redesigning jobs. L. Duxbury, C. Lee, C. Higgins and S. Mills, "Balancing Work and Family: A Study of the Canadian Federal Public Sector." Unpublished report, December 1991. |
