THE RISE (AND RISE) OF THE WORK-LIFE ISSUE: WHAT WE KNOW AND WHY WE NEED A BROADER VIEW

1. THE RISE (AND RISE) OF THE WORK-LIFE ISSUE: WHAT WE KNOW AND WHY WE NEED A BROADER VIEW Paul Blyton

2. WORK and LIFE • Introduction • How the story of work and non-work has changed • Factors contributing to the issue of work-life integration • Broadening the view and the response to work-life integration

3. Introduction: work-life balance a growing issue The Guardian on a typical day recently • Page 6 ‘Grandparents feel the squeeze between work and nursery’ • Page 25 ‘Happiness may be in the mind but the state still has a role to play’. • Page 2 G2 Supplement ‘When am I going to get some “me time”?’

4. work-life balance a growing issue The following day’s Guardian • Page 11 ‘Blair announces boost to maternity rights’ • Page 6 G2 Supplement - article on the growth of night-working and the links between this and mental and physical health • Page 9 G2 Supplement ‘Are mothers really that bad for business?’

5. How the story of work and non-work has changed • 1970s – Problem of excess leisure • 2005 – Problem of excess work

6. Factors contributing to the issue of work-life integration • Labour Market Changes • Working Hours Changes • Changes in the Experience of Work • Changes in the Non-Work World

7. Labour Market Changes • Rise in female participation rates • particularly among women with children • Rise in dual-earner households • Decline in (male) breadwinner, (female) homemaker pattern

8. Working Hours Changes • Widespread growth of longer hours working • Increase in total household work hours • Rise in ‘non-standard’ work hours

9. Employees who usually worked over 48 hours a week: by sex and occupation 2005

10. Changes in the Experience of Work • Increases in reported work pressure • high speed, tight deadlines • Contributory factors • technology, work organisation change • Reduced job satisfaction • less control

11. Changes in the Non-Work World • Changes in family structure • Rise in the importance of consumption

12. Responses to work-life pressures • Individual Responses • Part-time working, alternative work arrangements, working school hours/terms • Community Responses • Before/after school clubs, day-care centres • Organisational Responses • Flexible working, switching from full-time to part-time working, leave provisions, school-friendly work hours • Societal Responses • Statutory leave for maternity/paternity, childcare provision

13. Employees with flexible working patterns 2005

14. Overall nature of response • Coping strategies to perform work and home roles • Greater flexibility over work time • Emphasis on family-friendly policies/practices • Juggling work and home roles • Merit of this response • Increased time discretion valued • Keeping all the balls in the air • Maximising labour force participation

15. A broader response? • Role Theory – 3 main strategies for dealing with role conflict • Adopt ways to cope with current roles • Change the expectations of role senders • Change own attitudes to different role expectations • Emphasis been on the 1st, insights to be gained from the 2nd and 3rd

16. Changing the expectations of role senders • Employers • Increasing work expectations • ‘fair day’s work → ‘giving it all’ • Health and safety issues • Non-work roles • Division of domestic responsibilities

17. Changing own attitudes to different role expectations • Downshifting • Broader questions of consumption • Happiness research • Money and happiness

18. Further Broadening the Work-Life Debate • Different groups see work-life integration differently • Men, women • Younger, older

19. Conclusion • Work-life integration • A continuing issue, being addressed too narrowly • Challenging broader values • Lifestyle decisions • Rationality of economic growth