A report said that the United Kingdom government spent 3 per cent of national income on family services in 2003, higher than the OECD average of 2.4 per cent. But it highlighted the low rate of employment among lone parents and the shortage of out-of-school childcare, which prevented many women from taking up full-time paid work.
Source: Mark Pearson et al., Babies and Bosses: Reconciling work and family life – A synthesis of findings for OECD countries, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (+33 1 4524 8200)
Links: Summary | OECD press release | FT report
Date: 2007-Dec
A study found that 95 per cent of workplaces offered some form of flexible working for staff. The proportion of workplaces providing childcare facilities, or other arrangements to help parents combine work with family commitments, had more than doubled between 2003 and 2007, from 8 per cent to 18 per cent.
Source: Bruce Hayward, Barry Fong and Alex Thornton, The Third Work-Life Balance Employer Survey: Main Findings, Employment Relations Research Series 86, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (020 7215 5177)
Links: Report | DBERR press release | CIPD press release | Personnel Today report
Date: 2007-Dec
A paper examined competing hypotheses regarding the effect of married women's employment on divorce risk across three countries. Where effects were significant, wives' part-time or full-time employment predicted more stable marriages as compared with wives out of the labour force. The optimal mix, however, varied across the countries. United Kingdom couples where the wife worked full-time were most stable.
Source: Lynn Prince Cooke and Vanessa Gash, Panacea or Pitfall? Women's part-time employment and marital stability in West Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States, Working Paper 28, Gender Equality Network, c/o Faculty of Social and Political Sciences/University of Cambridge (01223 334520)
Links: Paper
Date: 2007-Nov
A survey found that the availability and take-up of work-life balance arrangements had increased since 2003, with two or more flexible working-time arrangements being taken up by employees in over 4 in 10 workplaces. The vast majority (92 per cent) of employers reported that they would consider a request to change a working pattern from any employee, despite legislation only requiring employers to do so for some employees.
Source: Bruce Hayward, Barry Fong and Alex Thornton, The Third Work-Life Balance Employer Survey: Executive Summary, Employment Relations Research Series 86, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (020 7215 5177)
Links: Report | DBERR press release
Date: 2007-Nov
An article examined the work-life balance policy agenda as it had emerged in post-industrial societies, such as the United Kingdom. It reported a small-scale study of the experiences and expectations of work-life balance in a low-income inner-London neighbourhood.
Source: Hartley Dean, 'Poor parents? The realities of work-life balance in a low-income neighbourhood', Benefits, Volume 15 Number 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2007-Nov
The government announced (in the Queen's Speech) proposals to help people achieve a better balance between work and family life. Employees with children as old as 17 could (subject to an independent review led by Imelda Walsh) be given the right to seek flexible working, in addition to existing rights for those with children under 6 or parents of disabled children under 18.
Source: Her Majesty's Most Gracious Speech to Both Houses of Parliament, 6 November 2007, TSO (0870 600 5522) | Press release 6 November 2007, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (020 7215 5000)
Links: Queens Speech | Downing Street press release | DBERR press release | Daycare Trust press release | TUC press release | CBI press release | CIPD press release | FT report | Guardian report | Telegraph report | BBC report | Personnel Today report
Date: 2007-Nov
A report published by the (outgoing) watchdog for gender equality analysed longitudinal data on paid work and family life, covering 2000-2004. Having a mother who worked was not associated with any negative impacts on early child development, and nor was use of formal childcare – if anything, the opposite seemed to be true. Low-skilled or unskilled mothers were the least likely to be in paid work around the time of their child's birth. Prolonged worklessness was associated with negative outcomes for both women and children. Professional women were the most likely to be in work during pregnancy, take maternity leave and then return to work. Low or unskilled mothers who were in paid work had less access to longer paid maternity leave and fewer options for working flexibly. Working mothers tended to have better mental health than non-working mothers, with positive effects on their children's development.
Source: Mothers and the Modern Family, Equal Opportunities Commission (0161 833 9244)
Links: Report
Date: 2007-Oct
A discussion paper examined the relationship between part-time work and both job satisfaction and life satisfaction. Men had the highest hours-of-work satisfaction if they worked full-time without overtime hours: but neither their job satisfaction nor their life satisfaction was affected by how many hours they worked. Female life satisfaction was virtually unaffected by hours of work: women without children did not care about their hours of work at all, while women with children were significantly happier if they had a job regardless of how many hours it entailed.
Source: Alison Booth and Jan van Ours, Job Satisfaction and Family Happiness: The part-time work puzzle, DP6471, Centre for Economic Policy Research (020 7878 2900)
Links: Abstract
Date: 2007-Sep
Researchers found that there were marked, although not uniform, increases in the incidence and comprehensiveness of family-friendly provisions in British workplaces between 1998 and 2004.
Source: Gillian Whitehouse, Michele Haynes, Fiona Macdonald and Dionne Arts, Reassessing the 'Family-friendly Workplace': Trends and influences in Britain, 1998-2004, Employment Relations Research Series 76, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (020 7215 5177)
Links: Report
Date: 2007-Aug
An article examined a study in which people in Britain and Portugal were assessed for country, gender, and occupational class differences in work-life conflict, focusing on both work and domestic spheres. In Britain, the pressures of very long working hours, combined with a perception of increasing work demands, as well as additional domestic work, contributed to the high levels of work-life conflict for women working in professional and managerial occupations.
Source: Clare Lyonette, Rosemary Crompton and Karin Wall, 'Gender, occupational class and work-life conflict: a comparison of Britain and Portugal', Community, Work & Family, Volume 10 Number 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2007-Aug
Researchers found that employee-reported availability of work-life options was associated with greater organizational commitment and job satisfaction, and less work stress.
Source: Sadia Nadeem and Hilary Metcalf, Work-life Policies in Great Britain: What works, where and how?, Employment Relations Research Series 77, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (020 7215 5177)
Links: Report
Date: 2007-Aug
An article examined the extent to which policy since 1997 on work/family balance represented a significant change at three levels: that of ideas (the goals of policy), mechanisms (the nature of the policy instruments), and settings (the fine-tuning of policy instruments). It considered how far the ideas driving the policy developments had been about the welfare of the family and its members, and the nature of the balance of continuity and change in policy instruments and settings.
Source: Jane Lewis and Mary Campbell, 'Work/family balance policies in the UK since 1997: a new departure?', Journal of Social Policy, Volume 36 Issue 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2007-Jul
An article examined the ways in which the work-life balance choices made by heterosexual couples differed between different generations, how such choices were 'gendered', and the extent to which 'individualization' provided an adequate conceptualization of the effects of social change on heterosexual couples. Increasingly, choices were made which blurred gendered boundaries, and which had been made possible by a process of de-institutionalization of the male breadwinner family.
Source: Nickie Charles and Chris Harris, 'Continuity and change in work-life balance choices', British Journal of Sociology, Volume 58 Issue 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2007-Jul
A paper published by the sex equality watchdog examined transformations in working practices from the perspective of employers. Very few employers had no policies relating to flexible working arrangements: but on the other hand very few had implemented a fully comprehensive programme incorporating a flexible approach to time, careers, and working location.
Source: Deborah Smeaton, Viv Young and Samantha Spencer, The Future of Work: Employers and workplace transformation, Working Paper 56, Equal Opportunities Commission (0161 833 9244)
Links: Working Paper
Date: 2007-Jun
The sex equality watchdog said that the United Kingdom was lagging behind its European competitors in offering flexible working arrangements to employees.
Source: Enter the Timelords: Transforming work to meet the future, Equal Opportunities Commission (0161 833 9244)
Links: Report | EOC press release | BBC report | Guardian report
Date: 2007-Jun
The government began consultation on the administration of proposed measures that would give fathers the opportunity to take up to 26 weeks additional paternity leave to care for their child if certain conditions were met, including the mother returning to work.
Source: Additional Paternity Leave and Pay Administration Consultation, Department of Trade and Industry (0870 150 2500)
Links: Consultation document | DTI press release | CIPD press release | Personnel Today report
Date: 2007-May
A report said that the 'glass ceiling' preventing flexible working for people in senior managerial jobs was beginning to crack. City banks, law firms, and other top companies were beginning to introduce flexible working policies (such as compressed hours, home working, and - sometimes - part-time working or job sharing) for people in senior managerial roles for the first time.
Source: Pam Walton, Hours to Suit, Working Families (020 7253 7243)
Links: Guardian report | Speech
Date: 2007-May
An article examined the policy aims and nature of the approaches adopted since 1997 to address the issue of work/family balance, in the form of childcare services, leave for childcare, and the right to request flexible working patterns. It assessed how far they had promoted gender equality.
Source: Jane Lewis and Mary Campbell, 'UK work/family balance policies and gender equality, 1997?2005', Social Politics: International Studies in Gender, State & Society, Volume 14 Number 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2007-Apr
An annual survey examined work-life balance policies and their impact on employees. Provision by employers of flexible working arrangements had increased, and there had been a fall in unmet employee demand. There were high levels of employee satisfaction with their existing working arrangements. There was also evidence of a high rate of informal or short-term flexible working, with a majority of employees stating that they had worked flexibly in the previous 12 months.
Source: H?lya Hooker, Fiona Neathey, Jo Casebourne and Miranda Munro, The Third Work-Life Balance Employee Survey: Main findings, Employment Relations Research Series 58, Department of Trade and Industry (020 7215 5177)
Links: Report
Date: 2007-Apr
A Member of Parliament introduced a Bill designed to extend the right to request to work flexibly to parents of children up to the age of 18; and to make provision for the encouragement of employers to offer flexible working arrangements.
Source: Flexible Working Bill, Lorely Burt MP, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Hansard | Lib Dem press release
Date: 2007-Mar
An article examined the temporal, social, and interpersonal consequences of part-time work. Although many employees liked part-time work, there was evidence that fragmented work schedules, mandated overtime, and difficulties in taking time off work created tensions and problems for women in both the work and family domains.
Source: Janet Walsh, 'Experiencing part-time work: temporal tensions, social relations and the work?family interface', British Journal of Industrial Relations, Volume 45 Issue 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2007-Mar
A report for the sex equality watchdog said that many parents were struggling to find the time they wanted with their children, particularly lower-income families. According to data from the Millennium Cohort Study (a survey of 30,000 parents of 19,000 children born in 2000-01) mothers and fathers in poorer families were less likely to spend paid time off around the birth of their children, very few used formal childcare, and flexible working was more available to higher-income families. But the introduction of better maternity and paternity leave since 2003 had helped to reduce the divide between the 'haves' and 'have nots'.
Source: Shirley Dex and Kelly Ward, Parental Care and Employment in Early Childhood, Working Paper 57, Equal Opportunities Commission (0161 833 9244)
Links: Working Paper | Summary | EOC press release | Telegraph report
Date: 2007-Mar
A report examined changing attitudes to employment. Both full-time and part-time employees were finding it increasingly difficult to achieve what they regarded as a satisfactory balance between work and life outside work.
Source: Rosemary Crompton and Clare Lyonette, 'Are we all working too hard? Women, men, and changing attitudes to employment', British Social Attitudes: The 23rd Report - Perspectives on a changing society, SAGE Publications Ltd (020 7324 8500)
Links: Natcen press release | FT report
Date: 2007-Jan
A paper reported findings from a study of work-life balance in low-income neighbourhoods. People supported the idea of work-life balance, but tended to be fundamentally disempowered - by the unpredictability of the labour market, the dominance of a ?business case? rationale, their lack of confidence in childcare provision, and a lack of belief in their employment and benefit rights.
Source: Hartley Dean and Alice Coulter, Work-Life Balance in a Low-Income Neighbourhood, CASEpaper 114, Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion/London School of Economics (020 7955 6679)
Links: Paper
Date: 2007-Jan