An article examined the relationship between young people's time use and maternal employment. Young people with employed mothers spend more time alone with a father, and more time with neither parent. Those with mothers employed full time spent significantly more time watching television than those whose mothers were not employed, especially when they were not near any parents. Time in achievement-related activities when in the presence of a father did not increase to compensate for the loss in time spent in achievement-related activities when alone with a mother.
Source: Killian Mullan, 'Young people's time use and maternal employment in the UK', British Journal of Sociology, Volume 60 Issue 4
Links: Abstract
Date: 2009-Dec
A paper examined how the overall job satisfaction of workers in different family circumstances was affected by the availability of work-life balance polices at the workplace.
Source: Alvaro Martinez Perez, Family Structure and Work Satisfaction: Can work-life balance policies foster happiness in the workplace?, Employment Relations Occasional Paper, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (0870 150 2500)
Links: Paper
Date: 2009-Nov
An article examined the association between maternal employment and childhood obesity. Children whose mothers worked part-time or full-time were more likely to primarily drink sweetened beverages between meals (compared with other beverages), use the television/computer at least 2 hours daily (compared with 0-2), or be driven to school (compared with walk/cycle) than children whose mothers had never been employed.
Source: Summer Sherburne Hawkins, Tim Cole and Catherine Law, 'Examining the relationship between maternal employment and health behaviours in 5-year-old British children', Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, Volume 63 Number 12
Links: Abstract | UCL press release | Guardian report
Date: 2009-Nov
A paper examined fathers' work hours and patterns of flexible working, based on surveys conducted in 2005 and 2006. Most male full-time employees, both with and without children, had used some form of flexible working option in the previous 12 months. Fathers made more use of flexible work options than non-fathers.
Source: Laura Biggart and Margaret O'Brien, Fathers' Working Hours: Parental analysis from the Third Work-Life Balance Employee Survey and Maternity and Paternity Rights and Benefits Survey of Parents, Employment Relations Occasional Paper, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (0870 150 2500)
Links: Paper
Date: 2009-Nov
A report called for a parental leave system that reduced the differential between mothers' and fathers' entitlements – so as to bring about a shift towards more shared care between parents.
Source: Supporting Families and Relationships Through Parental Leave, Fatherhood Institute (0845 634 1328)
Links: Report | Fatherhood Institute press release
Date: 2009-Sep
The government began consultation on plans to give more choice and flexibility to parents over how they used maternity and paternity leave. Families would have the choice to transfer up to 6 months' leave to the father, which could be taken by the father once the mother had returned to work. This new provision would be available during the second 6 months of the child's life. Some of the leave might be paid if taken during the mother's 39-week maternity pay period: this would be paid at the same rate as statutory maternity pay.
Source: Choice for Families: Additional Paternity Leave and Pay – Consultation on draft regulations, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (0870 150 2500)
Links: Consultation document | DBIS press release | Fatherhood Institute press release | CIPD press release | BBC report | People Management report | Personnel Today report
Date: 2009-Sep
A think-tank report put forward reforms to existing maternity pay arrangements, designed to make them more flexible and fairer. Too often existing policy presented parents with a narrow range of options that could damage both family life and their chances in the labour market. The report recommended a new approach that rebalanced maternity pay towards low-income families, and made it available to fathers.
Source: Thomas Cawston, Andrew Haldenby, Patrick Nolan, Laura Taylor and Elizabeth Truss, Productive Parents, Reform (020 7799 6699)
Links: Report | Reform press release | BBC report | FT report
Date: 2009-Jul
An article examined work-related and household/family-related influences on work-life balance. Work-related aspects explained by far the largest part of the variation in work-life balance. But problems with the measurement of work-life balance made it difficult to reach conclusions about the effects of other aspects.
Source: Florian Pichler, 'Determinants of work-life balance: shortcomings in the contemporary measurement of WLB in large-scale surveys', Social Indicators Research, Volume 92 Number 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2009-Jul
A survey found that over one-half of working parents (51 per cent) said that their relationship with their child would improve if they could work flexibly. (From 6 April 2009, parents of children aged 16 and under had the legal right to ask their employer for flexible working arrangements.)
Source: BMRB, Flexible Working: Benefits and Barriers – Perceptions of working parents, Government Equalities Office (020 7944 0601)
Links: Report | GEO press release | TUC press release | IOD press release | BBC report | People Management report | Guardian report
Date: 2009-Apr
The equality and human rights watchdog called for a 'fundamental change' in parental leave, to give mothers and fathers greater support in bringing up children. It set out a plan designed to increase the take-up of the existing provision by those missing out – namely fathers and lower-income parents. It said that the changes would help tackle the gender pay gap, bring greater support and social benefits to parents and children, and show that modern ways of working were better for the economy.
Source: Working Better: Meeting the changing needs of families, workers and employers in the 21st century, Equality and Human Rights Commission (020 3117 0235) | Gavin Ellison, Andy Barker and Tia Kulasuriya, Work and Care: A study of modern parents, Research Report 15, Equality and Human Rights Commission (web publication only)
Links: Report | Research report | NCT press release | CBI press release | Guardian report | Personnel Today report | BBC report | People Management report
Date: 2009-Mar
A new book examined gender equality and policies on work-family balance.
Source: Jane Lewis, Work-Family Balance, Gender and Policy, Edward Elgar Publishing (01242 226934)
Links: Summary
Date: 2009-Mar
A report for the equal rights watchdog examined the evidence on the impact of the United Kingdom's right to request flexible working compared with the impact of flexible working statutes in a range of other countries. UK flexible working rights were less enforceable than in other countries, particularly for men: but the legislation was more comprehensive by covering a wider range of working patterns than elsewhere.
Source: Ariane Hegewisch, Flexible Working Policies: A Comparative Review, Research Report 16, Equality and Human Rights Commission (web publication only)
Links: Report
Date: 2009-Mar
An article examined the ways in which work- and family-related roles were combined, drawing on data collected for two birth cohorts born in 1958 and 1970.
Source: Andy Ross, Ingrid Schoon, Peter Martin and Amanda Sacker, 'Family and nonfamily role configurations in two British cohorts', Journal of Marriage and Family, Volume 71 Issue 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2009-Jan
A report for the equal rights watchdog examined what was known about patterns of work-life mobility for a number of key equality groups: women, ethnic minorities, and disabled people. In addition, it used new sequencing techniques to analyze panel survey data and demonstrate the complex patterns and range of processes that produced inequalities in work-life mobility.
Source: Anna Schroeder, Andrew Miles, Mike Savage, Susan Halford and Gindo Tampubolon, Mobility, Careers and Inequalities: A study of work-life mobility and the returns from education, Research Report 8, Equality and Human Rights Commission (web publication only)
Links: Report
Date: 2009-Jan