Better childcare and public transport seen as vital for work-life balance

A new study presented in Ireland in June 2002 suggests that improvements in childcare and public transport, and the reduction of working time pressures, are vital if working parents are to manage the demands of work and home. The report is based on a survey of working parents in Ireland, Denmark, France and Italy.

At a conference on 'work-life balance' held at Trinity College Dublin on 10 June 2002, a new study was presented, entitled Fathers and mothers - dilemmas of the work-life balance: A comparative study in four European countries. The study was undertaken by Margret Fine-Davis and Hilary Clarke of the Centre for Gender and Women's Studies at Trinity College, together with collaborators from three other European countries: Jeanne Fagnani of the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, University of Paris; Dino Giovannini of the University of Trento; and Lis Hojgaard of the University of Copenhagen.

The study took the form of a survey of 400 working parents with at least one child under six in four European countries: Denmark, France, Ireland and Italy. It was jointly sponsored by the European Commission and the Irish Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform.

The study suggests that demographic changes throughout Europe, particularly the increased labour market participation of women, has created a need for new social policies to ease the difficulties of balancing work and home life (IE0009155F), such as greater childcare provision and more family-friendly working arrangements. In the Irish context, a key message to emerge from the report is that, partly as a result of the recent economic boom, Irish parents are spending less time with their children. The study concludes that it is much easier to combine work and family life in Denmark than in Ireland, France and Italy.

Key findings

In terms of the key factors determining the ease or difficulty of combining work and family life, time was found to be the dominant factor. More specifically, the most significant factors include: commuting time; working time per week; working hours creating problems with childcare arrangements; help received with domestic chores and childcare at home; and employer and colleagues' attitudes towards childcare responsibilities.

Commuting

Commuting time is considered particularly important, because it eats into time spent with the family. Respondents were asked how long it took, on average, to get to work. The average for all countries was approximately 30 minutes. Average commuting times are longest in Ireland (39 minutes), and France (37 minutes). In contrast, they are somewhat lower in Denmark (26 minutes) and Italy (24 minutes).

The car is by far the most common form of transport used for commuting in Ireland, with 70% of people surveyed using this method to get to work. This compares with a figure of 57.5% for car use in the other three countries as a whole. Cycling to work is more common in the other three countries (13%), compared with only 2.4% in Ireland. However, walking to work is more common in Ireland (12.8%), than in the other countries (7.6%).

The study suggests that the greater reliance on the car in Ireland, relative to the other countries, may be partly responsible for longer commuting times, due to greater traffic congestion. The authors note that, 'as commuting time was a key predictor in successfully combining work and family, changes in transport modes may assist in this area.'

Long working hours

The pressure to work long hours also creates difficulties for combining work and family responsibilities. Respondents in the four countries work, on average, 38 hours per week, with men (41 hours) working significantly longer hours than women (33 hours). Across the four countries, Irish men have the longest working week (45 hours), while Irish women have the shortest (32 hours).

In Ireland and France, there was found to be a greater sense of pressure on employees to work over and above normal hours in order to get ahead. 'This clearly is an added pressure when people are already trying to balance work and family,' the report suggests.

Childcare

In relation to childcare arrangements, the study suggests that the most common form of childcare in Ireland is a crèche or childcare centre (used by 28% of respondents). However, these modes of childcare were found to be even more common in the other three countries (45%).

The authors remark that even the best childcare arrangements can come unstuck. In the event of problems with childcare, 55% of Irish women and 42% of Irish men surveyed suggested that there were times when they used their own annual leave to cope. The corresponding figure for the other three countries was 48% of women, and 38% of men.

Although, in theory, parental leave (IE0203203N) is designed to support childcare, the study reports that very few parents use parental leave when childcare arrangements break down. Only 6% of Irish women and 8% of Irish men said that they used parental leave in these circumstances. The low usage of parental leave in Ireland, the authors suggest, may be related to the fact that 'it is unpaid or to the fact that many employers require it to be taken in a block'.

The majority of respondents said they would like to spend more time with their families. This applied to 82% of Irish fathers, and 62% of Irish mothers. Similar figures were evident in the other countries.

Attitudes

Attitudes in the workplace were also found to be important, particularly in terms of acceptance of childcare responsibilities by managers and colleagues. The study found that Ireland came second to Denmark in relation to acceptance by colleagues of workers arriving late or leaving early for childcare reasons. Irish women are more likely to perceive that their colleagues take account of their childcare responsibilities 'pretty well', while Irish men are somewhat less likely to think so.

Furthermore, in Ireland, immediate supervisors are perceived to be quite accepting of childcare responsibilities, whereas French supervisors are seen as the least receptive in the four countries. However, there are important class differences in all countries, with supervisors of employees from 'a higher social-economic status' being more lenient towards childcare arrangements than supervisors of employees in lower socio-economic brackets.

There are distinct differences between attitudes in the public and private sector in all four countries, with working parents in the private sector being more likely to perceive resentment from others when they take time out for childcare purposes.

Attitudes towards working parents who make use of work-life balance initiatives, such as job-sharing and part-time work, were also explored. The study asked respondents using such initiatives whether they were perceived as less serious about their careers than those who do not use such initiatives. In the Irish context, it was discovered that there is more perceived prejudice toward people who participate in 'family-friendly' programmes, and that this prejudice is most notable in relation to men. There is a general feeling in Ireland that people who work part time or job-share are perceived to be less serious about their careers. This is particularly the case for people in higher occupational status job categories.

In this climate, the study suggests, 'it will be more difficult to promote family-friendly working arrangements and a greater sharing of gender roles unless there is attitude change.'

In terms of attitudes towards different family-friendly policies, respondents in all four countries are more favourable towards paid leave than unpaid leave. In Ireland, the report claims, women appear to be grateful for the recent increase in paid and unpaid maternity leave, which brings their entitlement up to 18 weeks paid leave and eight weeks unpaid leave. Irish respondents were found to be more positive than those in other countries to part-time work and job-sharing. All of the Irish women in the survey expressed support for the idea of paid parental leave, as did 94% of men.

Conclusions

The above findings indicate the pressures working parents face - particularly in relation to time - the authors conclude. They state that: 'Ways need to be found to reduce this pressure, so that people can have more satisfying lives, both in their private lives and in their working lives. Time flexibility in the workplace appears to be particularly important. It would also be helpful if employees did not feel such a sense of pressure to work over and above the normal hours to get ahead.'

The authors of the report also suggest that: 'attitudes in the workplace were found to be very important. Supportive attitudes on the part of colleagues, supervisors and employers appear to make a great deal of difference to the success of working parents in balancing work and family. Long working hours and long commuting times add to the difficulties. Policies need to be found, including improved transportation policies, to reduce these stresses on working parents.'

Childcare is seen as a key issue, with the authors concluding that there is still a lack of a comprehensive, integrated long-term childcare strategy in Ireland - 'were there a national programme of public childcare facilities, consistent high quality could be guaranteed.' The cost of childcare - particularly for parents on low wages - is also seen as a problem that needs to be tackled, with childcare costs in Ireland consuming a higher proportion of working parents' earnings than in any other EU Member State.

Commentary

The study is timely, in the sense that childcare provision, family-friendly policies, work-life balance and public transport have all become prominent policy issues in the Irish context in recent years, as the socio-economic landscape has changed. A key message to emerge from the report is that there is a requirement for an integrated childcare strategy in Ireland, which provides affordable childcare for working parents on a much larger scale than is currently available - particularly for people on low incomes. (Tony Dobbins, IRN)