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Family Life Research Shows Parents Work Better Flexibly
1/2/01



Flexibility in the workplace can help employees to manage their competing demands more effectively, according to new research from the School of Family Life in Utah, USA. In accommodating circumstances, employees report that they have a greater capacity for work and for handling stress.

The new academic research is based on a survey of 6,400 people working at IBM in the US 4 years ago. At that time, the main complaint among parents was that they had trouble balancing their work and home lives. In addition, men reported slightly longer hours at work, while women reported spending more time on chores at home.

The study also found that the average US employee spent six additional 40-hour weeks working each year, compared with a similar employee three decades earlier in the 1960s. Other significant facts to emerge about family and work life today include:



  • The modern daily commute averages 45 minutes a day.
  • Only 28% of employees working with flextime and flexplace said they had a hard time balancing work and home.
  • Far more employees (46%) believed that neither type of work policy was available to them.
  • When looked at more closely, only 29% of people with flextime working expressed difficulty in juggling their time, compared to 44% of those without it.
  • Those with flextime working claimed they could notch-up 60 hours a week before they felt overwhelmed. This compares to a maximum working hour week of 44 hours for people without it.


The research conclusions have profound implications for the pyschological state of employees. Prof. Hill of the University of Utah believes the findings show that, "people who feel inundated with work and family demands tend to fight more with their spouse, have less knowledge of their children's experiences, are more likely to abuse alcohol and overall have a poorer quality of life. All of this can spill over into an employee's performance at work."