While
employers are now more understanding of the importance of work-life balance,
many women are still missing out due as they carry the burden domestic duties.
New
research from The Work Foundation, in association with Employers for Work-Life
Balance (EfWLB), shows that, for many women, when one working day finishes,
another begins at home.
The
Work Foundation report, About Time for Change, finds that employers are being
responsive to the case for better work-life balance, and three out of five
people say that their employer would support all employees, with or without
children, being able to work flexibly.
But
the report shows that within the home women still have the greater share of
domestic responsibility.
They
are more than three-and-a-half times more likely than men to report that they
do most of the household tasks themselves, and 12 times more likely to report
that they do most of the childcare.
The
survey finds that economic power is one factor likely to give women more clout
at home.
Based
on a survey of 500 working members of the public, the survey shows that couples
whose salaries and career priorities were equally matched tended to share
domestic responsibilities more evenly.
The
survey also reveals that over two-thirds of respondents want to spend more time
with their families; that more than a quarter of full-time workers exist on
fast food, pre-prepared meals and snacks because they don’t have time to cook;
and that one in 10 working people employ someone to help with the housework, while
one in five employ someone to help with the childcare.
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Will
Hutton, chief executive of The Work Foundation said: “Human beings need more
than work in their lives if they are to stay sane. But it’s not just about
civil society, individual sanity or allowing women to juggle their lives
better. It is increasingly relevant to workplace performance and productivity.”
