What's in a Name? ‘Work and Family’ or ‘Work and Life’ Balance Policies in the UK since 1997 and the Implications for the Pursuit of Gender Equality

2008 ◽  
Vol 42 (5) ◽  
pp. 524-541 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jane Lewis ◽  
Mary Campbell
Keyword(s):  
Gender Equality ◽  
Work And Family ◽  
Life Balance ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Work And Life

scholarly journals Beyond ‘Juggling’ and ‘Flexibility’: Classed and Gendered Experiences of Combining Employment and Motherhood

2006 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 94-106 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jo Armstrong
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Family Life ◽  
Work And Family ◽  
Work Life ◽  
Gender Inequalities ◽  
Illustrative Case ◽  
Life Balance ◽  
Interview Research ◽  
And Gender ◽  
The Uk

This paper proposes that there is a need to push beyond the popular discourses of ‘flexibility’ and ‘work-life balance’. Developing a feminist-Bourdieuian approach and drawing on three illustrative case studies from my interview research with 27 mothers in the UK, I show the importance of maintaining a focus on class and gender inequalities. In the first part of the paper the concepts of capitals, dependencies and habitus which shaped, and were shaped by, this interview research are discussed. An analysis of three women's accounts of their experiences across work and family life is then used to illustrate that although these women all used terms such as ‘flexibility’ and ‘juggling’ in describing their work, the experience of that work was crucially influenced by their histories and current positioning. Tracing each of these women's trajectories from school, attention is focused on the influence of differential access to capitals and relations of dependency in the emergence of their dispositions toward work. Overall, the paper points to the significance of examining the classed and gendered dimensions of women's experiences of employment and motherhood.

scholarly journals Impact on Organizational Commitment of Attitudes towards Work-Life Balance of Employees

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ufuk Durna ◽  
Ali Babayiğit
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Commitment ◽  
Family Environment ◽  
Family Life ◽  
Work And Family ◽  
Private Life ◽  
Life Balance ◽  
Family Balance ◽  
Specific Discipline ◽  
And Behavior ◽  
Work And Life

Work and family environment is the areas that individuals spend most of their time and gives the most importance comparatively. Despite the rules, different and perceived thoughts and behavior patterns they have, these fields represent the area continually interacting with each other. Work and family is two most important elements in every person’s life. For this reason, individuals have certain roles in their work and family life. These roles are the most significant roles undertaken in their lives. They have to strike a balance to play the roles in their work and family life and to get the expected yield. Work and life balance is the most important aim for individuals and family members interacting each other in work and family life. Having a balance in work and life is significant not only for working individual but also for the society he lives. Today, the subject how the expectations on work and private life can be balanced has become a specific discipline because of the radical changes on the responsibilities related to work and family. Examining the previous studies, it is seen that workers can’t achieve a healthy balance between work and private life and as a result they can’t work efficiently and can’t allow time to their families. Therefore, they face individually organizational and environmental problems. In this paper, the significance of the balance from the point of individuals and organizations and the extent of influence on work and family balance to employee’s organizational commitment will be studied.

scholarly journals Gender, availability and dual emancipation in the Swedish ICT sector

2016 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 230-247 ◽  
Author(s):  
Line Holth ◽  
Ann Bergman ◽  
Robert MacKenzie
Keyword(s):  
Career Development ◽  
Gender Equality ◽  
Work And Family ◽  
Work Life ◽  
Work Life Balance ◽  
Family Responsibilities ◽  
Life Balance ◽  
Competing Demands

Set in the context of the Swedish state’s agenda of dual emancipation for women and men, the article shows how a global ICT consultancy company’s formal gender equality goal is undermined by competing demands. Employing the concept of availability, in preference to work–life balance, the research found women opted out of roles requiring high degrees of spatial and temporal availability for work, in favour of roles more easily combined with family responsibilities. Such choices led to poor career development, plus the loss of technological expertise and confidence. These outcomes were at odds with the company’s gender equality aims, as well as government objectives to make it easier for women and men to combine work and family, and increase the number of women within ICT.

scholarly journals The Efficacy of Wellness Programmes as Work-Life Balance Strategies in the South African Public Service

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (6(J)) ◽  
pp. 52-67
Author(s):  
Ethel N. Abe ◽  
Ziska Fields ◽  
Isaac I. Abe
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Work And Family ◽  
Work Life ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Work Life Balance ◽  
The South ◽  
Life Balance ◽  
Work Family ◽  
Work And Life

Abstract: This paper aimed to evaluate the wellness programs adopted by the South African Public Service to ascertain their efficacy at addressing work-family challenges and aiding employees to achieve work-life balance. Understanding the effectiveness of wellness programmes as work-life balance strategies is necessary especially when the cost of implementing such strategies is considered exorbitant. Many institutions have put in place work-life balance strategies, but discrepancies concerning definitions, formulation and implementation could make it impossible for them to fully reduce work-family challenges and assist employees in achieving the envisaged work-life balance. A sequential transformative mixed-methods study design was adopted. Data was collected using self-report questionnaire administered to 307 individual managers. Additionally, 11 top management members were interviewed. The major findings are as follows; (a) significant relationship exists between the wellness programmes and work-life balance strategies (b) wellness programmes qualified to be addressed only as life strategies because they did not address work challenges faced by employees. (c) work-life balance strategies predicted only 7.1% of the variations in wellness programmes in the South African Public Service. The peculiarity and value of this article lies in the discovery that work and life balance strategies adopted by organisations may not address employee work and life challenges and assist them in achieving work-life balance. Summarily, wellness programmes are not work-life balance strategies, and the South African Public Service should endeavour to adopt strategies that could assist employees in balancing work and family needs.Keywords: Wellness Programmes, Work-Life Balance Strategies, Work-family challenges, Employee Assistance Programmes (EAPs)

Policy Discourses on ‘Reconciling Work and Life’ in the EU

2002 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 305-314 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon Duncan
Keyword(s):  
Gender Equality ◽  
Family Life ◽  
Work And Family ◽  
Gender Mainstreaming ◽  
Paid Work ◽  
Economic Competition ◽  
Gender Policy ◽  
And Gender ◽  
The Eu ◽  
Work And Life

This paper outlines the development EU policy discourse on ‘the reconciliation of work and family life’. This imposes a policy disjuncture on New Labour, for, while the British government may be ideologically more attracted to the liberal US model of ‘flexible’ labour, it is bound by EU law to implement a more corporatist gender equality model. The paper notes how themes of economic competition, democratisation, and protecting gender contracts emerged at the foundation EU gender policy. It traces these themes into an ‘equal opportunities at work’ discourse during the 1970s and 1980s and, with the increasing importance of the ‘demographic time bomb’ discourse and of Scandinavian style gender equality, into discourses stressing the ‘reconciliation of paid work with family life’ and gender mainstreaming. The paper ends by addressing the ‘half-empty or half-full’ assessments of EU gender policy.

Equal pay, equal access

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Gender Equality ◽  
Gender Gap ◽  
Social Representations ◽  
Gender Inequalities ◽  
Equal Pay ◽  
Life Balance ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Pertinent Information ◽  
Different Dimensions ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies. Design This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context. Findings Global workforces are still impacted by gender inequalities – there remains a gender gap in pay, in access to roles of responsibility and in terms of work-life balance. A challenge facing gender equality in the workplace is an agreed definition – organizations, managers and employees have different social representations of gender equality and place differing levels of importance on different dimensions. This can affect implementation of gender equality policies in the workplace, which rely on the goodwill of individuals to put policy into practice. Organizations need to recognize which dimensions are most important to their workplace in order to successfully implement equality. Originality The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.

Racing to a staffing solution: an investigation into the current staffing crisis within the UK horseracing industry

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Juckes ◽  
J.M. Williams ◽  
C. Challinor ◽  
E. Davies
Keyword(s):  
Thematic Analysis ◽  
Career Progression ◽  
Work Life ◽  
Staff Turnover ◽  
Life Balance ◽  
Labour Shortage ◽  
High Staff Turnover ◽  
Media Portrayal ◽  
Job Conditions ◽  
The Uk

The British Horseracing Industry has been experiencing a labour shortage since the 1970’s and despite recent improvements reported in staff retainment, the industry still reports high staff turnover. We investigated staffing challenges experienced by UK horseracing employers and employees, to formulate strategic targets to address any issues identified. Thirty UK trainers and staff (12 staff, 9 senior staff, 9 trainers) participated in semi-structured inductive focus groups lasting on average 39±9 min. Questions explored staff background in racing, perceptions of the current staff challenges, retention and recommendations for improvement. Thematic analysis revealed four higher order themes; (1) lack of skills, (2) differences in perceived work ethic, (3) job conditions, and (4) media portrayal. This study concluded that there are dedicated staff working in the industry, but significant skills gaps, high workloads, poor work-life balance and a lack of training and career progression negatively influence retention in the horseracing industry.

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