IOW blogger
According to a variety of sources including The Guardian, BBC, Unison and Citizenís Advice Bureau, the blurring between life and work and the challenges of achieving a satisfactory and healthy work / life balance has become a significant problem for much of the UK’s workforce. The stress of working long hours has resulted in record cases of mental and physical health disorders and increased sickness and absenteeism. The problem has become sufficiently serious to be addressed by the government and main opposition parties- who are proposing policies to allow a far greater work flexibility for employees. Crucially, the challenges that parents and carers face in full time work is being acknowledged.
This is very much in line with cross party consensus relating to supporting children. The government and main political parties recognise that for parents to make the most positive contributions to their children’s upbringings – they must be available for key events in their childís development, be it parent’s evenings, attending sports days, Christmas plays, etc. Consistently working long hours can prevent parents from being able to play a sufficiently active role in their child’s development often resulting in relationship disengagement, estrangement and the inability to understand children’s needs. Parents exhausted from un-reasonable work demands are less likely to be able to engage with their children in a meaningful way and be too impatient to spend quality time with them.
The European Union (of which the UK is a member) has stipulated that workers should not exceed a 48 hour work week and yet the British work force are often pressurised by employers to sign waivers in order to work longer hours. Some industries in which long hours are common place such as advertising and marketing are intensely unsympathetic to workers with children and other dependants – and indeed the work culture in the creative industries often discourages employees from having children and makes it pragmatically problematic to do so.
Of course the main argument for a long working-hours culture is that it is necessary in order to achieve a robust and competitive economy. However when we consider the economic success of countries such as Denmark, Sweden, Holland and France that have rigid legislation to ensures a reasonable work / life balance is maintained – it is important to recognise that working long hours are not instrumental to a strong economy. Clearly, alternative models do exist which are effective.
What do you think?
The relationship between work / life balance and Wellbeing was one of the topics recently discussed at the recent IOW Wellbeing events. On 15th and 17th February in Nottingham and London, respectively, a panel of Wellbeing experts contributed views, insights and definitions on the meaning of Wellbeing in the 21st century. We will be streaming the highlights from these events in the next few weeks, so please keep an eye on this page. The events were partly organised to launch the IOW’s “Wellbeing In The 21st Century” pamphlet, a comprehensive report that identifies how a wide range of factors and issues are instrumental to the meaning of Wellbeing in 2010. If you want to buy or order the report, including the Positive Images and Inspiring Quotes Image Book then please click here.
