Flexible working, on its own, only gives parents the ability to keep going, it doesn’t improve the quality of their life, according to findings from work life balance charity Working Families and Bright Horizons.
The 2018 Modern Families Index revealed that tackling unsupportive workplace cultures is crucial in helping parents to achieve a better work life balance.
The research found that, although flexible working allowed parents more control over their working lives, 81 per cent of those who worked flexibly had to bring work home in the evenings or at weekends. It highlighted that flexible working cannot deliver work-life balance if employees are battling an unrealistic workload. It must be accompanied by better job design, effective organisation and management, and a culture that supports balance.
“Parents, particularly millennial parents, are looking for human-sized jobs and supportive workplace cultures that genuinely allow them to combine work and family,” said Sarah Jackson OBE, Chief Executive of Working Families. “Employers whose approach to organising work and underlying workplace culture hasn’t caught up with their family-friendly policies may find that, for parents, they aren’t an employer of choice.”
She added that tackling workplace culture is vital for future-proofing businesses, unlocking working parents’ potential, closing the gender pay gap and harnessing the business benefits.
More than a third of working parents said they felt resentful towards their employer about their work-life balance, with 46 per cent of millennial fathers feeling this way.
Many are taking decisive action to combat the lack of work-life balance, with 41 per cent of millennial parents intending to downshift into a less stressful job, and 36 per cent willing to take a pay cut to work fewer hours.Denise Priest, Director of Employer & Strategic Partnerships at Bright Horizons, added: “Without a supportive, family-friendly workplace culture, it is unlikely that policies and measures designed to support working carers will prove truly effective, however well-intentioned.
“By contrast, employers who create and nurture an environment where it is not only acceptable but expected for individuals to make their needs known and to take up support where it is offered, experience a true return on investment in terms of employee loyalty and performance.”
