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Life in the 'Family Friendly' 21st Century
Finding the balance between work and family
Debra Jackson
Professorial Fellow, School of Nursing, Family and Community Health, University of Western Sydney, NSW
Philip Darbyshire
Department of Nursing and Midwifery Research and Practice Development, Children, Youth and Women's Health Service, University of South Australia; Flinders University, Adelaide SA
Article Text
In every conceivable manner, the family is link to our past, bridge to our future.
Alex Haley, American Author
In opening a previous special issue of Contemporary Nurse (Advances in Child and Family Health Care, 2004/2005), we considered the 'family' and particularly looked at the ways that 'family' as an institution has been scrutinised. We acknowledged the crucial role(s) that families play in child health and well-being (Darbyshire & Jackson 2004/5). In this current issue, we look more closely at families and children, but also consider some other issues that impact on families, and well-being of family members of all ages. In introducing this collection of papers, we would like to draw particular attention to the difficulties that many family members face in trying to achieve balance in key areas of their lives.
Nurses working within communities are often called upon to work with families whose resources are stretched to the limit. All sorts of pressures can impact on families and their ability to provide nurturing and positive environments for members. Many families experience economic difficulties, and financial hardship can influence the ability and resources of families to solve problems. At the other end of the spectrum, many families can be comparatively wealthy yet still seem unable to achieve that elusive 'happiness' or balance. In a world that is shrinking by the day, more and more families have little support from extended family due to geographical or interpersonal distance and this can contribute to a sense of aloneness and isolation, particularly when family members are experiencing difficulties and challenges. Many families are time poor, with family members (particularly parents) exhausted and struggling to achieve that perfect 'lifestyle': to meet the competing demands of full time work, running their homes, maintaining family relationships, parenting their children, and/or meeting the needs of older relatives. And all the while, the relentless prattle of the marketers and advertisers continues to urge us that 'Yes, you can have it all'. Perhaps we can, but perhaps too, 'having it all' comes at a price.
The potential vulnerability of families with young children is well recognised. In addition to adapting to life with a young child, many women return to work between 6 weeks and 12 months after childbirth. Though this may have the benefit of bringing in additional income and so help provide financial resources, it can also create other pressures. Working families with young children are faced with issues associated with obtaining affordable, quality child care and making decisions about the pros and cons of home-based care vs. long day care. Then, as children get older, there are whole new sets of decisions to be made about schooling, out of school care, vacation care. Families with older and even adult children also have demands placed on them that can cause tensions between the need/desire to work in paid employment and the need/desire to meet family obligations.
Working parents (and grandparents) have become the norm in many parts of the world and yet, ideally, every family would have a carer in the home. Families where all carers work fulltime often face tiredness and exhaustion arising from juggling complex competing demands and struggling to achieve some kind of balance between home and work. As previously noted (Darbyshire & Jackson 2004/5), people are working harder - technology means that the divide between home and work has become very blurred indeed, with the advent of the 'home office' making it possible to work late into the night, over weekends, and to have work impact upon every minute of day and night, eating into time that was once reserved for family.
The challenges and difficulties that face working families are common to many communities and cultures. In the UK for example, an organisation called 'Working Families' (http://www.workingfamilies.org.uk/asp/home_zone/m_welcome.asp) exists to promote workplace change that is positive for all stakeholders - families, employers and communities. 'Working Families' has a vision for a society in which families have real options and choices in deciding how best to achieve a balance between employment and caring responsibilities. It promotes family friendly and flexible working practises for all, and lobbies for access to quality and affordable care for children and elders.
This raises the idea of the 'family friendly' workplace. A family friendly workplace is said to be one in which employees have employer support and flexibility to be able to meet family commitments. The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) (http://www.actu.asn.au/public/futurework/famfriendly.html) proposes various approaches to address the challenges faced by working families through workplace reform, and acknowledges that current arrangements have meant that many families are barely coping and are being stretched to 'breaking point'.
Is it possible or realistic, we wonder, for parents and families in today's increasingly driven world to 'stop it', because they need to get off?
In this special issue we have brought together a collection of papers that cover a range of family and community health issues within three broad sections: social and community issues, parenting, and supporting families. We hope that you are stimulated and challenged by the issues raised this special edition of Contemporary Nurse. We have greatly enjoyed working together to compile it, and would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge and thank the peer reviewers for their collegial feedback and thoughtful critiques on the papers in this issue.
References
Darbyshire P and Jackson D (2004/5) Child and family nursing: spotlights, shadows and places in between. Contemporary Nurse Journal: Advances in Child and Family Health Care 18(1/2): viii.
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