Eight o'clock and you still working? This is how it affects your family

E-mails, conference calls, and constant availability have become the norm in Israel and around the world. A large and influential survey of labor rights associations in the UK shows the impact this has on employees' personal lives, and calls on managers to give a personal example of border guarding

Eight o'clock and you still working? This is how it affects your family

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Imagine an evening in a typical apartment in one of Israel's cities; It's the startup nation. Two little children run around the apartment and their mother follows them, trying to coax them into the shower and get ready for sleep. The door opens and their dad walks in, straight from a long day at the office. The children hang on to him with joyous cries, but he signals them with his finger to be quiet because he is with a headset, in the midst of an important transatlantic conversation in matters of work. Disappointed and irritated they leave him and go into the shower. "We'll talk tomorrow," he assures them, hoping with heart that this is a promise that he will succeed.

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This situation - and similar to it - is familiar to most employees in the high-tech industry in Israel, or to those who hold other senior and demanding positions. The situation is probably similar in the rest of the Western world.

The Modern UK Family Index for 2020 reveals that while more than half of parents enjoy flexible working conditions, many workers in more demanding organizations are struggling with equivalent demands from home and work. The survey, which surveyed more than 3,000 parents across the UK, is published by the British Charity Working Families and American Bright Horizons Association every year since 2012.

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The survey shows that a significant portion of the working population does not enjoy a balance between working hours and the need for family life and good health. About half of them think technological advancement has blurred the boundaries between home and work. Fifty-four percent of parents admit they are engaged in work affairs (e.g. checking emails) during the evening hours at home, and most feel they have no choice.

The survey found that more than half of working parents enjoy flexible working hours or work from home. When it comes to Y-parents (Millennials), the percentage rises to 62. But about 48 percent of them say working from home has increased their workload, while 44 percent admit they feel compelled to work in the evenings. Most parents who are forced to move to "work mode" at home complain about the effect this has on their relationships with their children and spouses, and report regular arguments about the issue.

Being able to work from home only increased the workload. Man and baby in front of laptop (Photo: ShutterStock)

Man sitting in front of laptop with headphones and baby on lap (Photo: ShutterStock)

"These figures show that for too many parents, the work is still 'too big' for the supposedly assigned hours," said James Tugandat, Bright Horizons International CEO. "Too often fathers work long hours, and mothers are required to carry the double burden of Work and care at home and in children. Neither fathers nor mothers want it. It's time for employers and lawmakers to reconsider the usual nine to five model and recognize that work doesn't really have to be in such a five-day-a-week format. "

More than three-quarters of parents who do not work during flexible hours said they were interested, but nearly a third reported that this was not an option in their workplace.

The boundaries are breached as wages rise

Work flexibility is also linked to seniority and salary. More than two-thirds of parents earning over £ 50,000 a year (about NIS 18,750 a month) and most of the high-tech industry reported flexible work, compared to just over two-fifths of parents earning between £ 15,000-20,000. "Flexible work has a crucial role in supporting parents' balance between their work and home responsibilities," said Jane Van Zeil, CEO of Working Families. Workplaces must ensure that their staff have reasonable job definitions and managers should lead by personal example and maintain clear boundaries between their personal and professional lives. "

A third of parents now share child care, which is a significant change from what was customary in the 1970s - when fathers' interaction with their children lasted on average less than 15 minutes a day. Today men spend 16 hours a week caring for children and housework. For women, this figure increases to 26 hours per week. Women still work much more in part-time jobs than men: 40 percent of mothers who participated in the survey compared to just 4 percent of fathers. This also has an impact on mothers' earnings: 43 percent of respondents earn less than £ 15,000 a year (about NIS 5600 a month), compared to 16 percent of fathers.