Could Flexible Working Hurt Well-being?

According to the 2020 Modern Families Index, nearly half of respondents felt that their boundaries between home and work have blurred. 

The study, which surveyed over 3,000 parents from across the UK, found that over half of parents that are working poorly designed flexible jobs are finding it hard to compete with the demands of home and the workplace. The survey finds that this working population is not gaining the benefits of a work-life balance and are taking on unreasonable workloads.

Technology innovations have made it particularly hard for working parents to draw a line between work and home life. In fact, the survey found that 44% of parents check emails or do other work in the evening, with three-quarters feeling like they have no other option but to do so.

The data has found that 55% of working parents have some sort of flexible work options, with Millennial parents leading the way at 62%.  But only 51% of parents aged between 36 and 55 were offered flexibility despite 77% wanting these work options. 

The 47% of respondents that said technology has hurt their work-life balance also reported poor wellbeing. Additionally, 60% of parents said working extra hours was necessary to keep up with their workload and over half of these respondents said extra hours were part of their company’s culture.

“The research makes clear that jobs need to be ‘human-sized’. Employers who design roles that can be done in their contracted hours and encourage ‘switching off’ will feel the benefit of happier, healthier workers,” said Jane van Zyl, CEO of Working Families.