What Does Work-Life Conflict Look Like?
The comments reproduced in this report give us a better appreciation of what work-life conflict looks like when one is living it. It is having a job that interferes with your family life. It is when your family interferes with your career and your ability to get ahead at work. It is when housework interferes with time for yourself. It is having a long commute to and from work that takes a toll on your energy. It is role overload - having too much to do in the amount of time available. It is being crunched for time - constantly. It is going it alone as a single parent or living with a workaholic. It is balancing two or more jobs with a life. It is balancing work and education with a life. It is postponing having children (perhaps forever) because you cannot see how you can manage one more thing.
If one uses the number of comments in a particular area as the gauge, it seems that most Canadians see "work" as the main offender with respect to conflict between work and life. Respondents were five times more likely to talk about problems at work that negatively affected their ability to have a life outside of work than problems at home. Furthermore, there was a greater degree of consensus among these Canadians on what it was about work that was making balance more untenable (workloads, non-supportive managers and organizational cultures) than there was on what was problematic on the non-work end of the equation. Problems at home appear to be more personal and diverse in nature.
What are the problems at the organizational level? High workloads due to downsizing, unrealistic expectations, a lack of planning and priorities, a lack of resources, and office technology. An organizational culture that does not support balance (i.e. focus on hours, focus on money). Organizational changes such as downsizing, restructuring and amalgamating that increase workloads and work stress and decrease job security. Upper management who are not supportive of work-life balance and an immediate manager who is non-supportive.
The personal and family circumstances that Canadians identified as being problematic included the death of a family member, divorce or separation, being a parent or step-parent, having responsibility for eldercare, lack of support within the community, physical or mental health problems, lack of time for personal or family roles, caring for a disabled dependant, and having both childcare and eldercare responsibilities. The comments suggest that many of the issues on the family side of the work-life equation are more transient in nature and depend on one's stage in life. In other words, employees need different types of support at different points in their life. This suggestion reinforces the need for flexibility at work and within the community.
It is also important to note the impact of financial strain on work-life balance. The comments with respect to financial strain suggest that balance is virtually impossible in lower-income families. The causes of financial strain need to be addressed at both the organizational and government levels.