Publication Cover
Labour and Industry
A journal of the social and economic relations of work
Volume 24, 2014 - Issue 2
1,999
Views
8
CrossRef citations to date
0
Altmetric
Articles

Work–life interaction in the twenty-first century Australian workforce: five years of the Australian Work and Life Index

, &
Pages 87-102 | Received 09 Apr 2013, Accepted 10 Oct 2013, Published online: 10 Jun 2014
 

Abstract

Australia is known colloquially as the ‘lucky country’, a place that values equality, a ‘fair go’ and the good life. But to what extent does this historical identity reflect the realities of modern day Australian life? This article draws on nationally representative data from five waves of the Australian Work and Life Index to examine contemporary working life for employed Australians. We find that a strong gender divide remains with regard to work–life pressures and demands. When working comparative hours, women consistently report higher work–life conflict in general, time pressure in particular, than men. This gender difference is strongest for working parents. Even with their substantially shorter hours, working mothers report equivalent work–life conflict to working fathers. With regard to employment factors, long hours (45+) were clearly not preferred for the majority of workers and were consistently associated with worse work–life conflict. Occupations where long hours are typical, such as managers and professionals, also report the highest work–life conflict. The worst outcomes for the entire sample are observed for mothers working long full-time (45+) hours. Self-employment was not associated with better work–life outcomes. Indeed, self-employed fathers had the worst outcomes with regard to length of working hours, poorest fit of hours to preference and high work–life conflict. In contrast, casual employees’ underemployment (preferring more hours) was a universal issue, especially for men.

Acknowledgement

This work was supported by The Australian Research Council [grant number LP110200916].

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Janine Chapman

Janine Chapman is a Research Fellow at the Centre for Work + Life, University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia.

Natalie Skinner

Natalie Skinner is a Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Work + Life, University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia. She is the project manager for the Australian Work and Life Index (AWALI).

Barbara Pocock

Barbara Pocock is Professor and Director of the Centre for Work + Life, at the University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia.

Reprints and Corporate Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

To request a reprint or corporate permissions for this article, please click on the relevant link below:

Academic Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

Obtain permissions instantly via Rightslink by clicking on the button below:

If you are unable to obtain permissions via Rightslink, please complete and submit this Permissions form. For more information, please visit our Permissions help page.