The Struggle for Life Balance: Work, Family, and Leisure in the Lives of Women Teleworkers

Abstract

Contemporary life for many people in North America and elsewhere seems to be characterised by stress, role overload, and a lack of time for leisure. This is particularly true of employed women who are seeking to balance paid and unpaid work, family responsibilities, and leisure in an increasingly hurried society. This study investigated the everyday lives of women teleworkers, in order to examine the ways in which this type of work arrangement affected life balance. Fifteen women teleworkers, about half of whom had children at home, participated in in-depth interviews in which they discussed their work lives, their family and household activities, their leisure practices, and their perceptions of the impact of telework on their lives. The findings indicate that telework can contribute in a positive way to life balance for employed women. Home-based work provided enhanced work autonomy and a more relaxed work environment. Most of the women were able to develop strategies to resist the distraction of household obligations during their work day, and to help prevent the encroachment of work into the rest of their lives. At the same time, the flexibility of telework enabled them to be available for their children on a daily basis and this represented an expansion of their parenting role. While the women participated in family leisure activities, most of them reported a lack of personal leisure time. Thus life balance, in terms of work, family and leisure was rarely achieved. The implications of the study are discussed in terms of work autonomy, changing ideologies of parenthood, and the struggle for life balance.

Keywords:

• life balance
• telework
• women's lives
• work
• family
• leisure