Dr Simon Burnett

Tuesday, 9th October, 2012

Context: Project reflects a time of social change in attitudes amongst and about fathers.

Project run by: Working Families and Lancaster University (funded

by The National Lottery), 2009-2011.

Research performed by: Dr Simon Burnett Dr Caroline Gatrell Jonathan Swan Distinguished Professor Cary

Cooper Professor Paul Sparrow.

Research questions

How do today’s working fathers experience work-life balance, and family life?

How do modern fathers access flexible working?

Does flexible working improve fathers work-life balance?

How far does flexible working enhance employee engagement among fathers?

Two large UK organizations: one private and one public sector.

Both offer flexible working opportunities

1066 working fathers responded in total (638 private sector / 428 public sector)

60% of private sector and 82% of public sector respondents worked flexibly

Most aged between 30 and 50

Robertson Cooper’s Asset (A Shortened Stress Evaluation Tool)

Online personal survey, 15-20 minutes to complete

Demographic (age and pay range, degrees of flexibility)

Psychological (wellbeing, motivation, contentment)

Work-related (colleague relationships, job security, commitment) issues of working fathers)

Data gathering and analysis

The metrics examined

Overload

Work Life Balance

Pay & Benefits

Demographics and work organisation

Resources & Communication

Job Security

Control

Work Relationships

The statistical analysis revealed ‘significant’ relationships, meaning that the results were highly unlikely to have been generated by chance or the other

metrics measured

Metric Flexible Working: No

Flexible Working: Yes

Resources & Communication

Job Security

Control

Work Relationships

Overload

Work Life Balance

Pay & Benefits

Impact of flexibility on fathers’ engagement and wellbeing (private sector)

Significantly negative

Significantly negative

Significantly negative

Significantly negative

Significantly negative

Significantly negative

Significantly positive

Significantly positive

Significantly positive

Significantly positive

Significantly positive

Significantly positive

Impact of working flexibly on fathers’ engagement and wellbeing (public sector)

However: Overload and work-life balance were significantly positively correlated with flexible working.

The metrics that scored negatively were all affected by the wider context of the recession, and publicised threat of public sector cuts.

In the public sector, there were negative correlations between flexible working and:

•Control

•Work relationships

•Resources and communications

•Pay and benefits

•Job security

“There’s nothing more sure than there’s going to be less people working for

the department. They’ve said that and we’ve already seen it; [because of

the] spending review, people leaving and not being replaced. But with less

and less staff the work’s definitely not diminishing. It’s whether there

will be more pressure on things like flexible working”

“You’d think that the departments would be trying to encourage more people

to do it because if, you know you’ve got to make cuts, you’ve got to still

do the same amount of work and the best way to do that is to have a

flexible workforce”

The view from inside the public sector

Those who do not work flexibly report much poorer physical health

Fathers who do as much (or more) housework than their partners have higher levels of wellbeing

The most positive group overall are those who use homeworking

Counter-intuitively, those who can work from home are significantly less troubled by their work relationships than those who don’t work flexibly at all

Those with one child, or three or more children, appear to be more troubled by a number of the engagement and well-being factors than those with 2 children

However, many fathers felt discouraged from accessing flexible working options.

Other quantitative findings (private and public sector combined)

Flexibility and work-life balance policies offered to ‘parents’ usually aimed only at mothers

Fathers viewed less seriously as parents than mothers

Regardless of the policies on offer, fathers’ ability to access different types of flexible working came down to their line manager

Chances of promotion are jeopardised if fathers are not visible

Qualitative findings: Fathers perceptions (private and public sector combined)

The way we ‘do’ family has changed

Regardless of family circumstance, both mothers and fathers need and desire to combine employment with childcare

Fathers need effective policies in place to support their work and family life

General conclusions

1. Remain flexibleAcross both the public and private sectors, flexible working improves employees sense of work-life balance and overload, even during the recession. In the private sector in particular, flexibility also yields dramatic, positive effects on job security, control, work relationships and pay and benefits.

A vast majority of the 1,106 employed fathers surveyed (both quantitatively and qualitatively) very much depend on them. A reduction in their availability would impact negatively upon employees and the organisational as a whole, based on the mutual benefits they bring.

2. Educate and support line-managersA vast majority of individuals stated that irrespective of their employers’ official family-friendly and flexibility policies, it was their direct supervisor who acted as either an enabler or a barrier to working flexibly. Greater communication to line-managers of the rights to and organisational benefits of flexibility will prove beneficial.

Recommendations (1 of 2)

3. A Fatherhood PassportA voluntary record of male employees’ current and impending familial responsibilities. Most fathers feel ‘invisible’ within the organisation, and as though their joint commitments to family and work are not understood by their line-managers and employers. Remedying this will result in greater employee wellbeing and engagement.

“I am a new father, and I would say over the last nine months, I’d admit my

performance has dipped because of becoming a new dad, the added stress and

responsibility. So, yeah it would be nice if somewhere it could be formally

recorded and understood, so you don’t get fired because of what’s going on”

Recommendations (2 of 2)