See text below.
EXCERPTS
Australia has emerged as one of the most intensely work-focused countries, but it is creating a human tragedy.
Research has found a strong link between long and unpredictable work hours and the breakdown of family and other relationships.
Australia is the only high-income country in the world that combines very long average working hours with a high level of work at unsocial times - during weeknights and weekends - and a significant proportion of casual employment.
These work patterns are making employees unhealthy, putting relationships under extreme stress, creating angry, inconsistent parents, and reducing the well-being of children, says the report by Relationships Forum Australia, titled An unexpected tragedy.
"These associations are evident when either or both parents work atypical schedules, so the timing of fathers', not just mothers', work matters to children," it says.
…
The trends in working patterns suggest worse is to come, says the report, which draws together a large body of Australian and international research on work and family.
"The cold statistics hide immense human tragedy," the report concludes.
The struggle for many families to balance the demands of work and family has emerged as a hot political issue in many marginal seats. A cluster of work-related issues, including the Government's industrial relations changes and the cost and availability of child care, are set to feature in the federal election.
The report's co-author, Paul Shepanski, a former partner of Boston Consulting Group, said the work patterns that were causing widespread damage to relationships and families had emerged slowly over 30 years.
"The past three decades of prosperity experienced by Australia have come at an unexpected price … especially in families," he said.
…
- reprinted from the Sydney Morning Herald