2.1.1 Participation in work

Stephens and Callister (2006) show that New Zealand has a different pattern of participation by mothers of young children compared to other OECD countries. For partnered mothers, the pattern features a high rate of withdrawal from the labour market when children are very young, but high participation rates when children are school age. New Zealand has relatively low employment rates for sole mothers compared with many other countries, both when children are young and when they are at school. The OECD report, Babies and Bosses (OECD 2004:3) comments that:

Almost one in four children in New Zealand lives in a one-parent household. As only one in two sole mothers in New Zealand is in paid work, many children grow up in jobless families.

The report also notes that about one in three women in New Zealand works part-time, compared with one in two in Switzerland and less than one in eight in Portugal. Furthermore, once in part-time employment, Swiss women often keep that employment status. In contrast, mothers in New Zealand increase their participation in paid work as children grow up, both in terms of employment and hours worked. Hence, mothers of school-age children, more often than not, work full-time, and employment rates for mothers whose youngest child is in primary school are much higher than for mothers whose child is of kindergarten age (75% versus 58%).

2.1.2 Child care arrangements

The corollary of any focus on women's labour market participation is a discussion about childcare. A nationally representative study of Work, Family and Parenting carried out by the Ministry of Social Development (2006) found that the majority (81%) of working parents of pre-schoolers relied on some type of childcare (sic) in order to participate in the workforce. Informal arrangements with family, friends or neighbours were more common than formal arrangements with a paid childcare worker, or some type of early childhood education service. Seventy-four percent of people used some sort of informal care, while 31 percent had a formal arrangement. This figure was higher for households with children under five years, with 51 percent of such households relying on formal childcare. However 'use of childcare' does not reveal the significant variations in patterns of childcare use. More information is needed on care arrangements for pre-school aged children (Ministry of Social Development, 2006).

The 2004 Living Standards study (Ministry of Social Development, 2006a) noted that the lack of access to childcare can restrict the ability of families to engage in paid work. It can also restrict opportunities for education or occupational training. Not being able to use childcare because of cost was associated with lower living standards. Over two-thirds (69%) of families who identified cost as a reason for not using childcare were in some degree of hardship, and a quarter (24%) were in severe hardship. This compared with 28 percent and 9 percent for all other families with dependent children. The report concludes that an improvement in the accessibility of childcare would lead to increased workforce participation within some families, and thus to improved living standards for those families.

2.1.3 Decision making

The Work, Family and Parenting study (Ministry of Social Development, 2006) showed that 30 percent of two-parent households had made a conscious decision for one parent not to be in paid work in order to care for young children at home; while 40 percent of all parents said they chose to work shorter hours or fewer days because of family responsibilities (age and number of children not specified). Little is known about how people made these choices, what factors influenced their decisions, or what they aimed to achieve by making them.

In assessing respondents' preferences, the survey found no work/home-life preference was dominant. A small majority (59%) preferred both parents to be in paid work. Among these parents, opinion was evenly divided over whether both partners' jobs should be equally demanding or whether one should be less demanding to accommodate one partner taking on more household and childcare responsibilities. A minority (39%) preferred a family where only one partner has a job. Two-thirds (64%) would prefer to have a job, even if they had a reasonable living income without one. Preference for paid work was particularly high among sole parents (86%) and Pacific parents (81%).

The report also showed that, in two-parent families, the reality in terms of whether one or both parents were in paid work matched their preferences to a degree that:

• parents from households with only one partner in paid work were more likely to state a preference for a family in which only one partner has a job, than parents from households with both partners in paid work (51% compared with 35%)
• parents from households with both partners in paid work were more likely to state a preference for both partners to be in paid work, than parents from households with only one partner in paid work (64% compared with 46%).

The report gives some indication of the impact of views about partners' roles. Although a majority of parents disagreed with the view that it is better for everyone involved if the father earns the money and the mother takes care of the home and children (34% agreed and 53% disagreed), agreement was higher than average among:

• Pacific parents (48% agree compared with 34% among all parents)
• parents in households where only one of two parents was in paid work (23% agree strongly compared with 16% among all parents)
• parents who preferred that only one partner be in paid work (49% agree compared with 26% of parents with other work/home-life preferences).

In 2005, the Families Commission undertook 43 focus groups with a range of families as part of a larger project to improve understanding of successful outcomes for families with dependent children. The focus groups looked specifically at decision making among other topics, and found that while families recognised that poor decision making was detrimental to well being, few made an explicit link between decision making and successful outcomes. Families defined successful outcomes for children in terms of good relationships, personal qualities, values and morals, as well as having a good job. Most parents in the study did not see money or material wealth as a prerequisite of success (Families Commission, 2005).

2.1.4 Balancing work and family life

As might be expected, recent research has confirmed that as well as working for money, many people work for social and personal fulfillment, career development, and to be a good role model to their children (Equal Employment Opportunities Trust, 2005; Families Commission, 2005). It is also clear that some parents find it difficult to juggle paid work and parenting. The Department of Labour (2006) report Work-Life Balance in New Zealand found that employees with carer responsibilities were more likely to experience work-life conflict. The home-to-work 'spill-over' had a greater impact on home life than work life, but effects at work were still considerable. For example, carers were significantly more likely than others to report that life outside work sometimes had an impact on their ability to take up development and career opportunities, and to get to work on time. Those with pre-school children were more likely to say that life outside work affected their ability to concentrate when they are at work, and having enough energy to do the job.

The Ministry of Social Development Work, Family and Parenting study (2006) also looked at 'work to home spillover' effects. The vast majority of people surveyed agreed that a happy family life makes work more enjoyable (8%), but a quarter (28%) felt that, because of their family responsibilities, they were not as committed to their job as they would like to be. While most people agreed that job satisfaction results in an improved quality of home life (89%), the majority (61%) felt that they missed out on some of the rewarding aspects of being a parent because of work. Three quarters (74%) of the parents agreed that children learned some good values because of their parents' paid work; 55% agreed that working makes them a better parent.

The nature of people's caring responsibilities affected their overall satisfaction with the quality of their family life. The majority (79%) of parents rated their family life as either 'happy' or 'extremely happy'. Sole parents were significantly less happy with the quality of their family life than other parents (59% rated their family life as either 'happy' or 'extremely happy'). Parents in households with pre-school children tended to be happier with their family life, than parents in households with older children (84% and 76% respectively rated their family life as 'happy' or 'extremely happy').

The stresses of caring for those with special needs affected people's perceptions of the quality of their family life:

• only 27% of parents in a household where someone was caring for an elderly relative (n=59) who was unable to properly care for themselves were 'extremely happy' with their family life, compared to 41% of all parents
• 66% of parents in a household where someone had a permanent disability or long-term illness rated their quality of life as 'happy' or 'extremely happy', compared to 79% of all parents (Ministry of Social Development, 2006).

Recent research has shown that balancing work and parenting or caring responsibilities means different things to different people (Department of Labour, 2003; Ministry of Social Development, 2006). However, most people can relate to the concept of work-life balance, identify an imbalance in their lives, and think of changes to the work environment that would improve that balance. Research also indicates that most people are satisfied with their working arrangements and the quality of their home life (Ministry of Social Development, 2006; Families Commission 2005). Department of Labour focus group research in 2003 found that most people would not look to address imbalances until a crisis, and were reluctant to approach employers to make requests. They saw responsibility for achieving work-life balance lying with individuals, while creating the environment for it lies with employers.

The research on work/life balance shows that achieving a balance is situation specific and affected by many factors, including individual choice or preference, employer/employee relationships and government policies. Therefore no single policy or support arrangement for achieving a balance will meet everyone's needs. Studies that look in depth at people's circumstances, and the factors influencing their decisions, will be an important source of information for the ongoing discussion about work-life balance.