A study by researchers at the Australian National University (ANU) has found that a father’s work-life balance is crucial to the mental health of his children. Researchers surveyed 2,496 Australian families, finding that it is not just a mother’s struggle to balance work and home commitments that affects children, but also that experienced by fathers. ANU researchers were able to demonstrate that the mental health of children deteriorates when their mother or father experiences an increase in work-family conflict. Conversely, children’s mental health improves when work-family conflict is reduced. Another key finding is that men are equally as likely to experience a problem with work-life balance as women, with 16% of men saying they never or rarely feel work and family life is in balance, compared with 15% of women.
ANU researcher, Dr Liana Leach, recently interviewed about the study by Susie O’Brien for the Herald Sun newspaper, said that: Fathers say they can’t even get to things like family events. Even when they are spending time with family they say they can’t enjoy it because they’re always thinking about work. Furthermore, says Dr Leach, the study shows that work-life conflict leads to “fatigue, distress or emotional withdrawal as parents forgo family events or valued time with their children for work-related opportunities and expectations”. In turn, when work-family conflict becomes chronic, “children’s wellbeing is adversely affected both directly and indirectly via increases in poor parent mental health, parenting irritability and marital dissatisfaction”.
According to the ANU study, published in the Social Science and Medicine journal, fathers want to spend more time with their children but say that their work does not allow them to. This is backed up by Australian census data showing that about 90% of men are employed and 92% of those are employed full-time. “The problem is compounded,” Dr Leach told the Herald Sun, “for fathers who want to be with their families more but end up working 40 to 60 hours a week.”
In addition to work, parents must factor in hours of housework; childcare; household administration; home maintenance; attending children’s sporting, music and other commitments; caring for elderly and other relatives; and other family and work obligations on evenings and weekends - leaving little time for family time, socialising, exercise or relaxation.
Lisa Connolly, Director of Family and Community Statistics at the ABS, says that it comes as no surprise that about 93% of mothers and 85% of fathers with children aged under 15 feel “rushed or pressed for time”. However, she also notes that 89% of parents still feel that they spend “quality time with family and friends”. Nevertheless, with the ANU study finding that children’s wellbeing is adversely affected when the conflict between their parents’ work and family life becomes chronic - resulting in “poor parent mental health, parenting irritability and marital dissatisfaction” - I would encourage increasingly busy families to take the time to consider the role that all family members, including fathers, play in creating a better work-life balance and improved mental wellbeing for both parents and children.
References:
Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2016, September 2). Dad’s the word [media release]. Retrieved from: http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Lookup/by%20Subject/4125.0~August%202016~Media%20Release~Dad%27s%20the%20word%20(Media%20Release)~2
Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2017, December 4).
More couples have both parents working [media release]. Retrieved from: http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/lookup/6224.0.55.001Media%20Release1June%202017
Baxter, J. (2017, May). Stay-at-home dads: Research summary – May 2017. Retrieved from Australian Institute of Family Studies website:
O’Brien, S. (2018, August 18). Work-life balance the key to raising happy kids, study reveals. Retrieved from Herald Sun website:
Dinh, H., Cooklin, A., Leach, L., Westrupp, E., Nicholson, J., & Strazdins, L. (2017). Parents’ transitions into and out of work-family conflict and children’s mental health: Longitudinal influence via family functioning. Social Science & Medicine, 194, 42-50. DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2017.10.017
Ros Curtis