Work-family balance: international research on employee preferences

Abstract

When the Australian Prime Minister recently referred to the issue of work and family as a ‘barbecue stopper’, it was clear that the issue is both firmly on the policy agenda and highly controversial. (Editor, 2002) While there has been considerable political jockeying in regard to the desirable degree of state intervention to better enable employees to combine work and family, a perhaps more fundamental debate has emerged concerning the forms of intervention and benefits that employees want. What policies and practices do working men and women consider would make a positive difference, in terms of helping them to find a better balance between these two spheres? The object of this paper is to shed light on what employees want by pulling together research data on employee preferences in regard to work-family benefits throughout the western world.