Improved childcare and more positive attitudes towards working mothers have helped boost the number of women in paid jobs, but many parents still suffer 'role strain' in their efforts to balance work and family life.
That is one of the key findings of a report published by the National Family and Parenting Institute (NFPI) which provides a detailed analysis of how the shape of family life has changed over the past ten years, the main achievements in developing family-friendly policies and the principal obstacles to further progress.
UK Family Trends 1994-2004, compiled by NFPI research fellow Helen Barrett, draws on a broad range of contemporary research and marks the tenth anniversary of the United Nations' International Year of the Family.
It explores demographic changes, including the growth in population and immigration, the role of mothers and how working affects their relationship with their children, the changing role of fathers, and the relationship between families and community support networks.
Her report, says Helen Barrett, 'underlines how complex are the patterns of family life in the UK and how much our families have changed in recent years. It is clear that mothers and fathers say they are finding the task of parenting difficult.'
Women in work
By 2003 half the UK workforce was made up of women, with the proportion of mothers in work rising from 57 per cent in 1990 to 65 per cent in 2000 and 68 per cent in 2003. More than half the mothers of children aged under five - 55 per cent - are now in jobs, and the hours they work are increasing.
However, the report stresses that the pay gap between men and women persists and is reinforced by the process of women leaving and then returning to work several times in the course of raising their children.
The research indicates that they are often unable to negotiate advantageous pay deals on their return.
The NFPI report cites research which tracked 400 women before they gave birth and then at six and 12 months afterwards. Women who decided to return to work felt 'uncomfortable about the impact of their decision on their children', while those who chose to stay at home were 'somewhat uncomfortable about the impact of their decision on themselves'. The report concludes, 'In other words, neither group of women appears to have avoided some degree of role strain.'
Child psychologist and early years consultant Jennie Lindon thinks families are often given an unrealistic message that with careful management of time and better childcare, there are no impediments to both parents pursuing full-time careers. She says that compromises need to be made for the benefit of children, and that achieving a tolerable work/life balance is a family's, rather than solely a women's, issue.
Research released this month by the support group Working Families and Lloyds TSB shows that two-thirds of those working said that obtaining a better work/life balance was their priority, while only 22 per cent cited better pay and 19 per cent promotion.
But the survey also reveals that 50 per cent of women and 61 per cent of men feel uncomfortable about asking to work flexible hours. This is despite the fact that the survey shows that 63 per cent of employees are given this option by employers.
The charity Parentline Plus says, 'We encourage parents to see that asking for help is a sign of strength, and work with them to offer practical solutions and ways to manage their particular situations and difficulties.'
The NFPI report concludes, 'Although a number of aspects of women's work conditions appear to have improved, the choice of whether to work or not to work is still difficult for most women.'
Support for parents
The report notes that one of the first projects undertaken by the NFPI in 2001 was a survey of the needs of parents. It found a demand for 'user-friendly, accessible and culturally sensitive' information on health, behaviour problems and speech and learning difficulties as well as family relationships.
The NFPI then carried out a mapping exercise to provide an overview of services throughout England and Wales. 'The main recommendation from this mapping exercise was that there should be a co-ordinated plan to deliver family support throughout existing health, education, social and criminal justice services,' the report states.
Specific proposals resulting from the exercise included calls for a combination of universal, minimum support to enable families to access services, and a menu of services tailored to local conditions which could meet individual families' needs.
The universal support was to comprise four elements:
* antenatal support
* postnatal support
* support across the remainder of 'the childhood spectrum'
* single information sessions at transitional points throughout children's school careers.
The NFPI report notes that 'implementation of this approach is gaining momentum' with the publication of the Green Paper, Every Child Matters, and the passing of the Children Act. But it questions whether the Government should intervene more to ensure that the rights and responsibilities of parents are more clearly defined.
While the NFPI recognises that Government measures must not be over-intrusive, it suggests that a contract outlining parents' rights and responsibilities is already effectively enshrined in Scotland's Children Act, and legislation in other European countries and should be debated in the rest of the UK.
Maggy Meade-King says Working Families believes in providing holistic advice to families on the basis of what works best for them individually.
But she stresses, 'It's important not to make people feel they are being de-skilled. If you keep telling people what they should do, they start to doubt themselves. If advice and support is given properly, it will empower parents.'
The role of fathers
While acknowledging the need for more in-depth research on the developing role of fathers, the report suggests that 'there have not been revolutionary changes in men's behaviour or self-image'. It adds that while the role of fathers has become more visible, they 'continue to see their main responsibility as being to provide for the family, they continue to be less likely than women to talk about their feelings or to do the housework and, in general, they do not take as much responsibility for childcare as mothers'.
However, Jack O'Sullivan of Fathers Direct points to research conducted by the University of East Anglia for the Equal Opportunities Commission in 2003 which revealed that in households where both parents work, fathers are doing a third of parental childcare for the under-fives.
He says, 'That's a significant shift, given that this age group is a traditional area for mothers. We are not talking about hopes for fathers'
involvement, but a dramatic change in men's lives which is well underway.
'Survey after survey shows that fathers want to spend more time with their kids. What gets in the way is work. We know that new fathers in Britain end up working longer hours than before the birth of their child for sound economic reasons.'
The childcare gap
The NFPI report cites recent research which indicates that while Government initiatives have been introduced to tackle issues such as social exclusion and poverty, it still has not produced 'a coherent overall policy in relation to daycare services'. However, the Family Trends report was published before the Government delivered its ten-year childcare strategy at the end of last year.
Improvements in the quality of childcare provision, including a review of pay and conditions across the pre-school sector are needed 'to rectify inequalities which are leading to instability of services'. There should also be better access to in-service training, staff development and greater reliance on long-term, sustainable funding.
Debbie Bruce of the lone parents' organisation Gingerbread says that many of these issues are tackled in the ten-year strategy, but that while the numbers of those getting back to work through the New Deal for Lone Parents has increased, finding affordable childcare remains difficult for those on low incomes, especially in London.
But the report emphasises that childcare does not simply mean time spent looking after children, either by parents or childcarers. It includes related activities such as transport to and from school, childminders, nurseries, after-school activities and other leisure pursuits.
A study of 40 mothers, seven working full-time, 21 part-time and 12 not working, 'found that the negotiations involved in co-ordinating work commitments around both the childcare that facilitates the possibility of paid employment and the plethora of other activities that children are involved in, can affect a mother's ability and willingness to work'.
The 'role strain' that parents in the UK experience is less pronounced in other European countries such as France, 'where greater progress has been made in provision of social policy', according to the NFPI report. It suggests that it 'may be necessary to question whether all that is needed is workplace reforms that may often be designed with only the demands imposed by paid work in mind, as opposed to wider considerations, such as the relationship between paid and unpaid work'.
