Juggling Acts

Many parents today are working long hours in both paid and unpaid work and there are more mothers in the workforce than ever before.

Almost all children live in a family where at least one parent works in full-time paid work.More parents are also likely to be working in jobs that offer flexible, part-time or shift-work options.

Trying to match work hours with childcare can however be challenging. Many families describe balancing work and family life as a major issue in their lives, and it is important that parents have choice and support to find the best balance they can.

Early childhood education (ECE) is a critical service for families with young children in New Zealand. The provision of quality ECE enables parents to participate in paid work and contributes to good outcomes for children.

This study focuses on how parents working outside the normal Monday to Friday,
8.00am to 5.00pm working week, manage the care of their pre-school-aged children.

Most parents have to juggle their time so they can fulfil their family responsibilities and commitments outside their home, especially their work. The parents we interviewed in this study highlighted that working non-standard hours adds another level of complexity to this juggling act. The type of work they did meant they were sometimes sleep- deprived, had less predictability in their week and were working anti-social hours. It also sometimes meant they were able to spend more time with their children during the week, have their children cared for by family members and, sometimes, have access to better-paying jobs.

We interviewed 22 parents and three grandparents working non-standard hours in six different workplaces to find out about the childcare arrangements they made for their pre-school-aged children while they worked. We also interviewed employers in seven workplaces to find out what they did to accommodate their employees’ childcare needs.

These parents used various types of care, including formal ECE services as well as
informal care provided by family and friends. The support provided by the parent’s partner and by grandparents was crucial to keeping the parent’s non-standard work sustainable. Some children were spending long hours in ECE and some caregivers were working very long hours. These issues raise concerns and need further investigation.

The findings from this study will be of interest to policymakers and researchers in the ECE and labour-market sectors. The study should also provide useful insights for ECE providers and for employers whose staff are working non-standard hours. It may also be interesting for other parents to hear how some families find a balance between their work and family commitments.

Our thanks to all the parents, grandparents and employers who gave up their time
to share their experiences with our researchers.