Aussie Kids Believe Their Parents Work Too Hard

Majority of Australian children believe their parents are spending too much time on their jobs and it affects their family time, a study released on Tuesday by the Australian Institute of Family Studies found.

The study had 4,000 10- and 11-year-olds respondents whose mother or father is employed. The report said 35 per cent think their fathers work too much and 27 per cent held the same opinion about their mothers.

Aussie parents acknowledged the pressure on family time by paid work. Among the kids of dads who admitted that their employment caused family time to be less fun, a higher 43 per cent said their fathers spent too much time at work. When it was the mother's turn to express the same sentiment, 33 per cent of their children shared the same thought.

"They see their parents working long hours and not coming home until late and weekend. Kids notice that and sense that they are missing out on time with their mother or father," The Sydney Morning Herald quoted Jennifer Baxter, the institute's researcher.

Even if balancing time between employment and family is often a challenge for Aussie families, 67 per cent of the parents said that work nevertheless still had a positive effect on their children, Ms Baxter said.

That finding was backed by Lyndall Strazdins, associate professor at the Australian National University, who pointed out that good quality jobs affect the whole family's well-being.

"Research shows that employment and the nature of employment is a determinant of mental health.... Being in a poor quality job - that in insecure, has heavy workloads, doesn't give people any say over how they do their job and doesn't build their skills - is equally as bad for your mental health as being unemployed," Ms Strazdins explained.

The issue of work-life balance comes at a time that there is a push by Australian businesses, particularly those in the restaurant and banking industries, to remove weekend penalty rates for employees who work on Saturdays and Sundays. The companies insisted that the high cost of labour is eating into their profits and want staff who work on a weekend to be paid regular rates, provided they get days off on weekdays.

Besides the legal problem the proposal presents because of existing labour laws on weekend work, the issue of people working on weekends is a culturally sensitive topic because Saturdays and Sundays as time for family and personal things are considered important by Australian society in general.

The companies, however, insist that in an era of globalisation and 24/7 operations, people must be willing to sacrifice particularly during a period when economic uncertainty hounds many nations and businesses, which are the source of employment, are shuttering due to weak consumer confidence.