April 04 Rural Bulletin - Linking Relationships and Work

Who Completed the Survey
How Do Workplaces Help
Overwork and Shiftwork
Gender and Age Differences

Linking Relationships and Work

The EEO Trust has recently completed a comprehensive research project to find out more about the links between paid work and people's relationships with their partner or spouse and their friends. The project included an international literature review and an on-line survey, completed by 1,324 people, to find out more about the experiences of NZers.

Who Completed the Survey

More men than women responded to the survey, suggesting that women may be more aware of and concerned about these issues, although women are often more responsive to surveys. Respondents covered a broad age range, with the over 50s being least well represented. White collar occupations were over-represented in the survey. More than two out of five respondents were in paid work for 30-40 hours per week, with men more likely than women to be working longer hours. Hours worked were similar across age groups.

The research confirmed that paid work does have a beneficial effect on personal relationships for most people and that healthy relationships and friendships positively affect performance at work. Eighty-two percent of respondents said paid work had a positive effect on their relationships, while 75 percent believed that they did not work as well if they were having problems in their relationships.

The impact of paid work was a contributing factor in spouse/partner break-up for 39 percent of respondents, and 38 percent said they or their partner had turned down a job, promotion or transfer because it would impact badly on their relationship. Work pressure/exhaustion/stress was the main reason given for a work-related relationship break-up, followed by long hours.

When asked how good relationships help them perform better at work, 81 percent said they were more productive because they felt better, 71 percent said the emotional support from relationships helped them cope with work stress, and 63 percent said they got along better with workmates/colleagues.

For two-thirds of respondents, paid work affected the amount of time they spent with their partner and for just over half it affected the quality of time they spent. The perceived negative impact of paid work on relationships increased with the number of hours worked.

How Do Workplaces Help

Most respondents (60 percent) were positive about the value and support their workplace gave their relationships with friends and spouse/partners. When asked how their workplace helped them form good relationships with workmates/colleagues, 49 percent ticked "tasks that require interaction with other staff members" while 46 percent ticked "social club".

Around one out of six respondents (17 percent) were happy with the support their workplace provided for having good personal relationships and three percent felt there was nothing their workplace could do to support their relationships.

For the remaining four out of five respondents the most helpful initiatives that workplaces could take to support their personal relationships were:

providing flexible work hours;
training managers in awareness of work practices that impact on relationships;
providing a secure permanent job; and
consulting staff to determine what these practices should be for their particular workplace.

Overwork and Shiftwork

A large number of respondents commented on how overwork affected their relationships. For example, "My husband works a 40-hour week, but sometimes has to work overtime for a few weeks which puts a lot of stress on the relationship, but it gets back to normal afterward." Or, "More staff needed. No cover when anyone is away so frequently short-staffed. It is impossible to work at a high standard without something giving. Unfortunately it then flows into home."

One in ten respondents wanted to have adequate time as a shiftworker for evening and weekend socialising. Given that around one in five workers are shiftworkers, this is a high response from shiftworkers.

One respondent to the EEO Trust survey wrote about the challenges she faced with a partner doing shift work, "We have problems with the amount of time that we spend together as a couple as he works from 3am to 11am and I work from 8.30am to 4.35pm."

Another shift worker wrote, "There needs to be a lot more flexibility in shift-work to compensate and allow employees to carry out their work on a long-term basis, instead of putting up with it until breaking point then leaving a job."

Gender and Age Differences

Although there were some differences between men and women respondents to the survey (e.g., women were more likely than men to think that doing paid work had positive effects on relationships), the amount of similarity in their responses was striking.

Differences by age group were not great but did confirm some expected patterns. The 30-49 age group is generally most affected by the impact of paid work on personal relationships and this is the group who were most likely to want workplace initiatives to help them manage their work and relationships better.

Those aged under 30 were generally more similar to those aged 30-49 than to those aged 50 plus. They are less likely than the 30-49 age group to be parenting but they are concerned about the impact of paid work on the amount of time they can spend with their partner and more likely to want de facto partners recognised in workplace benefits that apply to married partners.

For a toolkit for workplaces and the full research report go to www.eeotrust.org.nz

Thanks to EEO Trust

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