Gender

Fathers struggling to work flexibly

A survey of 2,000 working fathers aged between 24 and 40 found that two thirds had asked for a change in their working pattern since the birth of their child. 56% of those that asked to adjust their hours were allowed to do so which means that almost half were refused.  45% of millennial fathers said they had experienced tension from their employers over their wish to balance their work and home priorities. Only 19% of the fathers who requested…

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The ‘fatherhood penalty’

Following straight after the news about men working part time comes a report showing fathers are seeking more flexible employment. The “Modern Families Index 2017” report has just been published by Working Families. In this they point to a ‘flexibility gap’. Almost half of parents are not comfortable raising the issue of workload and hours with their employer. They identified  flexible working as a key way of getting a better balance, but many felt that they could not make use of…

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Part Time Men – Good News?

Today we have had the news that the number of men working part time has grown rapidly. The Institute for Fiscal Studies has published a report saying that 20 years ago 1 in 20 men aged 20-55 worked part-time with low wages. Now it’s 1 in 5. So the Guardian puts this under the headline “Bleak trend ….is revealed”. It seems that the growth of anything other than conventional full-time jobs is a bad thing. But, wait a minute. I…

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