Juggling your family life and work life – is it different for women and men?

While some Australian fathers are actively involved in raising their children, too many merely describe themselves as “helpers”. Jen Dalitz and Lisa Lintern want to find out how the social fabric of our families is adjusting to a transforming job market.

As the winds of change gently breeze across Australia’s male dominated professional landscape, the number of initiatives aimed at supporting greater female participation in the workforce has increased.

However, this leaves us wondering: are our personal lives keeping pace with the change?

A recent study conducted by Save the Children Australia shows that while some Australian fathers are actively involved in raising their children, too many describe themselves as “helpers”, leaving the day-to-day care of their children to others. Some of the men surveyed in this study claim flexible work arrangements often made available to women were not available to them.

Even if they want to do more hands on parenting, are men getting the support they need to do so?

Meanwhile, according to the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia survey, women still average 16 hours housework a week, more than double the amount of men. The World Economic Forum backs this finding, reporting Australian women spend 311 minutes on unpaid work each day – such as housework, caring responsibilities and volunteering – while men spend 171.6 hours on the same type of work.

In a tight job market, with workplaces demanding more and more hours, is it feasible to expect working parents to lean in more on the home-front?

As more women step into senior roles in corporate Australia we want to know: How is the social fabric of our families adjusting to this change? How does the amount of support they get on the home front stack up as compared with a man in a similar position?

At the same time, are men in senior positions offered the same level of flexibility to allow them to take on their equal share of parental and home duties?

So we’re undertaking a survey of how men and women are managing to juggle their work life with their family life in 2015, with a view to uncovering and publishing what we find.

The aim of this survey is to gain insights into how the experiences of men and women are supported in performing work and family responsibilities. Do they share similar experiences or is there a level of inequality in terms of the support that they get?

We’re looking for men and women – both in the workforce and full time carers – to share their experiences here. We would appreciate you taking ten minutes to complete the questions. Survey findings will be published and individuals participating in the survey can request to receive results directly.

Lisa Lintern spent nearly 20 years within large corporate organisations, helping them to translate, tell and protect their stories and now runs her own corporate communications business.