Family-friendly workplace culture – good for national development

Tue, May 15. 2012

Last Sunday was Mother’s Day, at least in our part of the world, and today is recognized by the international community as the International Day of the Families.

Not only do these Days fall in close proximity to each other, but the subject matters are inter-linked and have great bearing on each other. After all, it is the Mother who is the bedrock of the family; thus, any focus on the role and contribution of mothers must have relevance to the development of the family as an institution, and its own role in the society as a whole.{{more}}

Mothering is perhaps the single most fundamental social function, the very basis of family life. Indeed, many of the difficulties we experience in the society today can be traced to deficiencies at the family level. We have quite rightly been able to hone in on the need for greater responsibility on the part of fathers in sharing the burden of raising the family, but sometimes we tend to overlook the creeping challenges facing mothering in our changing societies.

The theme chosen for the International Day of the Families, “Ensuring Work-Family Balance”, reflects some of these challenges. The days of the family with a working male as head and a “Housewife” taking care of the home are long gone. Today, in both developed and developing countries, whether out of economic necessity or the desire on the part of women for professional fulfilment, more and more women are joining the workforce.

The background note for today’s observation points out that, “demographic and socio-economic trends are causing major changes in work and family life”. This is evident from the ever-widening participation of women, mothers in particular, in the workforce, the trend towards rapid urbanization and greater mobility in job opportunities, for women and men alike. The result is a weakening of traditional extended family networks, as even grandmothers, traditionally considered as being available to help with childcare, are more and more involved in gainful employment.

This is a major challenge with which societies like ours are faced and have not yet been able to confront successfully. It is compounded by the inadequacy of facilities to provide services to cope with growing need for assistance with the care of the elderly and those with disabilities.

This year’s International Day of the Families therefore emphasizes the need for family-oriented policies and programmes to provide the necessary supportive mechanisms for mothers and for families on the whole.

It proposes a mix of such policies as appropriate maternity and paternity leave, gender equality in the domestic situation, with men sharing the responsibilities, flexible approach to work hours where appropriate, and the provision of childcare facilities.

Work-family balance lies at the core of the ability of the family to provide economically and emotionally for its members. Family-friendly strategies facilitating work-family balance have a key role in supporting parents to raise our next generation of productive, law-abiding citizens. It is therefore in the interest of all employers, both in the private and public sector, to commit to promoting a family-friendly culture in the workplace and, as far as possible, adopt policies which promote good labour relations, employee health and well-being, gender equality and child welfare.