Although many people, especially parents, strive for work-life balance, only a small number of them succeed in achieving such an equilibrium. It is essential to consider why this is usually the case, and necessary measures also need to be taken to ensure that more people manage to strike a balance between career and family.
Attaining work-life balance seems implausible for many parents for many reasons, the primary one of which is high demands in the workplace. Today employees are expected to work many hours to prove their commitment to their company while upgrading their skills and qualifications to remain competitive. These expectations are to be meant on top of having to bringing in more customers to push sales, leaving family life unattended. The situation is sometimes exacerbated by personal ambitions such as earning a job promotion, public acknowledgement and admiration, leading them to forgo their personal life in favor of their aspirations. Finally, work-life balance, at times, skews to family life. Parents, in particular, become preoccupied with their children, taking them to school, running errands for them, going to their soccer practice, to name but a few. As a result, career takes a back seat, making parents less competitive in the workplace.
Parents can be aided in various ways to maintain a balance between work and family. Employers should take the lead by encouraging a balanced attitude towards work, which can be done through seminars and training sessions on work-life balance highlighting the potential side-effects of workaholism. Even though this measure may not appear to be in the best interest of employers in the short-term, its long-term benefits in terms of productivity and heightened employee satisfaction are well worth it. Government initiatives such as more frequent holidays and sabbaticals would also go a long way to facilitate time for family. In the meantime, government should authorize deliberate blackouts at offices to drive people out of their workplace – like in Japan where electricity is cut off in some business centers to discourage people from overworking. Last but not least, parents should not entirely dismiss their career either. A perceived fall in productivity due to family matters jeopardizes one’s career prospects, so employers should caution their employees against reduced devotion to work to tend to parental responsibilities, which can be done with pay cuts.
In conclusion, the idea of work-life balance seems not feasible to many parents due to reasons ranging from growing expectations at work to the demanding nature of parenthood. As such, a concerted effort should be made by employers, governments, and parents themselves to navigate this challenge and strive for a balance between career and family.