Managing Work-Life Balance in Construction

Helen Lingard, Valerie Francis

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2009
• ISBN:
  9781134200160
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Arquitectura
• Subtopic: Métodos y materiales arquitectónicos

Work in the construction industry is particularly tough. It demands excessively long hours and frequent weekend work. Other characteristics are particularly marked, such as re-location, job insecurity and distinctive behavioural patterns, which negatively affect employees' personal lives further. Work–life balance has emerged as one of the most pressing management issues in the 21st century. For construction managers dealing with traditional models of work and rigid work schedules, the issue may be especially difficult to manage, and yet the work–life balance is now recognised as an issue of strategic importance to the construction industry. It is critical to the construction industry's continued ability to attract and retain a talented workforce, and it is also inextricably linked to organizational effectiveness and employees' well-being.

This book presents the argument for the management of work–life balance in the construction industry. It maps the changes to the workforce demographic profile and the changing expectations relating to work and personal life that occurred during the second half of the 20th century. Legal imperatives for managing work–life balance are set out. It also presents work–life balance theory and discusses the practical implications of research, along with extensive empirical data collected from the industry. Lastly, practical advice is provided about what construction organizations can and should do to manage work–life balance. This provides a unique guide to a key issue.

1 Is it a problem?

Valerie Francis, Emma Fulu and Helen Lingard

Introduction

In 1987, a film called Three Men and a Baby made $167,780,960 at the box office, making this one of the highest earning ‘fish-out-of-water’ father films in the history of the genre. The film tells the story of three professional bachelors, who suddenly find themselves caring for a baby left on their doorstep. In one of the key scenes, Tom Selleck’s character, an architect, is seen holding the baby (Mary) as he surveys a construction site. Mary appears on site in a little pink hard hat. The film’s success says something about the gendered assumptions around work and family life at the time.

When this film came out over twenty years ago, women had already been moving into the workforce in unprecedented numbers in the USA and other industrialised countries. However, this movie played on a somewhat outdated gender-based division of labour in which men were seen as the breadwinners and women assumed responsibility for the domestic sphere, including child rearing. The film’s humour stemmed from the assumption that professional men would not know how to look after a baby. If the roles were reversed and the film’s leading characters were female professionals in a female-dominated industry such as teaching or nursing, struggling to balance paid work with caring for a child, it is difficult to imagine the film attracting so much attention (or even being made). Films of this nature highlight what Phyllis Moen has labelled the ‘policy lag’, i.e. ‘the mismatch between outdated structures and scripts and the contemporary reality’ faced by the majority of workers in the early years of the twenty-first century (Moen, 2003).

The nature of the workforce continues to evolve. Along with the increase in female labour force participation, the structure and dynamics of families have also altered significantly over recent decades, with attitudes about men’s family roles in particular undergoing a shift. Does this mean that a film like Three Men and a Baby would no longer resonate with an audience or get the same laughs? Have the changes we see in the workforce and family impacted significantly on the gendered division of labour? Perhaps the issues that the film raised about juggling paid work and child care are more relevant than ever, for both men and women.

In this book we examine the ‘contemporary reality’ for men and women, in order to highlight the need to address work–life balance issues in the construction industry. In the first section of this chapter we describe the changing nature of the workforce, including the rise in female labour force participation rates, generational shifts in expectations about work–life balance, the ageing and contracting of the workforce, the growth of part-time work and increasing hours of full-time work. The second section of this chapter examines the changing structure and dynamics of families, and in particular the rise of the dual earner couple. We look at challenges to the male breadwinner/female homemaker model, the decrease in fertility, shifting attitudes about men’s role in the family and the increasing proportion of aged dependants. The third section deals with the demanding nature of organisations in the twenty-first century and the long-hours culture of the construction industry in particular.

The changing workforce

The nature of the paid workforce in industrialised countries has changed significantly since the 1950s. In particular the number of people who combine work and family responsibilities has risen, due to the increased participation of women in the labour force and men’s increasing desire to be more available for their children.

Balancing work, family and lifestyle has become an important issue for many workers. Businesses, predominantly lead by those within the public sector and female-dominated industries, are adapting to the needs of their employees by embracing the concept of work–life and work–family balance. This makes economic sense, with tangible benefits being experienced in terms of efficiency and labour force supply, particularly important as the available workforce contracts. Governments are also responding to the changing needs of the population, workers and families alike, with the introduction of policies and legislation to help achieve balance and increase workforce engagement. In this section we look at demographic changes as well as the shifts in attitudes which are changing the workforce and increasing their need and desire for work–life balance.

Changes in labour force participation

Since the 1950s women’s participation in the paid workforce worldwide has grown substantially. Four factors are considered to be the main drivers of this change. First is the rising rate of education of women, which encourages workforce participation. In the UK in 2006/2007 57 per cent of first-degree graduates were women (Higher Education Statistics Agency, 2008). This is similar for most developed countries; in Australia for instance 54 per cent of university enrolments were women, compared with only 20 per cent in 1951 (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2002; Department of Education, Science and Training, 2005). The other three factors relate to declining fertility, which increases women’s availability for employment, as well as their increasing desire for personal fulfilment and the economic need for employment. These are discussed later.

Whilst we have seen wide acceptance that childless couples both work, Bourke (2000) suggests that attitudinal and institutional barriers to women’s employment resurface upon child bearing. There is strong empirical evidence that an inverse relationship exists between the labour force participation of women and fertility (Apps and Rees, 2005). Motherhood significantly curtails the labour force engagement of women, particularly mothers with babies and toddlers, either through their absence from the paid workforce or involvement in part-time employment (Bianchi, 2000). For instance Evans and Kelley (2004) found that married Australian women with preschool children work on average 17.6 hours less per week than non-married childless women. Research in Australia, the UK and Germany by Apps and Rees (2005) suggests that reduction in workforce participation of women with young children is affected by public policy, such as taxation, social security and child care. This may well explain the inter-country differences in participation of mothers in the workforce. In 2003, 81.8 per cent of women with two or more children were in the workforce in Sweden, 77.2 per cent in Denmark, 64.7 per cent in the USA, 68.2 per cent in Canada and 56.2 per cent in Australia (House of Representatives, 2006). This in part reflects cultural and economic differences, as well as the availability of parental leave and child care in these countries.

As can be seen in Table 1.1, women’s participation in the paid labour force has increased significantly in most countries worldwide, although the timing of these increases varied from country to country. Data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (2007a) shows that the increase in the female labour force participation rate (LFPR)² occurred earlier in the UK, Japan and Scandinavian countries, with the largest increases in the last two decades being in countries such as Greece, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand and Spain. Large inter-country differences in the levels of female participation persist. The participation rate ranges from around 45 per cent in Mexico to 60 per cent in Korea and southern European countries, and above 75 per cent in Scandinavia and some eastern European countries. Australia, the UK, the USA, Canada and New Zealand are all currently reasonably stagnant at around 70 per cent.

Table 1.1 Total female labour force as a percentage of population, aged 15–64

Table 1.2 provides details of female employment as a percentage of total employment, and indicates that women comprise 37 per cent to 48 per cent of the employment market, up from below 30 per cent in the 1960s. This table reflects not only the increase in women’s participation but also the smaller percentage of men participating in the workforce. Part of the explanation for the convergence of participation rates in Australia, which may well hold true for other developed countries, is the increased growth in employment opportunities in part-time service industries, which are dominated by women, and slower employment growth in industries traditionally employing full-time male workers, such as utilities, mining and manufacturing (Commonwealth Treasury of Australia, 1999). Even though female LFPRs have generally increased and male LFPRs have decreased slightly in recent years, there is still a significant gap between male and female participation rates around the world. The gap between LFPRs of people aged 15 years and over is greatest in north Africa, south Asia and the Middle East. East Asia has the smallest disparity between the sexes in terms of labour force participation of any region in the world, although the gap did widen slightly in the last decade (International Labour Organization, 2008a). It is significant to note that while the gap has decreased in almost all regions except east Asia and sub-Saharan Africa (International Labour Organization, 2008a) in the last 10 years, the shift has been relatively minor, indicating that gender equality in the workplace is still an area of concern.

Table 1.2 Female employment as a percentage of total employment

So whilst the number of women in employment worldwide has never been so high, during the past 10 years the worldwide female LFPR has remained relatively static – declining in some regions and increasing in others (International Labour Organization, 2008a). Younger women’s increased participation in higher education in developing nations partially explains this recent decrease (International Labour Organization, 2007a) as does a slowing world economy which has had a negative impact on female LFPR by curtailing women’s access to jobs (Mather, 2007). As many women in the world work in the agricultural sector, and fewer in the industrial or service sector, the decline in employment in agriculture worldwide also has a direct effect on women’s employment in developing nations (International Labour Organization, 2008a). Another possible reason for the flattening in growth is that women’s ability to balance work and family responsibility may have reached a limit, and an increasing proportion of women are choosing to stay home to avoid this work–life conflict (Mather, 2007). The higher participation rates in Scandinavian countries may well reflect their more sympathetic governments and business policies which assist workers to achieve balance in their lives.

The number of women in the construction industry is slowly increasing. Women are still highly under-represented in construction and engineering. Their participation rates for instance have been virtually stagnant for the past 25 years in Australia, having been 12.9 per cent in 1986 and 13.3 per cent in 2006 (Francis, 2007). The largest increase in female participation has been in professional positions. Women make up about 5 per cent of the civil engineering workforce in the UK (Watts, 2007a) and 9 per cent in Australia (up from 2.7 per cent in 1980) (Francis, 2007). The American Community survey in 2006 showed that women comprised 11.8 per cent of the engineering workforce and 22 per cent of all architects, surveyors and cartographers (USA Census Bureau, 2006). However, as Greed (2000) notes, women’s entry into professional roles, compared with other formerly male-dominated professions such as medicine and law, is very slow. Entry into blue-collar roles has been minimal. For instance 2006 census data reveals that women made up only 1.93 per cent of all carpenters in the US and only 0.8 per cent in Australia (down from 1.0 per cent in 1991) (USA Census Bureau, 2006; Francis, 2007).

There is some evidence that women are starting to enter higher positions in the construction sector, with the UK Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) having its first female president in 2008 (Watts, 2007). However the success of women working in construction appears to be dependant on being able to fit in to the dominant masculine culture (Watts, 2007a; Dainty, Bagilhole and Neale, 2000). Research generally concludes that career success for many professional women in construction, as in other male-dominated industries, is negatively affected by work–family conflict. Dainty, Neale and Bagilhole (2000: 114) concluded that ‘Two recurring themes were apparent within women’s career accounts that explained their underachievement, work/family conflict and overt discriminatory actions by their male colleagues.’ More recently Watts (2007a: 1) notes that ‘women’s minority status in construction continues to challenge their professional identity and this is central to the conflict many face in balancing their work and home roles’.

Changing expectations about work

The emergence of the feminist movement and subsequent changes to sex discrimination and equal opportunity legislation have triggered a major shift in the roles undertaken by women within society (Tinklin et al., 2005). While we have seen that female LFPRs have increased over the years, so have women’s expectations about their involvement in the paid workforce. These days, most women in industrialised countries expect to have careers as well as partners and children (Aveling, 2002; Bridges and Orza, 1992). According to Australian research, most young women expect to work even while caring for children, and 58 per cent of women with children agreed that they would enjoy having a job even if they did not need the money (Fisher, 2002).

This change in women’s attitudes has been apparent for several decades. For example a survey of Scottish female school leavers in 1971 found that 47 per cent of respondents considered that women could get as much sense of achievement from their husband’s career as from a career of their own. Only 21 per cent agreed with this in 1981 (Burnhill and McPherson, 1983). Tinklin et al. (2005) found that 95 per cent of female and 92 per cent of male 14–16-year-olds agreed that it was important for both men and women to have successful and worthwhile careers and felt that it was equally important that both sexes achieved good qualifications at school (Tinklin et al., 2005).

Interestingly, the attitude of men towards women’s work has shifted substantially more than has the attitude of women. In the USA, women’s attitudes about maternal employment have not changed significantly over the last few decades: ‘61 per cent of women in both 1977 and 2002 disagreed that it was better for all involved if men earn the money and women take care of the children and family. In contrast, only 34 per cent of Boomer³ males disagreed with this notion in 1977, when they were less than 32 years old, compared with 58 per cent of this same generation in 2002’ (Families and Work Institute, 2003: 4). Research by Russell found that 63 per cent of young men said they would refuse a job or promotion that had a negative impact on their family or on their partner’s career, or they would refuse to transfer for the same reason (cited in Russell and Bowman, 2000). However, according to the National Study of the Changing Workforce, two in five men in the USA still believe that a women’s place is in the home (Bond, Thompson, Galinsky and Prottas, 2002).

Generational differences about maternal employment are very apparent. For instance ‘82 per cent of Gen-Y⁴ employees in the USA agreed that a mother who works outside the home can have just as good a relationship with her children as a mother who is not employed, versus 60 per cent of Matures⁵’ (Families and Work Institute, 2003: 5). Research also by the Families and Work Institute in the USA found that younger generations such as Gen-X and Gen-Y are more likely to be dual-centric or family-centric rather than work-centric like their baby boomer fathers (Families and Work Institute, 2003).⁶ Importantly, the study also found that ‘Employees who are dual-centric or family-centric exhibit significantly better mental health, greater satisfaction with their lives, and higher levels of job satisfaction than employees who are work-centric’ (Families and Work Institute, 2003: 3). These findings are consistent with those of Loughlin and Barling (2001), who report that the motivation for work differs in younger male and female workers. They are not motivated by the same rewards as their parents’ generation but instead place greater value on models of work that allow them to improve their work–life balance.

Case example 1.1: Young male professional prioritising career and work–life balance

Source: Unpublished research by the authors

Peter Livingstone is a 30-year-old, single man working as an area project manager for a medium-sized commercial construction company. Peter values both his career and his life outside of work equally. He trains for triathlons, so his time in the evenings is very important to him. Socialising with friends and family is also a central part of his life. However, Peter is also dedicated to progressing in his career.

Peter recently moved to his current company from another large, multinational organisation where he had started as a graduate. When Peter graduated from university he says he was looking for a big construction company to gain experie...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• List of Tables
• List of Figures
• Acknowledgements
• 1 Is it a problem?
• 2 Social policy and legal frameworks
• 3 Workers in conflict
• 4 The work–family interface
• 5 Burnout
• 6 Organisational responses
• 7 Supportive workplaces
• 8 A vision for the future
• Notes
• References