Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-mkpzs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T14:20:43.418Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Working and caring for a child with chronic illness: Barriers in achieving work-family balance

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 February 2015

Ajesh George ,
Margaret H Vickers ,
Lesley Wilkes  and
Belinda Barton
Ajesh George
Affiliation:
School of Management – NFORCE Research Group, University of Western Sydney, NSW, Australia
Margaret H Vickers
Affiliation:
School of Management – NFORCE Research Group, University of Western Sydney, NSW, Australia
Lesley Wilkes
Affiliation:
School of Nursing – NFORCE Research Group, University of Western Sydney, NSW, Australia
Belinda Barton
Affiliation:
Children's Hospital Education Research Institute (CHERI), The Children's Hospital at Westmead, Sydney NSW, Australia
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This paper shares some findings from the initial, qualitative stage of a larger, national study currently being undertaken in Australia, exploring the experiences of parents who are working full-time and caring for a child with chronic illness. The findings highlight the limited support that most parents receive in their workplace, especially from employers. In-depth interviews revealed the negative and unsupportive attitude that employers had towards these parents. The provision of flexible work arrangements and leave entitlements, which were critical supports for these parents, were rarely offered by employers. Respondents reported high levels of frustration and difficulty balancing their dual roles.

Keywords

chronic illnessdisabilityemploymentflexibilityfamily–friendly workplacework-family balance
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Management & Organization , Volume 14 , Issue 1 , March 2008 , pp. 59 - 72
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press and Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management 2008

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

ABC Online (2005) Lack of Support for Carers Strains Work Force. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 20 April, 2005, from http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200502/s1309716.htmGoogle Scholar
Arksey, H (2002) Combining informal care and work: Supporting carers in the workplace, Health & Social Care in the Community 10: 151–161.Google Scholar
Australian Bureau of Statistics (2000) Managing caring responsibilities and paid employment New South Wales, cat no. 4903.1, ABS, Canberra.Google Scholar
Australian Bureau of Statistics (2004) Labour Force, Year Book Australia, cat no. 1301.0, ABS, Canberra.Google Scholar
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (2002) Australia's Children: Their Health and Wellbeing, AIHW, Canberra.Google Scholar
Australian Services Union (2007) New IR Laws Fairness Test is Biased Against Employees: Govt Authority Now Proves It, Retrieved September 25, 2007 from http://www.asu.asn.au/media/rightsatwork/20070713_rightsatwork.htmlGoogle Scholar
Barnett, WS and Boyce, GC (1995) Effects of children with Down's syndrome on parent's activity, American Journal of Mental Retardation 100: 115–127.Google Scholar
Berk, HJ and Berk, ML (1982) A survey of day care centres and their services for handicapped children, Child Care Quarterly, 11: 211.Google Scholar
Bianchi, SM (2000) Maternal employment and time with children: Dramatic change or surprising continuity?, Demography 37: 401–414.Google Scholar
Bittman, M, Hoffman, S and Thompson, D (2004) Men's Uptake of Family-friendly Employment Provisions, Commonwealth Department of Family and Community Services, Policy research paper no 22. Retrieved September 4, 2007 from http://www.facs.gov.au/research/prp22/section19.htmGoogle Scholar
Braun, V and Clarke, V (2006) Using thematic analysis in psychology, Qualitative Research in Psychology 3: 77–101.Google Scholar
Butler, A, Gasser, M and Smart, L (2003) A social-cognitive perspective on using family-friendly benefits, Journal of Vocational Behaviour 65: 57–70.Google Scholar
Centre for Community Child Health (CCCH) (2006) Early Childhood and the Life Course. Policy Brief No. 1 Melbourne: Centre for Community Child Health.Google Scholar
Chang, A and Teramoto, R (1987) Children with special needs in private day care centers, Child Youth Care Quarterly 16: 60–67.Google Scholar
Chavkin, W, Wise, PH, Romero, D and Smith, L (2002) Doctors Speak Out about Welfare Program. Policy Brief- Executive Summary, accessed at http://www.findingcommonground.hs.columbia.edu/policy.html on 15 February 2004.Google Scholar
Clark, SC (2000) Work/family border theory: A new theory of work/family balance. Human Relations, 53: 747–770.Google Scholar
Crompton, R, Dennett, J and Wigfield, A (2003) Organisations, Careers and Caring, Bristol: The Policy Press.Google Scholar
Cuskelly, M, Pulman, L and Hayes, A (1998) Parenting and employment decisions of parents with a preschool child with a disability, Journal of Intellectual & Developmental Disability 23: 319–332.Google Scholar
Forth, J, Lissenburg, S, Callender, C and Millward, N (1997) Family-friendly Working Arrangements in Britain, DfEE, London, Research Report, 16.Google Scholar
Freedman, RI, Litchfield, LC and Warfield, ME (1995) Balancing work and family: perspectives of parents of children with developmental disabilities, Families in Society 76: 507–514.Google Scholar
George, A, Vickers, MH, Wilkes, L and Barton, B (2006) Chronic grief: experiences of working parents of children with chronic illness, Contemporary Nurse 23: 228–242.Google Scholar
Gibson, CH (1995) The process of empowerment in mothers of chronically ill children, Journal of Advanced Nursing 21: 1201–1210Google Scholar
Gornick, J and Meyers, M (2003) Families that Work: Policies for Reconciling Parenthood and Employment, New York: Russell Sage Foundation.Google Scholar
Gray, M and Tudball, J (2002) Family-friendly Work Practices: Differences Within and Between Workplaces AIFS Research Report No. 7, Melbourne: Australian Institute of Family Studies.Google Scholar
Greenhaus, JH, Collins, KM and Shaw, JD (2003) The relation between work-family balance and quality of life, Journal of Vocational Behavior 63: 510–531.Google Scholar
Hall, DT and Parker, VA (1993) The role of workplace flexibility in managing diversity, Organizational Dynamics 21: 5–18.Google Scholar
Hirst, M (1985) Young adults with disabilities: Health, employment and financial costs for the family, Child Care Health Development 11: 291–307.Google Scholar
Hogg, C and Harker, L (1992) The Family Friendly Employer, Examples from Europe, Daycare Trust, London.Google Scholar
Hughes, H (1998) Equal pay for work of equal value, Policy 14: 29–34.Google Scholar
Jutras, S and Veilleux, F (1991) Gender roles and care giving to the elderly: An empirical study, Sex Roles 25: 1–18.Google Scholar
Kagan, C, Lewis, S and Heaton, P (1998) Caring to Work: Parents Combining Employment with the Care of Disabled Children, London: Family Policy Studies Centre.Google Scholar
Kofodimos, JR (1993) Balancing Act, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.Google Scholar
Lee, TW, Mitchell, TR and Sablynski, CJ (1999) Qualitative research in organizational and vocational psychology, 1979-1999, Journal of Vocational Behaviour 55: 161–187.Google Scholar
Leiter, V, Krauss, MW, Anderson, B and Wells, N (2004) The consequences of caring: Effects of mothering a child with special needs, Journal of Family Issues 25: 379–403.Google Scholar
Leonard, B, Brust, JD and Sapienza, JJ (1992) Financial and time costs to parents of severely disabled children, Public Health Reports 107: 302–312.Google Scholar
Lewis, S (1997) Family friendly policies: a route to changing organisational change or playing around at the margins, Gender, Work and Organisation 4: 13–23.Google Scholar
Lewis, S and Taylor, K (1996) Evaluating the impact of family friendly employment policies: a case study, in Lewis, S & Lewis, J (Eds), The Work Family Challenge. Rethinking Employment, Sage, London.Google Scholar
Lewis, S, Kagan, C and Heaton, P (2000) Duel-earner parents with disabled children, family patterns of working and caring, Journal of Family Issues 21: 1031–1061.Google Scholar
Lincoln, YS and Guba, EG (1985) Naturalistic Inquiry, Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications Inc.Google Scholar
Marks, SR and MacDermid, SM (1996) Multiple roles and the self: A theory of role balance. Journal Marriage and the Family 58: 417–432.Google Scholar
Melnyk, BM, Feinstein, NF, Moldenhouer, Z and Small, L (2001) Coping in parents of children who are chronically ill: Strategies for assessment and intervention, Pediatric Nursing 27: 548–558.Google Scholar
Mihrshahi, S, Vukaisn, N, Forbes, S, Wainwright, C, Krause, W, Ampon, R, Mellis, C, Marks, G and Peat, J (2002) Are you busy for the next 5 years? Recruitment in the Childhood Asthma Prevention Study (CAPS), Respirology 7: 147–151.Google Scholar
Minichiello, V, Aroni, R, Timewell, E and Alexander, l (1995) In Depth Interviewing (2nd edn) New York: Longman Cheshire.Google Scholar
New South Wales Health (2006) Award Variations for Family Provisions, IB2006_004. Retrieved June 10, 2006 from http://www.health.nsw.gov.au/policies/ib/2006/IB2006_004.html.Google Scholar
NUD*IST Vivo (1999) Qualitative Solutions and Research Pty Ltd. Nvivo [computer software]Google Scholar
Patton, MQ (2002) Qualitative research & evaluation methods, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Pocock, B (2003) The Work/life Collision: What Work is Doing to Australians and What to Do About It, Sydney, NSW: Federation Press.Google Scholar
Pocock, B (2005) The Impact of the Workplace Relations Amendment (Work Choices) Bill 2005 on Australian Working Families, Melbourne, Victoria: Industrial Relations Victoria.Google Scholar
Raabe, P (1996) Constructing pluralistic work and career arrangements, in Lewis, S. and Lewis, J (Eds), The Work Family Challenge. Rethinking Employment, London: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Richards, L (1999) Using Nvivo in Qualitative Research, London: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Richardson, S and Prior, M (2005) Childhood today, in Richardson, S and Prior, M (Eds), No Time to Lose: The Wellbeing of Australian's Children, Melbourne, Victoria: Melbourne University Press.Google Scholar
Rubin, HJ and Rubin, I (1995) Qualitative Interviewing: The Art of Hearing Data, Thousand Oaks CA: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Sarantakos, S (1998) Social Research (2nd edn) Australia: Macmillan.Google Scholar
United States Bureau of the Census (1992) Statistical Abstracts of the United States. Washington DC, US Government Printing Office.Google Scholar
United States Department of Labor (2007) Fact Sheet #28: The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993. Retrieved June 18, 2007, from http://www.dol.gov/esa/regs/compliance/whd/whdfs28.htmGoogle Scholar
Van Manen, M (1990) Researching Lived Experience: Human Science for an Action Sensitive Pedagogy, New York: New York Press.Google Scholar
Vickers, MH, Parris, MA and Bailey, JG (2004) Working mothers of children with chronic illness: Narratives of working and caring, Australian Journal of Early Childhood 29: 39–44.Google Scholar
Vickers, MH (2005) Bounded grief at work: Working and caring for children with chronic illness, Illness, Crisis and Loss 13: 201–218.Google Scholar
Vickers, MH (2006) Working and Caring for a Child with Chronic Illness: Disconnected and Doing It All, London: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
Watters, JK and Biernacki, P (1989) Targeted sampling: Options for the study of hidden populations, Social Problems 36: 416–430.Google Scholar
Working and Carers Support Gateway (2007) Workplace Laws. Retrieved September 29, 2007 from http://www.workingcarers.org.au/workchoices-workplace-tool-boxnegotiating-with-your-employerworkplace-laws.htmlGoogle Scholar
Work ‘n’ Care (2007a) Family Friendly Conditions Left Out of AWAs, 41: 2–3. Retrieved September 30, 2007 from http://www.workingcarers.org.au/images/May-e-newsletter.pdfGoogle Scholar
Work ‘n’ Care (2007b) Nothing ‘Fair’ About It, says ACTU, 44: 5–6. Retrieved September 10, 2007 from http://www.workingcarers.org.au/e-newsletterwork-mattersnothing-fair-about-it-says-actu.htmlGoogle Scholar
Workplace Relations Amendment (Work Choices) Bill (2005). Retrieved October 19, 2006 from http://www.workplace.gov.au/workplace/Category/Legislation/WRAct/WorkplaceRelationsAmendmentWorkChoicesAct2005.htmGoogle Scholar