Parents around the globe are facing the common challenges of balancing family and work. And the need has never been more urgent for organizations to recognize how having a family impacts an employees creativity, productivity and performance. Here is a useful guide to help leaders implement country-sensitive work-family policies and create family-responsible environments in which employees can carry out their work and still be fully engaged with their families. In nine chapters, Balancing Work and Family: Reviews and addresses the unique cultural, social, political and economic climates in the United States, Latin America, North America, Europe, Asia and Africa; Provides practical recommendations based on solid international research; Presents theory as well as vivid accounts of employee experiences from different geographical regions and cultural backgrounds; Shares examples and business cases illustrating best practices from companies in these regions. The books perspective is truly global, with chapters written by international authors. It brings together a diverse team including an academic expert who has conducted rigorous studies on work family conflict, a lawyer who addresses the legal environment in some countries and a practitioner with hands-on experience with real employers and employees. Each chapter presents an overview of the factors in a specific region impacting work-family integration, the main challenges to individuals and organizations, solutions companies have implemented and many examples of the processes companies use to foster family-responsible cultures. The authors make a strong case that it is the job organizational leaders not HR professionals to direct change in this important area.

Both research and policy on balancing work and family life have tended to focus on mothers' lives. There has been a general lack of comparative research to the complex intersection between old and new forms of masculinity; and between fatherhood, work-life balance, gender relations and children's well-being. As a result, men's fathering roles and their struggle with work-life balance have often been neglected. These cultural challenges should be better theorized within family and social policy research. This volume examines how fathers fulfill their roles both within the family and at work and what institutional support could be of most benefit to them in combining these roles.

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Offers therapists ideas for helping clients (and themselves) balance family life and work. Explores both theoretical and immediately applicable ideas for helping clients achieve and improved balance between work life and family life. Examines a national study of dual-earner couples caring for children and aging parents and the behavioral accommodations they make at home; assesses the impact of relocation on family/work life; brings diversity issues to the forefront; assesses the impact of dominant metaphors about personhood and family.

Published in Cooperation with the Center for Practice Innovations, Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences, Case Western Reserve University How do working parents balance their work and child care responsibilities? What if an employee has responsibilities for adult or elderly family members or friends? How similar or distinct are these dependent-care responsibilities in their rewards and their consequences? What about employees who have multiple caregiving roles? In Balancing Work and Caregiving for Children, Adults, and Elders, the authors explore how employees with caregiver roles juggle the responsibilities of work and family. They suggest that, in our current socio/economic reality, dependent care needs to be addressed as a corporate, family, and community concern. Drawing from literature in the field, as well as their large-scale study, they present a thorough discussion of the stressors experienced by workers caught in the often conflicting demands of dual roles. The authors consider multiple factors that contribute to the experience of stress and work-related outcomes such as absenteeism. These factors include: employee characteristics, demands of caregiving and work roles, and the resources available within the workplace and family. Policies, benefits, and services are reviewed, along with the advantages and disadvantages of each for both the employee and the employer. The authors also analyze methods for assessing employee needs and provide recommendations for national and local policies, along with directions for further research. Balancing Work and Caregiving for Children, Adults, and Elders will be essential reading for students and professionals in family studies, management studies, social work, sociology, aging, and public health. "Balancing Work and Caregiving for Children, Adults, and Elders is the most complete and informative book on caregiving I have read. It has a combination of attributes not found, to my knowledge, in any other text on caregiving. It looks not only at people with one caregiving role but also at those with multiple roles; it provides not only a thorough overview of the research, but also a review of a major study on caregiving; and it examines the personal characteristics, demands, resources, and sources of stress in each caregiver category. As a result, the research is extended in an interesting and exciting manner, enabling the authors to draw important comparisons." -Industrial and Labor Relations Review "This book provides excellent documentation - from an extremely comprehensive empirical study by the authors and an exhaustive review of previous research - for the need for more extensive support for employee caregivers. . . . The issues addressed in the book are clearly laid out. The empirical work is sophisticated and provides important information. It also presents suggestions about how employers and communities can provide assistance." --Monthly Labor Review "This is an interesting and important new book, which, for the first time, assembles in one place the most up-to-date information regarding the needs of employees with dependent care responsibilities. Unlike previous volumes, this book adopts a ′life cycle′ approach to dependent care, including the separate and overlapping demands of caring for children, young and middle-aged adults, and elderly persons. In so doing, it integrates existing knowledge and new research regarding the disparate fields of child care, elder care, physical disabilities, developmental disabilities, and chronic mental illness. . . . The authors provide human resource professionals, policy makers, and counselors with the tools to develop realistic, cost-effective policies and programs that have the potential to enhance productivity, alleviate role strain, and improve the quality of life for our children, our elders, and ourselves." --Andrew E. Scharlach, Eugene and Rose Kleiner Professor of Aging, University of California, Berkeley "[This volume] is without question a very impressive addition to the literature in this domain. The authors, Margaret Neal, Nancy Chapman, Berit Ingersoll-Dayton, and Arthur Emlen, represent a multidisciplinary team that has produced one of the most integrative and informative books on the issue of caregiving in the work-family context in the last decade. . . . This book is unique in two important dimensions. First, the findings and implications are based on a relatively large sample of employees (about 10,000), and secondly, the authors examine the critical issue of those working family members who occupy multiple caregiving roles. This book fills an obvious niche in the literature by comparing employees with responsibilities for the dependents of different age groups (e.g., children, adults, and elders). . . . [the first] two sections alone are incredibly rich in information regarding the impact of family caregiving on work responsibilities and are well worth the price of the book, but the third and fourth sections of the book are indispensable and should be "required reading" for those involved in studying and implementing kincare programs in the corporate sector. . . The entire investigation is couched in solid theoretical framework and the nethodological design is clear and concise. . . . this volume represents a quantum leap forward in understanding the complex dynamics of mutiple-role responsibilities for family caregivers. The entire presentation of the material from cover to cover is presented in a seamless fashion and could well serve as a text for a graduate level course in family policy." --Journal of Marriage and the Family "The results [of their research] and their analysis present a vital element in furthering our understanding of the interface between work and home. . . . The book deserves a wide audience and should be a reference not least to management students." --Ageing & Society

Technology is changing the way we integrate work and family life today. In an age in which information technology has brought the promise of autonomy and control by allowing asynchronous communications; in which work systems have enabled people to work from various times and in various locations; and in which work and non-work boundaries have as a result been blurred, the work and family interface needs to be reconsidered. This collection is the result of a careful selection of articles presented at the Sixth International Conference for Work and Family organized by the International Center for Work and Family at IESE Business School, Spain. It has a clear focus on technology, managers, globalization, and gender, and contributions analyse the state of affairs in Africa, the Middle East, Asia, Europe, and North America. The chapters here offer innovative approaches to how technology, globalization, managers and gender issues are affecting the dynamics of work and family balance around the world. As such, the book will help practitioners and academics to make better decisions, to stay up to date on current developments, and to think critically about these fascinating and complex topics.

This innovative and thought-provoking Research Handbook explores the theoretical debate surrounding work–life balance, and provides a reflection on the opportunity to adopt multilevel research approaches and perspectives, along gender and temporal axes. The Research Handbook is an international overview of current research on work-life balance, considered in macro, meso and micro perspectives.

**The Art of Balancing Work and Parenthood: Your Ultimate Guide to Harmony** Struggling to find the perfect balance between your career and family life? *The Art of Balancing Work and Parenthood* is your essential guide to mastering the delicate dance of managing work responsibilities while nurturing your family. This insightful book offers practical strategies and actionable techniques to help you thrive in both areas of your life. Dive into the book with a focus on *Setting Priorities*, where you'll learn how to align your daily decisions with your core values and goals. Discover effective *Time Management Techniques* to maximize productivity and make the most of your limited time. Craft a well-structured *Schedule* that ensures you can dedicate quality time to both work and family commitments. Explore methods for *Delegating and Outsourcing* tasks, freeing up precious time for yourself and your loved ones. Learn about various *Flexible Work Arrangements* such as *Remote Work*, *Flexible Hours*, and *Job Sharing* to achieve a better work-life balance. Prioritize *Self-Care and Well-being* with practical *Self-Care Practices* and *Managing Stress* techniques to maintain your health amidst your busy schedule. Understand the importance of *Setting Boundaries* to protect your time and energy, and embrace *Open Communication* and *Seeking Support* to strengthen relationships with your partner, children, and colleagues. Being present and engaged is key to both work and family life. Discover *Mindfulness Practices* and ways to maximize *Quality Time* with your family. Learn to embrace *Flexibility and Adaptability* to navigate the ever-changing demands of parenthood and career, and transform challenges into opportunities for growth by *Embracing Change* and *Embracing Imperfections*. Whether you're seeking to improve your current balance or just starting out on this journey, *The Art of Balancing Work and Parenthood* provides the tools and insights you need to create a harmonious and fulfilling life.