The effect of non-standard employment on work-family balance

Across the last four decades, the structure of the Australian labour market has changed profoundly as non-standard forms of employment have become more prevalent. According to many researchers, the growth of non-standard work has been driven by employee preferences, particularly among married women, for greater flexibility to balance paid work with domestic responsibilities and other non-work related pursuits. In contrast, other researchers argue that the increasing prevalence of non-standard employment reflects employer demands for greater staffing flexibility. From this perspective, non-standard forms of employment are considered to have a negative effect on work-family balance. This paper explores whether non-standard employment is associated with improved or poorer work-to-family conflict and tests whether experiences vary by gender. It concentrates on three common forms of non-standard employment: part-time employment, casual and fixed-term work contracts and flexible scheduling practices (such as evening work, weekend work and irregular rostering). Analysis is based on 2299 employed parents from the first wave of the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics on Australia (HILDA) project. Results show that few scheduling measures are significant determinants of work-family balance. However, part-time employment is associated with reduced work-to-family strain for both men and women, even after controlling for various other employment and household related characteristics. Casual employment, in contrast, incurs the cost of poorer work-family balance for men. Surprisingly, HILDA data show that overall men experience greater work-to-family strain than women.

Occupational sitting time and overweight and obesity in Australian workers

Background: One of the major immediate and long-term health issues in modern society is the problem of overweight and obesity. This paper examines the role of the workplace in the problem by studying the association between occupational sitting time and overweight and obesity (body mass index [BMI] >= 25) in a sample of adult Australians in full-time employment. Methods: Data on age, gender, occupation, physical activity, occupational sitting time, and BMI were collected in September 2003 from a sample of 1579 adult men and women in full-time employment at the time of the survey. Logistic regression was used to examine the association between occupational sitting time and overweight and obesity. Results: Mean occupational sitting time was > 3 hours/day, and significantly higher in men (209 minutes) than in women (189 minutes, p =0.026). Univariate analyses showed significant associations between occupational sitting time and BMI of >= 25 in men but not in women. After adjusting for age, occupation, and physical activity, the odds ratio for BMI >= 25 was 1.92 (confidence interval: 1.17-3.17) in men who reported sitting for > 6 hours/day, compared with those who sat for < 45 minutes/day. Conclusions: Occupational sitting time was independently associated with overweight and obesity in men who were in full-time paid work. These results suggest that the workplace may play an important role in the growing problem of overweight and obesity. Further research is needed to clearly understand the association between sitting time at work and over-weight and obesity in women.

Risk factors for pregnancy and childbearing in single young women: Evidence from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health

This study investigated psychosocial predictors of early pregnancy and childbearing in single young women, consistent with the Eriksonian developmental perspective. Two mail-out surveys assessing reproductive behaviour and sociodemographic, education/competence, psychosocial well-being, and aspiration factors were completed 4 years apart by 2635 young women, aged 18 to 20 when first surveyed. Young women in the emerging adulthood'' developmental period were selected from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health. Longitudinally, lower investment in education over low-status paid work, experiencing unemployment, greater psychosocial distress, stress and alcohol use, and high family aspirations combined with low vocational aspirations were risk factors for early single pregnancy and childbearing. Several mediational relationships also existed between these predictor variables. It was concluded that psychosocial factors play an important role in understanding early pregnancy and childbearing in single young Australian women, and that the findings provide some support for investigating early pregnancy and childbearing from an Eriksonian developmental perspective.

Doing it from your heart: The role of older women as informal volunteers

This paper explores the contributions made by older women to the Community as informal volunteers. It argues that ageing policy is not gender neutral and tends to ignore the contributions made by Women Outside paid work. As well as being ignored in policy, women's unpaid roles have been denigrated by some feminist commentators, who suggest that these roles Subordinate the position of women. The aim of the present paper is to explore the lived experiences of older women in relation to their informal volunteer roles, using role identity theory as a framework. The study utilizes data from a qualitative study Using focus group methodology. Findings demonstrate. that informal volunteering contributes to the women's identity and gives their lives meaning. These findings suggest that a more positive policy framework around ageing is needed to ensure that the worth of these contributions is recognised.

Motherhood plans among young Australian women - Who Wants children these days?

Fertility rates in the developed world have been below replacement level for 25 years, and it is often assumed that this results from deliberate, unconstrained individual choice. Data from 7448 childless women aged 22 to 27, participating in the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health, indicate that 9 per cent aspire to childlessness, with 72 per cent wanting I or 2 children and 19 per cent more. Differences in psychological functioning disappear after adjustment for socioeconomic variables. Women wanting 1 or 2 children also want paid work, while those wanting many children generally have traditional aspirations. Policy-makers need to consider strategies that support women to negotiate motherhood and paid work.

Australian veterinarians who work with horses: views of the future

Objective To give an account of the views held by Australian veterinarians who work with horses on the future of their professional field. Method Questionnaires were mailed to 866 veterinarians who had been identified as working with horses, and 87% were completed and returned. Data were entered onto an Excel spreadsheet, and analysed using the SAS System for Windows. Results Their future prospects were believed to be very good or excellent by >60% of equine veterinarians but by only 30% of mixed practitioners seeing < 10% horses. The main factors believed likely to affect these prospects were the strength of the equine industries and the economic climate affecting horse owners, followed by the encroachment of cities into areas used for horses, competition from other veterinarians including specialist centres and from non-veterinary operators, and their ability to recruit and retain veterinarians with interest, experience and skill with horses. Urban encroachment, competition and recruitment were especially important for those seeing few horses. Concerns were also expressed about the competence and ethical behaviour of other veterinarians, the physical demands and dangers of horse work, the costs of providing equine veterinary services and of being paid for them, the regulatory restrictions imposed by governments and statutory bodies, the potential effects of litigation, and insurance issues. For many veterinarians in mixed practice these factors have reduced and are likely to reduce further the number of horses seen, to the extent that they have scant optimism about the future of horse work in their practices. Conclusion Economic and local factors will result in an increasing proportion of equine veterinary work being done in specialised equine centres, and the future of horse work in many mixed practices is, at best, precarious. A key factor influencing future prospects will be the availability of competent veterinarians committed to working with horses.