Report: Healthy work/family balance harder to achieve
Andrea Macpherson
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130)
January 15th, 2009

VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) - Canadians are finding it increasingly difficult to strike a good, healthy balance between work and family responsibilities. A new Vanier Institute of Family report says the work/family conflict has progressively worsened in the last 10 years.

The report finds 44% of Canadians feel their work has a negative impact on their family, while more than 60 per cent of parents feel their job hurts their home life. They also say that economic, technological and social changes have altered the workplace.

Vanier Institute Executive Director Clarence Lochhead says these conditions have increased stress and pressure at home. "Some of it is a reflection of wanting to feed the household budget. Whether it's because 'I want to finance the credit card' or because 'I need that income to keep up with expenses'... I think all of those are happening. Some of what we've seen in this long-term trend is due to this spending and consumption pattern."