A Good Work Life Balance Still Elludes Women in Australia

The struggle to create a balance between work and personal life is not a new one, yet in 2008 the toll it’s taking on Australian women is now considered extreme – with 88% of women feeling that work can impinge on their personal life and 19% of that group feeling like it always does.

According to the new survey “Freedom In Your Own Skin” conducted by Schick Women’s Systems in conjunction with Galaxy Research where over 1,200 women aged 18-39 were asked about what helps or hinders their feelings of freedom in life, women who do not have children tend to find work more of an imposition (18%) than those that do (11%). Indicating that work could be an escape for mothers but a constraint on single women’s freedom and ability to find a mate.

Nikki Hager, Founder and director of Peep Toe Shoes understands what it’s like to try and juggle a busy career and a healthy, active and sociable lifestyle.

Nikki says of the research: “It’s alarming that 88% of women feel work now impinges on their social life and you can guarantee that a good percentage of these women aren’t paid the salaries they deserve and definitely not overtime. The 8-hour day is a thing of the past, so it is vital that women are kind to themselves in their free time.”

Other interesting insights from the research include:

• Among all women aged 18-39, those under 25 are more likely to be constantly worried (25%) than any other age group

• More unmarried women (25%) feel constantly stressed than those who are married (19%)

• Among women feeling that they are going backwards financially 30% are constantly stressed while less than half that figure (only 12%) of those who feel they are moving forwards financially feel the same way

• Women who feel constantly stressed about life in general also tend to feel constrained (54%). Only 14% of women who “feel free” report feeling constantly worried

Nikki Hager continues, “Opportunity is liberating on the one hand, but it has also created pressure to achieve things that pull us in a thousand different directions, leading to constant feelings of stress. The survey also revealed that one in five women feel constantly stressed which increased to one in three amongst women who admitted to feeling constrained in life and not free.”