From modern workplaces to modern families – re-envisioning the work–family conflict

The Modern Workplaces Consultation 2011 set the foundations for the current revisions to work–family rights in the UK. They are underpinned by a desire to make modern workplaces more flexible and responsive to the needs of working families. The Children and Families Act 2014 implements, in part, the consultation’s proposals, but falls far short of its most significant recommendations. Nevertheless, it does extend access to work–family rights to some alternative working family models. The analysis undertaken here, however, indicates that this is limited to families that most closely conform to the dual-partnered working family model. Drawing from Fineman, Herring and McGlynn’s references to relationships of care, it is argued that instead of re-branding current rights the government should re-envision the concept of the family and family care. It is only through renegotiating the categories of caregiving recognised in law that the needs of modern working families will genuinely be met

EU work-family policies revisited:finally challenging caring roles?

In 2013 Weldon-Johns used the work-family typology classification model (WFTCM) to analyse the development of EU work-family policies. That examination showed that EU work-family legislation continued to focus on maternal care and was underpinned by the extended motherhood typology. In 2019, the Work-Life Balance for Parents and Carers Directive 2019/1158 was passed, implementing key changes to the EU framework. This article takes this as an opportunity to reflect on the current EU approach. In doing so, it revisits the WFTCM and expands the ideal types to include the shared parental roles typology and redefine the family typology. This analysis shows that while some advances have been made, gendered assumptions surrounding care remain, as does the presumption in favour of childcare. Instead of the Directive fulfilling its potential to challenge caring roles, it is likely that they will continue to be reinforced, although there are some hopes for the future

Overlooked Assets: Body Size, Body Image, and Sexual Minority Women.

While public health literature indicates sexual minority women (SMW) are at risk for obesity, psychological literature suggests SMW possess the health advantage of positive body image. In this dissertation, I bring these two lines of research together to create a more complete picture of SMW’s health. First, I conducted a purposeful literature review to identify influential papers in the health sciences that focus on SMW, body size, and health status. Articles in the final analytic sample contained key gaps in the operationalization of body size and its relationship to health. The majority demonstrated a bias towards understanding body size as a marker of disease, ignoring scholarship questioning the link between body size and health. Body image was missing from half the articles, suggesting a privileging of medical metrics like BMI over SMW’s beliefs about the status of their bodies. Then, using quantitative survey data from the Michigan Smoking and Sexuality Survey (M-SASS), a cross-sectional study of SMW between the ages of 18 and 24, I conducted two sets of analyses. (1) I evaluated whether aspects of SMW’s identities where they departed from heteronormative social roles (i.e., non-traditional gender roles, sexual identity, connection to LGBTQ community) were associated with dimensions of body esteem (i.e., body weight, body attribution, and body shame). The results indicated that connection to the LGBTQ community increased positive feelings about body weight and reduced feelings of body shame. These relationships were amplified among masculine-identified SMW. (2) I assessed whether positive body image can be understood as a psychological asset available to SMW facing size discrimination. I tested three theoretically informed resilience models of body size, size discrimination, body image, and mental health (i.e., depressive symptoms, self-esteem) and found that SMW who experienced more size discrimination reported more depressive symptoms. Conversely, positive body image was associated with fewer depressive symptoms and more self-esteem. By examining body size and body image in relationship to each other and to mental health, this dissertation underscores that viewing the health of SMW solely through the lens of obesity is limiting and that SMW may have access to unique processes of resilience.PhDHealth Behavior and Health EducationUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/113430/1/johnsmm_1.pd

The future of UK work-family rights:the case for more flexible working

The Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted both the significant impacts that the UK lockdown rules have had for working women with caring responsibilities, and the potential of flexible working practices to redefine the ways in which people work. This paper will first examine the current UK right to request flexible working and its limitations particularly: the requirement for 26 weeks continuity of employment; the wide discretion that employers have to refuse such requests; the lack of ability to challenge employer’s decisions; and the limited ability to make subsequent requests and/or to make temporary changes. The paper will then critically examine the UK Department for Business, Energy &amp; Industrial Strategy’s consultation on flexible working, which addresses the first of these concerns, namely, to change it to a day-one right to request. The paper will also analyse the proposed right to 5 days unpaid carers leave, and the possible implications of these potential revisions on the broader package of UK work-family rights. This examination will consider whether a greater shift to flexible working as the default position, and a redefining of working practices and the work-life paradigm, can have a positive impact for working persons, especially those with caring responsibilities and/or other work-life conflicts. In particular, the paper will critically analyse whether a societal shift to more flexible working can redress the impact of the pandemic for working women with caring responsibilities. In doing so, the paper will reflect on whether this shift represents a challenge to the traditional unburdened worker norm or whether it will continue to reinforce traditional gender roles. Further areas for reform and development will also be identified, including enhanced rights for working fathers and a recognition of new and emerging areas of work-life conflict, such as Menopause in the Workplace, as highlighted by the Women and Equalities Commission’s inquiry on this topic.<br/

A right to time off work to undergo ART treatments

This chapter proposes a right to time off work to undergo ART treatments. Comparisons are drawn with work-family rights in the UK to determine whether any could either extend to those undergoing treatment or provide a framework for new rights to be introduced. Comparisons are also drawn with the US right to medical leave in the Family and Medical Leave Act 1993. Two options are considered, namely a specific right to paid time off work to undergo ART treatments or a more general right to flexible paid medical leave. A right for partners to accompany a woman undergoing treatment is also recommended. The challenges of undergoing treatment and the decisions of many to keep this private are acknowledged, suggesting that the right to medical leave may be more realistic in practice. However, this is presented as a starting point for recognising those undergoing ART treatments within the legal framework, with the possibility of more specific rights envisaged for the future

The future of Scottish labour law:reconceptualisation and modernisation

Examines proposals for the devolution of labour law to the Scottish Parliament. Imagines how labour law might be redesigned, with particular reference to dispute resolution and the industrial relations framework in Scotland. Considers UK labour law, EU law, and the approach taken in Ireland and other European countries

Law’s invisible women:the unintended gendered consequences of the COVID-19 lockdown

This article examines the unintended gendered consequences of lockdown on women’s rights, particularly those related to women’s work, health and wellbeing. Situating this assessment within wider feminist legal scholarship, which exposes the gendered nature of law and the tendency to legislate in a way that prioritises a privileged male legal subject, we argue that legislation and subsequent decisions fail to centre women’s lived experiences and so deprioritise women’s needs. We ultimately argue that lessons need to be learned regarding how post-pandemic responses are implemented to mitigate the impacts on women and ensure gender is mainstreamed within the law-making process

Fathers as carers in UK law and policy:dominant ideologies and lived experience

This article explores how working fathers are conceptualised within the UK’s work-family law and policy framework and whether a dominant ideology of fatherhood can be discerned. The socio-legal literature on men and masculinities is considered alongside established feminist theory on families, paid work and unpaid care to provide a backdrop to the analysis of current policy provision in this area. Three ‘ideal’ type ideologies of fatherhood are identified (‘absent’, ‘involved’ and ‘active’) which are used to critically examine the current legal framework. Despite claims to the contrary, the current framework supports and reaffirms the gendering of care so that the intransigence on the part of men and women to rebalance related responsibilities is unsurprising. The authors argue for a more care-centric approach to work-family policy in place of gender-specific normative modelling. A legal framework which enabled and encouraged all care providers to participate regardless of gender and biological relationship would not only improve the workplace experiences of women, but also enable men to develop and fulfil their care-giving aspirations and potential

Developing Effective Cancer Pain Education Programs

Pain is prevalent, burdensome, and undertreated in individuals with cancer across the disease trajectory. Providing patients and family caregivers psychosocial support and education to manage cancer pain is a core component of quality care that can result in significant clinical benefit. In this review, we (1) outline an approach for developing and assessing the effectiveness of education programs for adults with cancer pain; (2) discuss considerations for tailoring programs to the needs of diverse populations and those with limited health literacy skills; (3) describe the resource needs and costs of developing a program; and (4) highlight innovative approaches to cancer pain education. We conclude with recommendations for future research and the next generation of educational interventions