Review of government initiatives for reconciling work and family life

Presents a review of government initiatives that help families balance their work and family responsibilities, highlighting innovative ideas and including a discussion of international trends and themes. Summary This AIFS Research Report presents a review of government initiatives that help families balance their work and family responsibilities, highlighting innovative ideas and including a discussion of international trends and themes. Most of the information reviewed in this report pertains to OECD countries, especially New Zealand and countries in the European Union, as work and family policies have been extensively developed in these countries. Some East Asian countries have also been included, and for some countries, state (as opposed to federal) policies are discussed. The wide range of policies that have been used in different countries, combined with significant variation in approaches, means that those reviewed in this report are necessarily selective, and much of the discussion is quite broad. This review particularly focuses on government policies and approaches that address work and family issues for people with caring responsibilities for children or the elderly. The report outlines some of the broader aims, approaches and considerations of governments in the area of work and family, and then reviews policies related to leave and return-to-work policies; child care, child payments and early childhood education; working hours and other aspects of employment; and governance, support and promotion of work–family initiatives. This review reflects work–family policies that have recently been implemented (up to 2014) across developed countries, but not necessarily the state of play at the time of publication

Changes in the labour force status of lone and couple Australian mothers, 1983-2002

Over the last twenty years there has been a substantial increase in the proportion of lone mothers employed part-time, while the proportion employed full-time is much the same in 2002 as it was in 1983. The experience of couple mothers is quite different, with both full-time and part-time employment increasing at similar rates. This paper uses data from the 1986 and 1996 Censuses to explore the possible reasons for the differences in the labour market trends of lone and couple mothers.

Feasibility and Effectiveness of Telehealth Occupational Therapy Home Modification Interventions

Despite the effectiveness of occupational therapy home modification interventions, persons with disabilities may not receive them due to service delivery costs, limited number of therapists, and expansive geographic service areas.  The need for occupational therapy home modification interventions will increase with the rising U.S. aging population, incidence of chronic illness, and shift toward community-based care.  This study examined the feasibility of telehealth occupational therapy home modification interventions using participant owned smart phones, tablets, or computers.  A pretest posttest design (n=4) demonstrated improvement in home safety and perception of performance of daily activities.  Participants reported satisfaction with the mode of intervention citing ease of use and reduction in client and caregiver burden.  Two key implementation challenges were (1) inconsistent quality of synchronous audio and video and (2) limited funding for home modification interventions.  A large-scale telehealth occupational therapy home modification interventions pilot study is warranted. 

The AIFS evaluation of the 2006 family law reforms : a summary

In 2006, the Australian Government, through the Attorney- General\u27s Department (AGD) and the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (FaHCSIA), commissioned the Australian Institute of Family Studies (AIFS) to undertake an evaluation of the impact of the 2006 changes to the family law system: Evaluation of the 2006 Family Law Reforms (Kaspiew et al., 2009) (the Evaluation). This article provides a summary of the key findings of the Evaluation.<br /

Family violence : key findings from the evaluation of the 2006 family law reforms

The different types, prevalence and consequences of family violence, as demonstrated by the Australian Institute of Family Studies\u27 Evaluation of the 2006 Family Law Reforms, are discussed. Family violence is shown to be an extremely complex phenomenon, which affects the mental and social well-being of the children. Hence, different measures that can be adopted to deal with pre- and post-separation periods and child care problems are also analyzed.<br /

Employment aspirations of non-working mothers with long-term health problems

This paper looks at the employment aspirations and expectations of mothers with and without long-term health problems, and the relationship between their desire to work and the reality of their participation in the labour force

Exploring the Work-Family Policies Mothers Say Would Help After the Birth of a Child

Increased rates of employment amongst mothers with young children over recent years has stimulated debate about how governments and employers can support mothers to effectively combine paid work with caring for young children. This paper examines mothers’ perceived usefulness of a range of work-family policies, by considering the extent to which they have said particular policies would have helped them in the period after the birth. The 2005 Parental Leave in Australia Survey (PLAS) is used to analyse the views of mothers of children aged 15 to 29 months. The policy options addressed are: better access to part-time work; family leave options; better breastfeeding facilities at work; and more accessible, affordable or better quality child care. Mothers who returned to full-time work were the most likely to have expressed that these workfamily policies would have helped them. Childcare – especially affordable childcare – stands out as the policy perceived as most useful to mothers, regardless of their paid work status.Labor Economics; Labor Economics Policies; Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth