Women have long fought for flexibility, but a new study suggests mixing business with children just doesn’t work
An American academic tells us what we already know – that working from home for anyone with caring responsibilities can be more trouble than it’s worth. The study of homeworkers, by Professor Timothy Golden involved more than 300 teleworkers. Golden found that the stress and strain of dealing with domestic life had a detrimental effect on their ability to work, and vice versa.
This week we were told, at the launch of a report commissioned by the communities secretary, Eric Pickles, that only 2.9% of the working population in Britain works primarily from home and that to increase that number within the public sector would save the Treasury £15bn a year in rent and other expenses.
Because women are the main carers, whether of children or ill or elderly relatives, this is an issue that affects us disproportionately. Trying to ensure that someone is around for the kids to come home from school, and to organise trips to the doctors and dentist is a nightmare to juggle with a full-time job.
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