By: Natasha Archary
Working South African parents are burnt out and feel unsupported by their employers, a survey by PACES reveals.
There comes a point where most adults start to question whether there’s more to life than a regular 9 to 5. With the pressure to thrive in all areas of their lives, many parents struggle to find a work-life balance.
Like worker bees in a hive, we tend to focus all our energy into surviving our workdays, leaving little to nothing for our personal lives and family.
Jonathan Hoffenberg joins Gugulethu Mfuphi on Kaya Biz to share some of the key findings by the survey which highlights a clash between parenting commitments and work-time management.
“The research was conducted for the Parent Centre, the parent training and counselling specialists, who found that 53% of the respondents suffered from burnout within the last 3-months.
Unfortunately, South African parents are stressed and overworked, and there is a knock-on effect when it comes to raising their kids.
It’s therefore not surprising that 50% of the respondents say they only feel supported by their employers sometimes, with a majority of female employees saying they are overlooked for promotions and work opportunities because they have a family.”
Hoffenberg says one thing most companies did realize due to Covid-19 is that the world of work has changed, over the past 3-years.
Working remotely during Covid-19 offered working parents more balance to their work/home life, but with everything back to normal for most sectors, a lot of parents are carrying around guilt at having to leave their kids and go to the office to earn a living.
“Parents who work, more than 57% of them want more flexibility. They want opportunities that offer a hybrid work structure, where they can work from home on some days and manage their time independently.
This will allow working parents the option of picking up their kids from school, or take them to important appointments, while still managing their workload and time.”
A whopping 92% of respondents in the survey said they struggled with managing the work/life balance, and feel like they are either neglecting their responsibilities as a parent or work obligations.
An additional 33% of working parents admitted feeling guilty for not spending enough time with their kids.
Listen to the conversation on Kaya Biz:
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