Returning to work after maternity leave: Childcare and workplace flexibility
This article explores how responsibilities for childcare are managed as part of family decisions made around the return to work following a period of maternity leave. We surveyed all women health professionals identified as on maternity leave on payroll records of the Health Department, Western Aust...
| Main Authors: | , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Journal Article |
| Published: |
Sage Publications Ltd.
2012
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/15110 |
| _version_ | 1848748805695995904 |
|---|---|
| author | Nowak, Margaret Naude, Marita Thomas, Gail |
| author_facet | Nowak, Margaret Naude, Marita Thomas, Gail |
| author_sort | Nowak, Margaret |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | This article explores how responsibilities for childcare are managed as part of family decisions made around the return to work following a period of maternity leave. We surveyed all women health professionals identified as on maternity leave on payroll records of the Health Department, Western Australia, and one private sector national provider of hospital services. Survey questions were designed following a review of the literature and prior empirical work. The design enabled us to collect both quantitative information and interpretive qualitative responses from participants. Over 50% of respondents expected to have childcare provided wholly by family members, while 15% anticipated the use of formal arrangements alone. The planned arrangements for care can best be understood within a framework of a ‘family budget’ of time to be allocated between market-based work and childcare. Attitudes to childcare are central to this ‘time economies’ framework. Respondents experienced dissonance between the stated organizational family-friendly policy of their workplaces and practices at the management level. Employer-centred flexibility often disrupted their child-care arrangements. We identify important employment policy issues for workplaces that would facilitate the optimal return to the workforce by professional women following maternity leave. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T07:10:53Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-15110 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T07:10:53Z |
| publishDate | 2012 |
| publisher | Sage Publications Ltd. |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-151102017-09-13T15:04:45Z Returning to work after maternity leave: Childcare and workplace flexibility Nowak, Margaret Naude, Marita Thomas, Gail childcare maternity leave workplace flexibility This article explores how responsibilities for childcare are managed as part of family decisions made around the return to work following a period of maternity leave. We surveyed all women health professionals identified as on maternity leave on payroll records of the Health Department, Western Australia, and one private sector national provider of hospital services. Survey questions were designed following a review of the literature and prior empirical work. The design enabled us to collect both quantitative information and interpretive qualitative responses from participants. Over 50% of respondents expected to have childcare provided wholly by family members, while 15% anticipated the use of formal arrangements alone. The planned arrangements for care can best be understood within a framework of a ‘family budget’ of time to be allocated between market-based work and childcare. Attitudes to childcare are central to this ‘time economies’ framework. Respondents experienced dissonance between the stated organizational family-friendly policy of their workplaces and practices at the management level. Employer-centred flexibility often disrupted their child-care arrangements. We identify important employment policy issues for workplaces that would facilitate the optimal return to the workforce by professional women following maternity leave. 2012 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/15110 10.1177/0022185612465530 Sage Publications Ltd. fulltext |
| spellingShingle | childcare maternity leave workplace flexibility Nowak, Margaret Naude, Marita Thomas, Gail Returning to work after maternity leave: Childcare and workplace flexibility |
| title | Returning to work after maternity leave: Childcare and workplace flexibility |
| title_full | Returning to work after maternity leave: Childcare and workplace flexibility |
| title_fullStr | Returning to work after maternity leave: Childcare and workplace flexibility |
| title_full_unstemmed | Returning to work after maternity leave: Childcare and workplace flexibility |
| title_short | Returning to work after maternity leave: Childcare and workplace flexibility |
| title_sort | returning to work after maternity leave: childcare and workplace flexibility |
| topic | childcare maternity leave workplace flexibility |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/15110 |