The 2024 National Working Families Survey
The voice of parents and carers across Australia
On the pulse research used to help define family friendly workplace practices
on Australian families?
In 2019, Parents At Work and our partners released our landmark National Working Families Report, following a survey of more than 6,000 working Australian parents and carers.
We reported on the difficulties experienced by workers in balancing their work and family commitments, with their personal wellbeing and family relationships suffering as a result. That report led to real change. Since then, in the face of a global pandemic and social distancing orders, Australian workplaces shifted overnight to remote and flexible working.
In 2021, Parents At Work partnered with UNICEF Australia to develop and deliver Family Friendly Workplaces, a benchmarking and certification for Australian workplaces that meet the world’s best practice National Work + Family Standards.
Now, five years on, 2024 provided an opportunity to update and reissue the survey, to measure the impact of changing workplace trends on more than 6,200 of Australia’s working parents and carers.
Over 6,000 Australian
parents & carers
responded
to the survey
The Survey addresses the following research questions
- Overall, how are parents and carers feeling about their current work and family juggle?
- What are the key challenges and priorities for parents and carers?
- Are our current workplace policies and practices enough to support families at work?
50% of employees believe commitment to their job is questioned if they use family-friendly work arrangements
56% believe it’s more acceptable for women to use family-friendly options than men
38% of employees want more access to caring support from their employer
41% of parents report their parental leave being too short
3 in 4 men agreed that managers who have adopted flexible work leave policies themselves are better at managing employees who also utilise these policies
Hear from UNICEF Australia Chair Ann Sherry
What did parents and carers have to say?
“Family friendly environments need to be inclusive of single parents. They often assume you can attend events and the other parent will care for the child in your absence. For single parents this is not the case…They miss out on work events…(and) opportunities for promotions and training, due to the extra work-life balance required.”
“Childcare that is both affordable and accessible at all ages is significantly lacking. I see centres go up all the time but despite this, the cost of childcare is disproportionately high considering my community’s socioeconomic realities.”
“The cost of childcare is a constant financial pressure. Also, the incompatibility of work vs school hours when children are just starting school, and the obligation to then pay for out of school care adds to the financial burden.”
“My employer allows me to work flexibly between the office and home and focuses on me getting the job done, not which hours I do it in. Without this flexibility and understanding, I would not be able to work fulltime, if at all.”
Where to from here?
The report urges policymakers to take decisive action to eliminate gender biases in caregiving, invest in family-friendly policies as part of health and safety measures, and implement productivity strategies that enhance workforce participation, engagement, and well-being.
We urge business leaders to get on board and make a commitment to making Australia a more family friendly nation by pledging to benchmark their workplace as the first step to making Australia one of the best countries to work and care for family and support the 2030 UN Sustainable Development Goals
What should workplaces and government do now?
- Increase affordability and access of early childhood care and education (ECEC) for all children and families.
Continue to drive uptake in progressive reforms to gender neutral Paid Parental Leave
Continue to drive meaningful progress towards gender equality under the framework of Australia’s new gender equality strategy
Embed family-friendly policies as a key strategy in the workplace
Invest in research to improve and enhance the National Working Families Survey (NWFS) for future trends and comparisons with an emphasis on expanding the diversity of Australian families represented.
We’re also calling on Government, Business and Community leaders to meet the National Work and Families Standards, aligned with the health and wellbeing needs of children and families. This is critical to ensure Australia does not lag the world in work and family policy.
Take the self-assessment and benchmark your workplace today:
Our partners
Media partners
Advocacy supporters
Challenge DV
Genea Fertility
Kiddo
KidsCo
Norton Rose Fulbright
PANDA
Rainbow Families
SMS4Dads
Diversity Council Australia
Australian Multi Birth Association
Franklin Women
Le Courrier Australien
The Fathering Project
The Inclusion Circle
Working Parents Connect
National Association of Women in Operations (NAWO)
Connected Parenting
Domestic Violence NSW
DR Care Solutions
UN Women Australia
Gidget Foundation
SNAICC
Thrive By Five
NBN
Care and Living with Mercer
Find out more
For press and media enquiries please contact the Parents At Work team at info@parentsatwork.com.au
