Part-time work a balancing act for mothers

By BRIDGET CARTER

When Amanda McAuliffe began part-time work, she thought she would have the perfect balance between work and family life.

She would be stimulated with work and still have time to look after her primary school children.

But the Palmerston North mother of two has found that part-time work has a price.

For many, it means hours of unpaid overtime, guilt, limited promotion opportunities and job insecurity.

Mrs McAuliffe is one of the women who make up 72.1 per cent of New Zealand's part-time work force - a group often faced with an uneasy struggle of pleasing both the boss and the family, with few benefits and big drawbacks.

Trudie McNaughton, the executive director of the Equal Employment Opportunities Trust, said women can find they are being paid part-time rates for what turns out to be a full-time job.

"Where flexible work can be a real advantage, it is important that there are very good policies and procedures in place, just as there needs to be in full-time work."

Mrs McAuliffe said her part-time job in public affairs for Massey University - 8.30am to 3pm four days a week - means she takes work home and spends nearly three hours in the office at the weekend to keep ahead.

And she rarely takes the time in lieu she is entitled to.

"No one knows I do two to three hours of work on Saturday and I feel awkward leaving and saying I did work on Saturday ... I don't feel right about clocking in and clocking out."



There are times she also feels guilty towards her family because she spends too much time working.

Her feelings of guilt are shared by many part-time women workers, says a pilot study called "Icing on the Cake - Where's the Cake?" done by employment relations lecturer Barry Foster and human resource management lecturer Beth Mackie at Massey University.

Six women and one man who worked up to 30 hours a week in the Manawatu were interviewed.

Mr Foster said all the women expressed guilt surrounding trying to be a good employee and a good parent.

Five of the six women said they had missed promotions or would not be able to advance their career in part-time work.

Robyn Laidlaw, a Westmere, Auckland mother, said casual work for an investment management firm meant she had to forgo job security.

Her decision to work on contract was partly driven by financial reasons, but also because she enjoyed her job and did not want to give it up completely.

She worried that people might think she was not as committed because she worked part-time and that she was inflexible because she had children.

But since she had children, work had become her second priority.

"The kids are my first priority and it is really important to have my time with them first."