Overview

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Key question:	2
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Project outputs:

The combination of paid employment with the demands of caregiving has received considerable attention internationally, from researchers in the field and from some governments who have included work-family integration as part of a specific government policy (e.g. UK, New Zealand). Legislative provisions on leave and the right to request flexible working arrangements have improved in many countries in recent years. So too have the demands of caregiving, with growing concern among many European countries regarding the demands of elder care arising from increasing aged populations. South Africa presents the enormous challenge of HIV/AIDS care in addition to the obligations of child care and elder care.

Organisational measures to assist employees with the combination of paid work and caregiving include leave provisions (e.g. annual leave, family responsibility leave); flexible working arrangements (e.g. job sharing, flexitime); childcare facilities such as workplace nurseries, or other supportive arrangements such as work-family management training and employee counselling and assistance.


This research is being undertaken to assess how South African businesses are responding to the need to become more "family-friendly" and, in particular, to address the multiple and converging demands of caregiving and paid employment.

There is little, if any, available research that documents employer "family-friendly" offerings. This study aims to survey companies listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) to establish the nature and extent of work-family arrangements. It will provide an unprecedented overview of work-family offerings among South African organisations, as well as a means to assess the adequacy of these offerings and the need, if any, for government involvement.


This study also examines, in the context of international legislative offerings, whether or not workers with care responsibilities are adequately catered for in South African labour legislation.

The study involves the Businesswomen's Association of South Africa (BWA) which has used a similar data sample in its annual ‘Nedbank/BWA Women in Corporate Leadership Census'. The data collection is being done by Synovate, with the data analysis being undertaken with Professor Marian Baird from the University of Sydney, Australia. This project is scheduled for completion in early 2009.