Career Update: Juggling act - work and family

One in six Australians do shiftwork, including weekends. Pia Akerman and Andrew Chesterton report on the impact this has on families.

Amanda Phillips, 35, juggles managing her own art gallery with raising her sons, Xavier, four, and Emerson, two. She says: "I WORK every second weekend, so my husband, Jason, becomes the house mother. The boys are used to it now, and I think it's really good for Jason to have one-on-one time with them. But they're always happy to see Mum at the end of the day.

When you run a small business, people have to be able to reach you. This isn't a nine-to-five, Monday-to-Friday kind of job. I sometimes get phone calls at nine o'clock at night.

I average 30 to 36 hours a week. The level of administrative work in a small business is unbelievable. I have a full-time gallery manager who supports me, and a very supportive family network. My mother has always been involved in the kids' upbringing.

Having kids was the biggest change of my life. I find it very difficult working with a child on my hip. You have to plan your life with military precision, and mothers are always burdened with guilt, worried that they're doing the wrong thing.
Kids are a full-time job. It's easier to go to work than to stay home with them, because they're always on the go. I enjoy going to work, because it gives me an opportunity to do normal things.

Working weekends is the way life is now, especially in small business. People expect you to be available 24 hours. It would be nice to turn the mobile off but I have no choice but to be available."

Michael Hagarty is the after-hours nurse co-ordinator at St Vincent's Hospital. He and his wife, Angela, have a six-month-old son, Baden. He says:
"IT works in our favour, to tell you the truth. My wife has gone back to work as a high-school teacher and works four days a week, so being able to work Saturdays and Sundays kind of offsets the time we have to worry about child care.

Basically, I have every Monday off and Tuesday morning off work, so I get the opportunity to look after Baden on those days.

My wife has Thursdays off, so she looks after him then, and on Wednesday and Friday he's in child care.

I was in a Monday-to-Friday job while Angela was pregnant, and I moved into a job where I could get some shiftwork for that particular reason.

I actually enjoy working weekends. Apart from the child-care thing, there are financial incentives such as shift penalties. That money allows my wife to work only four days.

I don't think I miss anything from a family perspective: I get to spend a lot of time with my wife and a lot of time just with my son.
This is the best way for us to advance our careers and enjoy our family life at the same time.

When Baden starts to play sports that I'll want to be involved in, the work is quite flexible. On the weekends, we have morning, afternoon and night shifts, so in the event he's playing sport in the morning, I could do the afternoon shift and still enjoy his sport.

It's a pretty good set-up. If I'm on an afternoon shift on a Thursday, I still get to spend the morning with Angela."

Monica Rosenfeld, 31, is expecting her first child in three weeks. She and her husband run a public-relations company. She says: "I TREASURE weekends; it's a time for family and friends. Mondays should feel like you're coming back from a holiday.

Working in PR demands that you're available for clients' needs at any time. That includes attending launches and functions in the evenings and sometimes on weekends.

I do see a pattern of less structured working hours in society lately. I think that's the way the future is going.

My husband and I are planning to totally share the load between family and work.
I'll be very busy, but I'm not taking any maternity leave. I've set it up so the business can run day to day without me, and I can do things from my home office.

I've also created a room in the office where the baby will be able to sleep and I can breast-feed. So many small businesses are run by women. I've seen that the balance between work and family can be achieved."

By Pia Akerman and Andrew Chesterton, The Sunday Telegraph, Februrary 12 2006.