Working Families report shows high earners more likely to work flexibly

New research by charity Working Families for National Work Life Week (3-7 October) has found that parents who earn more than £70,000 a year are 47% more likely to work flexibly than those earning between £10,000 and £40,000.

Today (5 October) is Go Home On Time Day, a campaign that aims to encourage employees around the UK to strive for a better work-life balance. The Working Families research marks the occasion with the revelation that there is a direct correlation between salary and the ability to work flexibly.

The survey shows more than two-thirds of working parents who earned more than £70,000 worked flexibly, while less than half of those earning less (between £10,000 and £40,000) did the same.

Other revelations to come out of the survey include:

• More than half (55%) of working parents put in extra unpaid hours every week, with a quarter saying they work at least five hours of overtime a week
• 68% said their job interferes with their ability to take part in school or nursery milestones for their children, such as performances and parents’ evenings.
• 62% said work had a negative effect on the time they have to help their children with homework
• 56% said they were unable to put their children to bed, with one in five saying this happened more than three times a week.

Sarah Jackson, Chief Executive of Working Families said: “Families need time as well as money to thrive. But one shouldn’t depend on the other. We know flexible working makes business sense across the salary spectrum, so why should only the people who earn the most be able to reap the rewards? We want jobs at all levels to be advertised as flexible. And this should be the norm, rather than the exception.

“Everyone has the right to request flexible work patterns so we hope more employees – and employers – will use today’s status as Go Home On Time Day as an opportunity to explore the benefits.”