Struggling to keep the balance: work-life experience of Australian mothers in paid work between 2000 and 2005
Ibolya Losoncz
Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs
Contact Email:   Annemarie.Nicolfahcsia.gov.au

Australian mothers in paid work often try to reconcile two equally important aspirations: participation in the labour market, and commitment to caring for their family and children. Research by Losoncz (2008), using cluster analysis on the HILDA survey data, identified six major homogenous groups of working mothers who had distinctive profiles in terms of their work-family life experience. Mothers in two of these two clusters Aspiring and struggling, and Indifferent and struggling - experience strong tension in managing their work and family responsibilities.

Subsequent descriptive analysis found that mothers in these clusters were characterised by long working hours, high work overload, lack of support from others, lower outcomes on health measures, and low satisfaction with family life and parenthood regardless of their level of aspiration to be in paid work.

This second part of the project will use longitudinal analysis of the first six waves of HILDA to examine the extent of transition of individual mothers in these two clusters. Furthermore, the research will investigate the extent to which increased support from others, re-partnering, and reduction in paid and/or unpaid working hours either by the mother, her partner or at the household level will predict a more positive work-family life experience.

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