About half (52%) of the participants in Te Taunaki | Public Service Census were satisfied with their work/life balance, which was lower than the 76% of employed New Zealanders who were satisfied in the most recent Stats NZ Survey of Working Life 2018.
People with management responsibilities tended to have less satisfaction with work/life balance (50% for people with direct reports, 46% for people who manage managers), compared to 53% for people with non-managerial roles.
Men were more likely to be satisfied with their work/life balance than women (56% vs 50%). This difference was even greater in senior management.
In Te Taunaki | Public Service Census, most participants (78%) used some form of flexible work arrangement, the most common being flexible start or finish times, including flexible breaks (79% of those that used some form of flexible work) and working from home (74%).
The reasons for wanting or using flexible work were reduced commuting time (50%), allowing time for other activities (49%), and caring for children (36%). Some reported that flexible working allowed them to study, care for others, do voluntary work, or manage a health or disability issue.
Although most staff already had access to flexible working arrangements, 73% of them would like additional flexible arrangements. Of the 22% of public servants that don’t currently use some form of flexible work, around 81% want access to some form of arrangement.
50% of females and 51% of males reported they had caring responsibilities.
Of those who reported caring responsibilities, 47% cared for tamariki/children aged 5 to 13, 34% cared for tamariki/children aged over 14 and 27% cared for tamariki/children aged 5 and under. Other reasons were looking after older whānau/friends or looking after whānau/friends with a disability or long-term illness.
Of those who reported caring responsibilities, 24% reported that it was easy or very easy to balance their responsibilities with their work, whereas 35% reported that it was difficult or very difficult to balance them.
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