A University of Melbourne study about Generation X women losing hope and dropping out of the workforce is getting ink in Australian newspapers. The Daily Telegraph’s headline actually characterized the situation as “shattered hope”.
Perthnow (powered by Australia’s Sunday Times) also published the news release. Here is an excerpt:
Only 38 per cent of Generation X, tertiary qualified women worked full-time, compared to 90 per cent of Generation X, tertiary qualified men, in a University of Melbourne study.
According to the study, when Gen X women graduated from college they ranked career as a top priority. But, once they started to have children, there was little support from employers. In fact, the study reveals that Australia’s workplace policies have taken a toll on Gen X women. The health of Gen X women has actually suffered in comparison to that of Canadian women.
Workplace policies in the United States have taken a toll on the health of Gen X women. The biggest question is what aspect of health has it impacted most – physical? mental? marital? familial? emotional? It’s a toss-up.
Gen X is not fairing well as we head into middle age. Gen X marriages are starting to really suffer. Experts predict the divorce rate for Gen X will exceed divorce rates for all previous generations. This is gut-wrenching for a generation of latchkey kids who made their homes child-focused; who have responded to their own childhood neglect by overparenting their own kids.
I am so grateful for the brilliant minds at the U.S. Department of Labor who work daily to raise awareness about the benefits of flexible work arrangements for employees, EMPLOYERS and society as a whole. In addition, I believe I’ve mentioned this before, but if not, workplace flexibility is a public policy initiative of Georgetown Law.
If you are an employer and you are not pursuing workplace flexibility for your employees you are a dinosaur. Good luck staying ahead of your competition, because the most innovative employers – the ones who actually get the connection between happy employees and fantastic work products – are the ones that will retain the best talent.
Have you ever considered dropping out of the workforce?
hello dear one 🙂 well now don’t get me started … part of the answer is having a family dynamic that works for mum as well as dad … we all need a 1950s style ‘wife’ as when are we going to wake up and smell the roses and understand that staying home with the kids and sorting the domestic bliss is a JOB.
If I ruled the world – hee hee – then straight off the bat I would instigate $60k a year for all parents of 0 – 18 year kids on the provisio that one parent commits to the stay at home role …
Yes I am sure industry would grind to a halt, the economy would sag and the liberal minded ‘raise your child by the nanny’ type would tut and carry on … but what would we get in return – cared for kids, less stressed families, lower unemployment, home cokked meals, voluteers for sports days at school, a social community, more spare seats on train, less consumerism, the re-establishment of neighbourhoods, and 101 other things I can’t think of right now.
I know I am being simplistic but honestly we gen x women can make choices and all we need is some recognition that families are worth the investment …
love and hugs le xox
It’s hard to understand how, with half the workforce being female, companies aren’t tripping over themselves trying to make work more family-friendly. I could write a book about the ways I’ve attempted to manage family and work over my 20+ year career.
Last week I lost my job. I was the primary earner in a 3-generation household. Although I feel obligated to go out and find another job, I’m having a hard time convincing myself to dive back into yet another stressful, inflexible position.
While I would love to join my husband and try working from home with my own business, there’s the issue of health insurance, needing a steady income, yada yada yada.
I would bet good money that those same people that denied a simple and honest request frequently disapear into 2+ hour lunches. Rob