Work and family life: Finding the right balance

One of the biggest challenges currently facing young families is finding that elusive balance between work and family life.

Achieving a good work life balance is difficult. Parents realise the first few years of their children’s life are special and there’s no turning back the clock once they are over. However, the financial pressures of modern life mean more parents are looking to return to work earlier to help support their growing family. That can mean missing out on precious time with their young ones.

Getting back into the workforce can be especially difficult if you aren’t comfortable with sending your child to a day care centre and don’t have grandparents that are able to help out. If you want to make arrangements so that both parents are afforded time with their baby during the week, that can also be difficult. So how are families managing these arrangements so they can balance work with their new family life?

We spoke to a range of parents who each have a unique way of creating a balance they are happy with. It’s not always easy and sometimes requires a little out of the box thinking but there are options available to help many families find a balance they are comfortable with.

Stay at home dad

Stay at home dads play an important role in helping the family achieve work-life balance. And even though giving up work the stay home with a baby is a big change and a bit of a challenge, the benefits for new fathers are immense. Dad gets to share all those special moments in baby’s development and mum gets the chance to go back to work after pregnancy.

Find out more about achieving work-life balance as a stay home dad.

How one career woman found a balance

How does a busy doctor find time to be a mum? Family life was important for Shelley but so was her career.

Find out how she managed the challenges and found a balance between work and family life.

Stay at home mums baby swap

Becoming a stay at home mum can be difficult for women used to working full time. While it allows new mums to bond with their babies and be there for all the special moment of the first year, being at home with a baby can be a bit isolating. But if you don’t want to put your new baby in day care, what’s a mum to do? Organising a baby swap with a friend gives stay home mums a bit of extra time for work (or other things) and babies get to socialise and make friends early in life. Find out more about how Liz organised a baby swap to help achieve work life balance.

Natasha’s young family battles for balance

Achieving work life balance can be particularly difficult for women who are not entitled to maternity leave. But with commitment from both partners and a bit of creating budgeting, it is possible for low income families to ensure both mum and dad achieve a balance between earning what’s needed to pay the bills and put food on the table and sharing special moments in baby’s first year.

Find out how Natasha and her partner balanced work and life.