The concept of Monday to Friday, nine to five, as the normal working week is a thing of thepast. Work outside these times is now normal for most working parents. Yet while workpatterns are changing, the structure of the school week remains the same. The result is thatmany parents are now at work when their children are at home. From what we know about theimportance of family time for children, this suggests we need to think carefully about legislation and employment policy not just in terms of individuals, but taking full account of the effect of working patterns on family relationships.
This report is a product of the Relationships Foundation’s ‘Keep Time for Children’ initiative that was set up to investigate the effects of working patterns on family life and to campaign for policies that protect parents’ time with their children, particularly at weekends. It draws on findings from two major research projects by the National Centre for Social Research.
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