31% of women have difficulty separating work and private life when working from home
Posted: Tue Feb 11, 2025 6:15 am
When working from home, it is more difficult to combine family and work
Working from home offers many advantages: parents save themselves the commute to and from work, they can pick up children from daycare earlier, do household chores like laundry during working hours, look after children when they are sick and have to stay at home, and work when they are at their fittest (for example, early in the morning before the office opens). However, contrary to our expectations and the many advantages, parents who work fully or partially from home have more difficulty balancing responsibilities related to their children and their work responsibilities. 65% of remote workers say it is very or somewhat difficult. In contrast, “only” 49% of on-site employees find it difficult.
Compatibility of family and career according to work model
What support parents receive from their company
Providing benefits such as flexible working hours or financial support for healthcare can send a strong message to employees: their holistic well-being at work and outside of the workplace is important to their employer.
For working parents, this support is even more important as it can help them reduce the burden of caring for their children. Yet only 32% of all parents say they receive support from their company and are satisfied with it. 48% receive some support but it is not enough to meet their needs to balance work and private life, and 20% receive no support at all (of these, 18% were male and 23% were female).
Most companies support their employees with children with flexible working hours (at least partially flexible), 36% of the working parents surveyed are even supported with completely flexible hours. An additional bonus (32%) and childcare (30%) are also offered, which shows that the mentality is changing, but not yet in the majority of companies.
What support do parents receive from their company
77% have difficulty balancing private and work life in the home office
In recent years, home offices have become established, which, among other things, makes it possible to reduce daily commutes to work and thus have a certain degree of flexibility in private life. Does home offices provide more balance for employees with children?
8% of our study participants work fully remotely, 30% in a hybrid work model, and 62% work exclusively on-site (e.g. office, store, factory, warehouse, etc.). We asked the 38% who work fully or partially from home how difficult they find it to maintain work-life balance at home.
Balancing family and career in the home office
Here, too, we see that both parents struggle to balance work and private life at home, but there are no major differences between the sexes. On average, only 23% of all parents surveyed say they have no difficulties working from home. Companies should definitely support parents and encourage them to combine work and private life at home.
In the home office, there is no longer a strict separation between work and private life. south africa telegram data When the boundaries become increasingly blurred, this is referred to as work-life blending. Emails are answered at the weekend and customer calls are taken after work. In return, private matters can also be taken care of during official working hours. However, this can have a negative impact on the general well-being of the individual.
Almost a third (31%) of women are affected by work-life blending. They say that they find it difficult to separate work and private life when they work from home. For men, however, the figure is 24%.
Problems that result from work-life blending for the 31% of women are:
I never really finish work (38%)
My work quality occasionally suffers because I am surrounded by family, pets, housework, etc. (38%)
I work overtime (29%)
I am not sure whether I complete my contractually agreed hours per week (29%)
The time recording requirement introduced in Germany at the end of last year attempts to ensure that employees do not work too much and that overtime is not recognized/paid or that they do not work too few hours. The feeling of never finishing work is a burden that employees should not be exposed to. Time recording systems can also be used to track project working hours. This gives employees a better overview of the time spent on projects and allows them to plan their time better. If they see that they have already mastered a lot of tasks in one day, they can turn off their laptop with a clear conscience. The weekly performance goals described above can also help reduce stress in the home office.
Working from home offers many advantages: parents save themselves the commute to and from work, they can pick up children from daycare earlier, do household chores like laundry during working hours, look after children when they are sick and have to stay at home, and work when they are at their fittest (for example, early in the morning before the office opens). However, contrary to our expectations and the many advantages, parents who work fully or partially from home have more difficulty balancing responsibilities related to their children and their work responsibilities. 65% of remote workers say it is very or somewhat difficult. In contrast, “only” 49% of on-site employees find it difficult.
Compatibility of family and career according to work model
What support parents receive from their company
Providing benefits such as flexible working hours or financial support for healthcare can send a strong message to employees: their holistic well-being at work and outside of the workplace is important to their employer.
For working parents, this support is even more important as it can help them reduce the burden of caring for their children. Yet only 32% of all parents say they receive support from their company and are satisfied with it. 48% receive some support but it is not enough to meet their needs to balance work and private life, and 20% receive no support at all (of these, 18% were male and 23% were female).
Most companies support their employees with children with flexible working hours (at least partially flexible), 36% of the working parents surveyed are even supported with completely flexible hours. An additional bonus (32%) and childcare (30%) are also offered, which shows that the mentality is changing, but not yet in the majority of companies.
What support do parents receive from their company
77% have difficulty balancing private and work life in the home office
In recent years, home offices have become established, which, among other things, makes it possible to reduce daily commutes to work and thus have a certain degree of flexibility in private life. Does home offices provide more balance for employees with children?
8% of our study participants work fully remotely, 30% in a hybrid work model, and 62% work exclusively on-site (e.g. office, store, factory, warehouse, etc.). We asked the 38% who work fully or partially from home how difficult they find it to maintain work-life balance at home.
Balancing family and career in the home office
Here, too, we see that both parents struggle to balance work and private life at home, but there are no major differences between the sexes. On average, only 23% of all parents surveyed say they have no difficulties working from home. Companies should definitely support parents and encourage them to combine work and private life at home.
In the home office, there is no longer a strict separation between work and private life. south africa telegram data When the boundaries become increasingly blurred, this is referred to as work-life blending. Emails are answered at the weekend and customer calls are taken after work. In return, private matters can also be taken care of during official working hours. However, this can have a negative impact on the general well-being of the individual.
Almost a third (31%) of women are affected by work-life blending. They say that they find it difficult to separate work and private life when they work from home. For men, however, the figure is 24%.
Problems that result from work-life blending for the 31% of women are:
I never really finish work (38%)
My work quality occasionally suffers because I am surrounded by family, pets, housework, etc. (38%)
I work overtime (29%)
I am not sure whether I complete my contractually agreed hours per week (29%)
The time recording requirement introduced in Germany at the end of last year attempts to ensure that employees do not work too much and that overtime is not recognized/paid or that they do not work too few hours. The feeling of never finishing work is a burden that employees should not be exposed to. Time recording systems can also be used to track project working hours. This gives employees a better overview of the time spent on projects and allows them to plan their time better. If they see that they have already mastered a lot of tasks in one day, they can turn off their laptop with a clear conscience. The weekly performance goals described above can also help reduce stress in the home office.