Four out of 10 working Americans (42 percent) say they take care of personal or family needs during work and about a quarter report that they regularly bring work home (26 percent), work during vacations (25 percent) and allow work to interrupt time with family and friends (25 percent). These were among the findings of a survey by APA's Center for Organizational Excellence.
The survey was conducted online on APA's behalf by Harris Poll from July 14–16, 2015, among 902 adults who are employed either full time or part time.
According to the results, six in 10 working Americans say they respond to personal communications during work hours and almost five out of 10 (48 percent) report regularly responding to work communications during personal time.
Although technology allows communication to span work and nonwork boundaries, most U.S. workers say they control the boundaries between their work and personal lives and decide whether to keep them separate. People also report investing a lot of themselves in both work (61 percent) and family (72 percent).
Although 51 percent of working Americans say their employers offer flexibility for when they work, less than half report having flexible options in terms of the number of hours they work (43 percent), how many days per week they work (40 percent) and the location they work from (34 percent).
Even fewer U.S. workers tap into work-life benefits, with just a quarter or fewer using work-life benefits once a month or more.
Despite the blending of work and personal time and relatively infrequent use of work-life benefits, working Americans report a fairly good fit between their work and nonwork lives (5.3 on a 7-point scale).
"The lesson for employers here is that while many men and women say that they struggle to balance their work and personal lives, having access to flexible work arrangements and control over how they manage those boundaries is key to a good work-life fit," says David W. Ballard PsyD, MBA, who directs APA's Center for Organizational Excellence. "Employees whose jobs fit well with the rest of their lives are more engaged and motivated, report higher levels of job satisfaction, have better work relationships and are less likely to say they intend to leave the organization in the next year."
The survey also found that contrary to popular belief, work-life balance and work flexibility issues aren't primarily women's issues. Men are more likely than women to report utilizing some work-life benefits frequently (once a week or more), including child-care benefits, personal time off, flexible schedules regarding how many days a week they work, paid leave and unpaid leave, the survey found.
— APA Center for Organizational Excellence
