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Work-life balance on the political agenda: Charles Brass

Written by Jan Lee Martin
Friday, 16 February 2007
Apparently valid economic figures are masking some disturbing human issues in the world of work, according to Futures Foundation chair, Charles Brass. In an interview on th ABC's 7:30 Report (31 01 07), he highlighted the growing divide between those who work too much and those who work too little, and flagged the topic as an item of growing concern on the political agenda. ABC host Kerry O'Brien reinforced this point in his introduction: "As we move more and more into an election year, the Prime Minister will no doubt be banking on maintaining the current low unemployment rate. Economic management is his biggest single perceived advantage over new Labor leader Kevin Rudd but there are, of course, layers of complexity behind the stats, complexities that go to much longer hours of work for some and not enough work for others. "One social and economic institute points out, for instance, that many Australian workers now work harder than their counterparts anywhere in the rest of the industrialised world, even Japan. Church leaders are expressing concern about the impact of work stress on families, and one health study points to higher levels of work related depression and more visits to doctors. So much for the lotus land of a few decades ago, and while we're awash in consumer goods and lifestyle choices, as a nation we're also awash in personal debt." Reporter Greg Hoy began the item with a quote from the Prime Minister at a press conference he called in Sydney "to remind Australians how good things are right now, as measured by historically low unemployment figures." Here's what he and others, including Charles Brass, had to say.... JOHN HOWARD, PRIME MINISTER: I think the jobs figures today are wonderful. And isn't this what it's all about? There's no greater indicator, there's no greater mark of economic success than low unemployment. GREG HOY: Enough to raise some eyebrows to the heavens. No one denies we have much to be thankful for but there's a genuine concern about a strong undercurrent in the workplace that is largely ignored in Australian economic policy. REV DR PHILLIP FREIER, ANGLICAN ARCHBISHOP OF MELBOURNE: Modern hours of work that span all of the time we have available seem to pay no heed to the ancient wisdom that saw even the Creator take rest on the seventh day. DR CLIVE HAMILTON, AUSTRALIA INSTITUTE: Australians now work more hours each year than workers in any other country in the industrialised world, more than the super-efficient Germans, more than the Americans, who only get one or two weeks annual leave, more even than the Japanese, who are famous for a phenomenon known as karoshe or death by overwork. TIM WILSON, INSTITUTE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS: It's important that we understand that some people's working hours and their workloads have increased. That's partly to do with a skills shortage and the fact that we have an ever-rising number of job advertisements and they're not all being filled, because we do have a skills shortage. CHARLES BRASS, AUSTRALIAN FUTURES FOUNDATION: The work force is really being divided into two groups: those who are working full time and who are working longer and longer and more intense hours throughout a seven day working week, and those who are working part time, casual, what we tend to call contingent, who are struggling to find the requisite amount of work under appropriate conditions to allow them to live their lives. JOHN HOWARD: We now have the best labour market in this country in my lifetime, the best. This is what it is all about. If it's not about providing jobs for Australians, and thereby security and stability for Australian families, what is economic policy all about? GREG HOY: It's an emotional argument, riddled with contradictions. There are, of course, those workaholics delighted to have longer working hours. Just as, conversely, there are those economists who seriously question the accuracy of unemployment figures, suggesting they mask a serious under-employment problem. That's an old argument that predates the Howard Government but one, it's argued, that's more pronounced with the deregulation of the workplace and the casualisation of many full time jobs. CHARLES BRASS: Now, according to the statisticians, a job is working for pay two hours a fortnight. So, if you create 20 jobs at two hours a fortnight, that's the same thing as creating one full time job. But the statistics look like 20 jobs have been created whereas otherwise it's only one. But I'll give you a statistic. In 1963, 65 per cent of the Australian population worked nine to five, Monday to Friday. In 2007, that's 8 per cent. TIM WILSON: People want choice in their work environment and that means that some people will be casualised, but the casualisation of that is a demonstration of their choice, to be able to balance out their life, work and personal choices. GREG HOY: You sure they want that? TIM WILSON: I think different people want different things. It's not one thing or the other. Different people want different arrangements in work and a one size fits all category doesn't mean that Australians are going to have their needs met. CHARLES BRASS: Underneath what appear to be quite good, politically quite good, economic figures are actually some quite disturbing human figures and I think that's one of the reasons why this work-life balance is on the agenda politically at the moment. A full transcript of the broadcast is available at http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2007/s1836677.htm
Last Updated ( Friday, 16 February 2007 )