Women battle with work/life balance

WHO can say they have truly achieved the perfect work/life balance?

Many families flee the city, believing a move to country or coastal areas will solve the stresses associated with everyday life.

Now new research reveals the truth behind the lives of many women living in rural areas.

 The third Australian Work and Life Index report found the pressures on rural woman are increasing, along with the difficulty of balancing work and family life.

Women living in rural and regional areas experience the extra burden that comes with commuting long distances to and from work, which increases worker stress and eats into family time.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, between 1992 and 2006 the proportion of women who were employed increased from 48 per cent to 55pc.

While women were assuming a greater role in the workplace, they did not compensate by reducing work around the home. Women spent around the same amount of time on household work, which includes caring for children, in 2006 as they had in 1992.

But the figures also showed that in terms of total workload, both men and women spent an average of 50 hours and 10 minutes a week in a combination of paid work and household work.

So the problem does not seem to be one of inequality, but of everyone simply being too busy for their own good.

How can we simplify our lives to avoid being constantly busy and stressed?

If I had the answer to that modern dilemma then maybe I would be sitting back right now with my feet up.