Back to school could bring little respite for home-working parents

As children return to school this September, new research has highlighted the challenges facing parents who have built businesses around the flexibility of working from home.

Research on 250 UK home-based business owners, commissioned by Dunster House,  found that 73 per cent of respondents who are in relationships and have children regularly work longer hours than they did in traditional employment.

More than two-thirds (68 per cent) of those aged 35 to 44 also said they regularly work evenings and weekends.

The findings highlight a potential downside to the flexibility offered by home working, particularly for parents attempting to combine work with school runs, childcare and family life.

More than half of those surveyed were parents: 38 per cent were married with children, while a further 15 per cent were in a relationship and had children.

Work-life balance was one of the biggest reasons people had chosen to establish businesses at home in the first place, cited by 47 per cent of respondents. More than a third (36 per cent) wanted greater flexibility in when and how they worked, while the same proportion specifically wanted to work from home.

Among people aged 35 to 44, work-life balance was an even stronger motivation, with 60 per cent citing it as a reason for starting their home-based business.

Yet the findings suggest achieving that balance can prove more difficult once the boundaries between home and work disappear.

Family interruptions were a regular feature of the working day for 36 per cent of respondents, while 53 per cent reported being interrupted by pets and 26 per cent by deliveries.

Isolation also emerged as a wellbeing concern. Nearly half (48 per cent) of all respondents said they had experienced loneliness or isolation while running a business from home.

The findings are particularly relevant as flexible and home working have become established parts of the wider UK working landscape. While working at home can give people greater control over when and where they work, the research illustrates why flexibility alone does not necessarily create better wellbeing.

Without the physical transition created by travelling to and from a workplace, separating professional and personal time can become harder.

Alastair Wallace, CEO and lead consultant at leadership and management training company Brainfood, said: “When your commute is 10 steps, it is very easy to never quite arrive at work and never quite leave it either. You think you will just reply to one email, and suddenly it is 9.47pm and you are still in business mode, only now with slippers on.”

Wallace recommends deliberately recreating some of the boundaries normally provided by a physical workplace, including defined start and finish times, proper breaks and a routine marking the end of the working day.

So, as the school gates reopen this September, the return of the working-day routine may provide some parents with more uninterrupted hours, but it does not necessarily solve the bigger challenge of keeping work and home life separate.