The balancing act:
work v life

Technology both helps and hinders. Email and the Internet gives people the potential to work flexibly. Some now work for themselves or for their employer entirely from home. This doesn't suit everyone - some find it far too isolating to be cut off from office networks, but working from home for part of the week can be a real help.

However, technology can also increase work pressure. The overflowing email inbox and the constantly ringing phone can really step up the stress levels.

Progress on work-life balance is likely to give individual employees much more choice about how and when they work. Research shows that the more control you have over your own work, the less stressed you're likely to get. But organisations, as a whole, need to tackle the issue - it can't just be the sum of individual responses.

And work-life balance issues are not just for carers. Everyone needs their personal space, and policies that only benefit parents or carers might cause antagonism with other colleagues.

The challenges

Flexitime, working at home, and crèches are available only to a minority, but they are on the increase. Falling unemployment in most parts of the country means that employers are having to put a bit more effort into retaining staff and providing good conditions designed to attract particular staff with skills and experience.

While flexitime and home-working options are not appropriate for every type of job, there is still room for imaginative approaches to choosing working hours.

The main obstacle is employer resistance. Too many think that progressive policies will cost them. Small companies, in particular, say it may be all right for big organisations but we don't have the same options to be flexible.

But the independent Institute of Employment Studies shows that some small and medium-sized businesses have saved up to £250,000 on their budget simply by using family-friendly work policies. This is mainly because people take less time off sick when they have a better balance in their life.