Family Friendly employment: survey results
For parents, flexible working is more valuable than salary progression or promotion.
A new survey for Mumsnet’s Family Friendly programme reveals just how strongly parents feel about flexible working - with a fifth of those who work flexibly, or who have done in the past, saying that it is 'priceless'.
Flexible working is valued more highly by employees that other workplace perks, even more important than career and salary progression. And there's good news for employers who embrace flexible working, with flexible workers having an overwhelmingly positive view of their workplaces.
However, there's still some way to go when it comes to awareness of working flexibly: 27% of people surveyed did not know that they had the right to request flexible working.
See the full survey results below
|
Are you currently employed or have you
been employed in the past? |
|---|
| Answer options | Response percent |
| Employed now | 76% |
| Have been employed in the past | 24% |
|
Do you currently work flexibly?
|
|---|
| Answer options | Response percent |
| Yes
|
50% |
| Not presently but I worked flexibly in a previous role | 14% |
| No | 25% |
| Not sure/ not stated | 5% |
| Other | 1% |
| N/A | 6% |
|
If
yes,
which of these flexible working arrangements do you use? If you have
previously worked flexibly, please think back to your last flexible
role. (Select all that apply.) |
|---|
| Answer options | Response percent |
| Part-time working
|
59% |
| Understanding with your employer that it's generally OK for you to take time out for school Appointments or other family commitments, perhaps with the time made up at other times | 47% |
| Other non-standard clocking on/clocking off times | 28% |
| Working from home on a regular basis | 28%
|
| Mixture of long and short days
|
24%
|
| Working from home on an ad hoc basis (eg school holidays)
|
23%
|
| Compressed days | 11%
|
| Being measured on performance/results rather than being given
specific working hours
|
10%
|
| Job sharing | 8% |
| Annualised hours
|
5%
|
| Reduced hours in the school holidays
| 5%
|
| Other (please specify)/not stated
|
9%
|
|
Did you know that if you have been employed by the same company for 26 weeks or more, you have the right to request flexible working arrangements - and your employer needs to give a sound business reason if they want to turn down the request? |
|---|
| Answer options | Response percent |
| Yes, I knew this | 57% |
| No, I did not know this | 27% |
| I'd heard something about it but didn't know the details | 15% |
| Other/not stated | 1%
|
|
Which of the following statements applies
to how you think your employer approaches flexible working? (If
you're not
currently employed, please think about your most recent experience as
an employee.)
|
|---|
| Answer options | Response percent |
| They're very positive about flexible working and seem to try to accommodate it wherever possible | 24% |
| They're pretty positive about it and seem to accommodate it quite a lot of the time | 33% |
| I don't know whether they are positive or negative | 15% |
| They're fairly negative about it and seem to approve requests only rarely | 13% |
| They're very negative about it and never/almost never approve requests | 8% |
| Other | 3% |
| N/A or not stated
|
4% |
Have you ever asked an employer for flexible working arrangements?
|
|---|
| Answer options | Response percent |
| Yes | 60%
|
| No | 40%
|
Have you ever asked an employer for flexible working arrangements?
|
|---|
| Answer options | Response percent |
| My request was approved without much further ado | 49%
|
| My request was approved after some negotiation and/or compromise | 38%
|
| I haven't had an
outcome yet - request still pending
|
1% |
| My request was turned down
|
12% |
|
Thinking about your current job, or your most recent job if you're not currently employed: Please let us know what you feel about each of the flexible working possibilities listed. |
|---|
| Answer Options |
Would really like to do
|
Would quite like to do
|
Don't feel strongly
either way
|
Would not like to do
|
Would hate to do
|
Already do
|
Isn't possible because of the nature of
my job
|
Other/not stated
|
| Job sharing | 9% | 15% | 22% | 24% | 10% | 5% | 10% | 4% |
| Part-time working
|
25% | 20% | 8% | 7% | 2% | 32% | 4% | 2% |
| Mixture of long and short days
|
11% | 22% | 21% | 15% | 4% | 17% | 9% | 3% |
| Compressed days
|
10% | 21% | 22% | 17% | 3% | 7% | 14% | 6% |
| Annualised hours
|
9% | 21%
|
29%
|
12% | 3% | 3% | 13% | 10% |
| Other non-standard clocking on/clocking off times
|
14% | 23% | 22% | 6% | 2% | 15% | 12% | 6% |
| Working from home on a regular basis
|
28% | 19% | 9% | 6% | 2% | 13% | 21% | 2% |
| Working from home on an ad hoc basis (eg school holidays)
|
26% | 22% | 9% | 4% | 1% | 13% | 21% | 4% |
| Understanding with your employer that
it's generally OK for
you to take time out for school Appointments or other family commitments,
perhaps with the time made up at other times
|
39% | 18% | 5% | 2% | 1% | 26% | 6% | 3% |
| Reduced hours in the school holidays
|
30% | 22% | 17% | 5% | 1% | 8% | 12% | 6% |
| Being measured on performance/results rather than being given
specific working hours
|
23% | 19% | 16% | 8% | 4% | 10% | 17% | 5% |
|
If you currently work flexibly, please say
to what extent you agree or disagree with the following? |
|---|
| Answer options | Strongly agree | Somewhat agree
|
Neither agree nor disagree
|
Somewhat disagree
|
Strongly disagree
|
Don't know
|
| I'm more likely to work extra hours or out-of-hours, compared with times when I've worked non-flexibly | 46% | 26%
|
16%
|
8%
|
3%
|
1%
|
| I feel more willing to 'go the extra mile' for my employer as a
result of being able to work flexibly
|
51% | 32%
|
12%
|
4%
|
1%
|
1%
|
| I feel I'm more productive at work as a result of being able to work flexibly | 55%
|
29%
|
12%
|
3%
|
1%
|
1%
|
| I feel I'm better
at my job as a result of being able to work flexibly
|
53% | 27%
|
15%
|
3%
|
1%
|
1%
|
| Being able to work flexibly makes me feel more positively about my employer than I would otherwise | 63% | 26%
|
8%
|
1%
|
0%
|
1%
|
| Being able to work flexibly makes it possible for me to do this job - I wouldn't be able to keep this role if I couldn't work flexibly | 47%
|
25% | 14% | 11% | 3% | 1% |
| Being able to work flexibly makes me less inclined to move to a different employer | 66% | 23% | 7% | 2% | 1% | 1% |
| Being able to work flexibly is more important to me than salary progression | 29%
|
32% | 17% | 15% | 7% | 1% |
| Being able to work flexibly is more important to me than career progression | 38%
|
29%
|
14% | 12% | 6% | 1% |
| Being able to work flexibly is more important to me than employee benefits (such as health insurance, gym membership and other incentives) | 55% | 25% | 13% | 3% | 2% | 1% |
| Being able to work flexibly is more important to me than bonus scheme membership | 50% | 24% | 15% | 5% | 3% | 4% |
| I would always consider an employer's attitude towards flexible working when thinking about career moves | 65% | 26% | 6% | 2% | 0% | 1% |
|
And if you currently work flexibly, or
thinking about a time when you have worked flexibly, can you put a
figure, in gross salary terms, on what flexibility is worth to you?
(This could be real-world value, such as reduced childcare or travel
costs; or notional value, in terms of the salary range you would
consider for doing the same job, but non-flexibly; or a combination of
the two.)
|
|---|
| Answer options | Response percent |
| £1-£500 per
annum, pro rata
|
1% |
| £500-£2000
per annum, pro rata
|
12% |
| £2000-£5000
per annum, pro rata
|
22% |
| £5000-£10,000
per annum, pro rata
|
15% |
|
£10,000-£25,000
per annum, pro rata
|
12%
|
| £25,000+ per annum, pro rata
|
4%
|
| Nothing - working flexibly has no real or notional monetary value for
me
|
12%
|
| Priceless - I
cannot put a high
enough figure on the value of flexible working
|
22% |
|
If you
don't work
flexibly, which of the following helps to explain why? (Select all
that apply.) |
|---|
| Answer options | Response percent |
| Flexible working really
wouldn't fit with my
job role
|
37% |
| I wouldn't be able to cope with the income cut associated with job sharing or going part-time | 27% |
|
I think it would negatively affect my career |
21% |
| I think my co-workers would be resentful
|
21% |
| Asking for flexible working gets you marked down as a trouble-maker
|
17% |
| I'm very happy
working standard hours (full time or part time)
|
17%
|
| I have asked to work flexibly but my employer has said no
|
15%
|
| I'd like to ask,
but I haven't got the
time/energy to put a request together
|
8% |
|
If you work flexibly, which level of
seniority most accurately reflects your current role? (if you have
worked flexibly in the past, please think back to your last flexible
role.) |
|---|
| Answer options | Don't know |
| Company owner/CEO/MD
|
2% |
| Director/ board level
|
3% |
| Senior management
|
10% |
| Middle management
|
25% |
| Supervisory
|
17% |
| Non management level
|
39% |
| Other (please specify)
|
4% |
|
Within your current organisation, do you
have role models working flexibly at a senior level?
|
|---|
| Answer options | Response percent |
| Yes, lots
|
19% |
| Yes, but they're
rare
|
24% |
| No
|
34% |
| Don't know | 11% |
| N/A | 13% |
|
Thinking about your current organisation,
or your most recent one if not currently employed, do you agree or
disagree with each of the following?
|
|---|
| Answer options | Agree | Disagree | Don't know/not stated
|
| Only very senior or long-serving staff tend to be allowed to work
flexibly
|
17% | 57% | 25% |
| Women are more likely to be allowed to work flexibly than men
|
37% | 33% | 30% |
| Women are more likely to ask to work flexibly than men
|
76% | 9% | 15% |
| Parents are more likely to be allowed to work flexibly than people without children | 57% | 22% | 21% |
| Male bosses are more likely to grant flexible working than women | 10% | 41% | 49% |
| Flexible working needs to apply to everyone - not just parents - in
order to be effective
|
82% | 6% | 12% |
Survey of 1128 Mumsnet users. Conducted in December 2015.
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Last updated: almost 5 years ago