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South African parents aren’t among the world’s happiest. Could flexible working environments cheer them up?
South Africans with children are less content with life than their childless peers, the recent World Happiness Report has found.
But, says a local expert, this doesn’t automatically mean our kids are making us unhappy.
According to Johannesburg clinical psychologist Ruth Ancer, a complex bouquet of factors is causing South African parents of all socioeconomic groups to feel stressed.
“It’s not necessarily that people are not deriving joy from having children, but that they are more anxious about being able to provide for them. But the focus is on the here and now for those with no kids,” she says.
Ancer says if the average person is worrying about something, such as money, and they have children, it’s harder for them to be happy. This is because of the potential effect on their future wellbeing.
Research shows that countries with more accommodating and flexible workplace policies have a higher parental satisfaction rate. That is not surprising, she says.
A recent study by Citrix and the London-based Centre for Economics and Business Research found that South Africa could add R17 billion a year to its economy if more companies introduced flexitime or remote working, rather than the traditional nine to five, office-based working day. This option is being made increasingly possible thanks to technology, the authors say.
Flexible working hours would save South African commuters R44 billion a year by reducing the time and money spent on commuting. It would enhance their productivity as well, the study says, and foster a healthier work-life balance for employees – many of whom are desperate to spend more quality time with their children.
Ancer says: “In general, children don’t work according to a schedule – they don’t get sick on schedule.”
And mothers and fathers feel reassured if they know the boss has their back during a family emergency.
Flexible working hours would save South African commuters this amount a year by reducing the time and money spent on getting to and from work. It would enhance their productivity as well, and foster a healthier work-life balance for employees – many of whom are desperate to spend more quality time with their children
But inflexible work environments make it so much harder for parents – who feel they may be neglecting something, be it work or family.
An example of this Catch-22 situation is a typical South African employee whose child is ill and desperately needs to go to a clinic for treatment. He knows he may be fired if he takes a day off work but, on the other hand, he knows his child may die if she doesn’t get urgent medical attention.
“It’s that feeling of being torn and worrying about your child’s future that prevents you from being carefree,” she says.
“It’s not that people with children lack joy in their lives. It’s just that with kids, life becomes complicated and you worry about them.”
The global survey finds that the negative effect of parenthood on life satisfaction is not as prevalent in poor countries, or those with a high unemployment rate, as can be expected. It’s the case in more prosperous countries, too.
Ancer says this seeming anomaly can be explained by the fact that “in richer countries, people want to keep their standard of living. They have a lot to lose.
“These parents have a keen awareness of factors in the world and the economy that affect them, making it harder for them to experience pure happiness.”
But, she emphasises, as a parent herself, that there is much joy to be had from having children, “though they certainly make your emotional life more complicated”.
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