Fewer parents are using flexible work arrangements, data shows
After Luisa Lopes returned to work following the birth of her two children, she said it was difficult at first to adjust back to her old role.
"It was hard from my perspective because you're used to being in a position where you're full time and then you come back in a part-time position, and you still think you're able to do the amount of work as full time," she said.
"But my work was wonderful and very flexible and made that transition as supportive as possible."
The Crace resident said being able to work part time as a social worker had allowed her to manage the transition between her previous full-time role and caring for two children.
She said being able to have the flexibility to work from home had also been beneficial.
"It would be a lot harder to do the work load if I wasn't able to be in a flexible environment," Ms Lopes said.
"Having the flexibility of working from home has a significant impact."
Fewer mothers are using flexible work arrangements to care for their children compared to a decade ago, new data reveals.
Newly-released figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show since 2008, the number of employed female parents using arrangements such as part-time work or working from home to care for children has fallen from 74 per cent to 70 per cent in 2017.
In the same time period, the number of male parents using flexible work arrangements has largely remained steady, rising from 41 per cent in 2008 to 42 per cent last year.
The ABS data also shows the number of families with at least one parent employed using flexible arrangements has flatlined in the past decade, remaining at 64 per cent.
The bureau's education program manager, Stephen Collett, said the slowdown in flexible work arrangements comes after a rapid rise of its use during the 1990s.
"In 1999, 27 per cent of all employed male parents with children under 12 used at least one form of flexible work arrangements to care for children. By 2008, this figure had risen to 41 per cent," he said.
"For employed female parents ... in 1999, 68 per cent of women reported using at least one form of [flexible work] arrangements to care for children."
In terms of families with children under 12 with at least one parent employed during June 2017, 44 per cent reported using flexible working hours, while 30 per cent said they used part-time work as an option.
Only 23 per cent of those surveyed said they worked from home in order to look after young children, with 10 per cent saying they used shift work.
The data showed 42 per cent of mothers used flexible working hours compared to 30 per cent of fathers, while 38 per cent of women used part-time work compared with just five per cent of men.
Mr Collett said there were a range of reasons as to the drop in the female rate.
"The fall over the last six years was primarily due to fewer mothers with children under 12 working part-time to care for their children," he said.
"For both male and female parents, over the last six years, the survey showed modest increases in the take up of working at home to support caring for children."