Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, social distancing and work-from-home arrangements have been implemented. Many, especially young families, are facing disruptions in their work and family life.
As a newly wed husband and new father, I am familiar with these challenges. While my wife and I are still adjusting to marriage, we are also managing the demands of caring for our infant daughter.
Now that we are both working from home, it has been even trickier to strike good work-life balance. However, the current situation can actually work for young families.
First, there are unique opportunities in this crisis. The time my wife and I have saved on travelling to work has translated to more time for building our relationship with each other and our daughter between our work tasks.
This arrangement can encourage those in our shoes to be more involved spouses and hands-on parents. We can intentionally forge a family culture of more equal sharing of caregiving and household responsibilities, along with a mutual understanding and accommodation of each other's workload.
Parents have rich opportunities to learn how to seize any available time to build closer bonds with their children.
Second, the difficulties of navigating work and family can lead us to re-evaluate our priorities.
While our jobs give us dignity and purpose, their more tangible achievements can cause us to work at the expense of family relationships.
A Harvard study found that close relationships - more than social class, IQ, or genes - are what keep people happy, protecting them from life's dissatisfactions, and delaying mental and physical deterioration.
It pays long-term dividends to prioritise building meaningful family bonds, which can also positively impact employee engagement and motivation.
Finally, the unfolding Covid-19 situation reminds us that we live in a world of complex uncertainties.
Hence, flexible work arrangements are not simply a stop-gap measure. Rather, they speak of the larger need for individuals, organisations and society to be agile and adaptable in adopting relevant reimagined approaches to life and work.
It is indeed encouraging that the Government is supporting flexible work arrangements to help working parents manage work and family commitments.
Raphael Zhang
Family Life Specialist
Focus on the Family Singapore
