Work-Life Balance - An Examination

Work-life balance is on the minds of the Lattice Group, who describe themselves as a grassroots campaign to get young people to consider the issues of work-life conflicts in their own lives. Considering these are the men and women who are our emerging leaders, their voice is welcome and fresh in the discussion of work-life balance.

They have produced an excellent overview, well worth the read. They lay out the problem as such:

The current work-life model is organized around an ideal worker with immunity from family life and personal commitments. Individuals who exercise their family and personal responsibilities often cannot perform as ideal workers and suffer marginalization in the workforce as a result. Difficulty reconciling work and family life minimizes men’s involvement in family life and women’s opportunities for career advancement. Currently, the United States offers some of the least generous work-life policies of any developed nation.

After further laying out their premise, the authors then go on to examine three predominate views of balance and what proponents of these views have to say.

1. Balance is Unrealistic.


2. Balance is Good for Business.


3. Balance is a Social Responsibility.

The Lattice Group provides an examination of the issues that will make you think ... great background material for further discussion around both the boardroom and the diningroom table.