Work-life balance: working for whom?

Abstract: Work-life balance policies are important in relation to employee
stress levels. This paper examines work-life balance and exibility through
the dual lens of gender and the body. The paper observes how notions of
?exibility? are applied dierently to mothers and fathers. We observe how
social expectations about professionally employed mothers and fathers, and
work-life balance, are gendered. Men may thus be discouraged from working
exibly, while mothers who work long hours may be criticised. We argue
that the pressure to organise work-life balance, according to embodied and
gendered social norms, is a cause of st ress to both fathers and mothers who are
employed at a managerial level