Time Bomb: Work, rest and play in Australia today

Description

Time poverty is a problem for many Australian households and work is the main culprit. Australians start work young, and we are working more, and longer into old age. While maximising our productivity and enhancing our professional skills, we must also raise our children well, care for our aged, be involved in our community and shrink our carbon footprint - a footprint shaped by the patterns and habits of our work, social obligations and households. What is it costing Australians to try and do it all? And what is it costing our families and communities? Incisive and thought-provoking, Time Bomb throws light on poor urban planning, workplace laws and practices, care obligations and other issues that rob us of time and put our households under pressure. And it looks at how work affects our response to the greatest concern of our time - our environmental challenges.

Barbara Pocock is the inaugural director of the Center for Work + Life at the University of South Australia. Natalie Skinner is a research fellow at the Center for Work + Life, managing the Australian Work and Life Index. Philippa Williams is a research fellow at the Centre for Work + Life, managing the Work, Home, and Community Project.

"["Time Bomb"] holds a mirror up to our busy working lives and invites us to question what work gives and what it takes. Highly recommended for what it illuminates about Australian life today--and how we might live and work better." --Geraldine Doogue, broadcaster and journalist "A must read for politicians and policy makers who want to help Australians live better lives--and an antidote to the pressures that many of us face or create for others." --The Hon Jay Weatherill, Premier of South Australia "Australia once led the world on a decent working time regime, but not any more. This readable book shows how much this matters--and points to new ways forward with ideas that are relevant in Australia as well as many other parts of the world." --Sharan Burrow, General Secretary, International Confederation of Trade Unions, Brussells "Sat Nov 23 20:25:28 2024 holds a mirror up to our busy working lives and invites us to question what work gives and what it takes. Highly recommended for what it illuminates about Australian life today--and how we might live and work better." --Geraldine Doogue, broadcaster and journalist