Mr John Adams – Written Evidence (LBC0002)

Submission to House of Lords COVID-19 Committee regarding impact of COVID-19 on working culture and working practices.

Introduction

I was delighted to hear of the establishment of this Committee. There are many areas of life COVID-19 will have a lasting impact on. My particular area of interest is on working culture. COVID-19 has had a huge impact on working culture as flexible and remote working have rapidly become the norm for many employees.

My background

I left full-time employment back in 2011 because I could not get the flexibility I needed to balance work and family life. This is a common complaint among women but I stand out for being a man (not only a man, but a Generation X man). I initially worked part-time but after a while this did not suit me or my family so I went on to become a stay at home dad and then started blogging about my experiences at https://dadbloguk.com.

In doing so, I accidentally launched a career as a social media influencer. I now work fork my own company and fit my work around my family (two young daughters and a wife). I was recently selected to work with LinkedIn as ‘Changemaker,’ campaigning to make flexible working available to everyone with caring responsibilities. Among other things, I am also a contributor to the DaddyJobs.co.uk flexible working website.

Thoughts on COVID-19 and potential long-term impact

COVID-19 has had an enormous impact on working practices. In turn this has had an impact on the domestic life of many families.

Main impacts:

• Fewer people commuting so less cars on the road and less pollution.
• Fathers, in particular, have been much more present at home. In just two months, The Fatherhood Institute reported a 58% increase in the amount of unpaid childcare being done by men as a result of men adopting flexible working practices (See here: http://www.fatherhoodinstitute.org/2020/mens-childcare-up-58-during-lockdown-makes-case-for-father-friendly-jobs/ )
• Research carried out by academics at Plymouth University found many employees had more time for exercise, were eating more healthily and had a better work life balance thanks to increased levels of home working (see here: https://www.plymouth.ac.uk/news/survey-suggests-covid-19-could-have-long-term-benefits-for-family-life )

In summary, parents were rushing around less and fathers have been present at home so men have taken on more of the domestic burden usually carried by women. There have also been environmental benefits.

It may be unrealistic to expect all employees to work from home permanently. That said, if we can retain flexible working for office-based staff after the COVID-19 crisis has passed and if it becomes the norm for people to work from home two or three days a week wherever possible, we can hopefully cement some positive changes in place. I feel these benefits would be hugely beneficial for our society.

The benefits for women would be:

• Less of a domestic burden
• Potentially positive impact on the gender pay gap that impacts women above the age of 29

Benefits for men:

• Greater involvement in family life and childcare
• Less stress because of reduced commute

Benefits for employers:

• A more agile, dynamic, flexible workforce
• A more efficient workforce (The Fatherhood Institute research suggested that some of the time previously wasted commuting is instead spent working)
• A more loyal and happier workforce
• Reduced travel costs and potentially reduced real estate costs
• (Hopefully) A more or at least equally productive workforce

Benefits for everyone:

• Better work / life balance
• Better for the environment
• Reduced business costs
• A more equal society with men doing more at home and women having more opportunities to work (not just women, this presents opportunities for the disabled and older workers too).

I would be happy to discuss these issues and thoughts with the Committee in future if it wished to explore them further.

Regardless, I wish the Committee all the very best in this very interesting field. While COVID-19 has had a terrible cost, it does also present opportunities to make the work a fairer more equitable place and I am glad they are being explored.

2 July 2020