Working spouses fine with their work-life balance: survey

Bangalore: Getting married is no more a reason for dissatisfaction in the work life. Married working couples in India appear to manage the work-life tightrope well if a survey on 'Two Career Couples' by staffing major TeamLease is anything to go by.

The study polled 425 married executives working in Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Pune and Hyderabad.

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The overall satisfaction index of married working couples in the survey was 87 percent, although a majority 54 percent of respondents feel they were weekend parents, with Pune leading at 96 percent and Bangalore at 79 percent.

On the prospect of estrangement among working couples, 34 percent felt that since there are two careers the chances of a divorce is high while 32 percent felt it was not possible for women to pursue their career with the same velocity after a child break. Nearly 77 percent of the men polled said they shared child-rearing responsibilities with their spouses while 52 percent were not willing to follow their spouse to other cities for their career.

Do working hours have a bearing on marital relationship? Participants in all cities, except New Delhi, agreed that working in odd shift hours impacted marital relationships. And, about 48 percent polled felt the quality of work-life balance would improve if spouses were working in the same organization, as opposed to 21 percent who thought otherwise.

"This survey highlights the bitter-sweet implications of two careers. The stress on marriages and childcare is often perceived to blunt the economic upside. The continued difficulties for women looking to re-enter the workforce after a child break and the high unwillingness to move cities to follow their spouses' careers are the challenges for women spouses in the Indian workplace," said Surabhi Mathur, general manager, permanent staffing of Teamlease.