KEY POINTS:
The fourth instalment in a nzherald.co.nz summer business series about the reading habits of a selection of our prominent businesspeople.
AUT University employment relations lecturer Dr Ray Markey read a review copy of The Labour Market Ate My Babies and liked it so much he's going to use it in his university classes -- the title alone is a guaranteed attention grabber.
Examining how modern work patterns are affecting family life, author Barbara Pocock interviewed working parents and children, finding many were unhappily trapped in a cycle of work and consumerism, he said.
People are working longer hours to buy the products they want, said Markey.
"When that starts to intrude on families, people start to make up for it in ways which are commodified."
Parents often feel guilty about time away from their families so they buy things for kids to make up for it or they try to have "quality time" with good holidays, said Markey.
"That means they need more money, so they've got to work more. So it becomes a whole cycle."
Markey said he found the interviews with the children particularly interesting.
In one a 12-year-old talks about how he likes his dad working because his dad's friends work at the same place, but misses the family having time together.
Another primary school age child didn't like the fact he never saw his dad because he left for work early in the morning and got home after his son was in bed.
Sobering reading which Markey recommends to employers and employees alike.
"I think what it does is really bring into focus the issues that we've got with increased working time, especially in countries like New Zealand and Australia," he said.
Business owners need to look at the demands they make on staff, how they organise work and what part they can play in childcare, said Markey.
"It doesn't necessarily mean employers getting less work out of people, it just means organising it smarter."
He said individuals also need to assess what they are spending money on and how they organise their lives.
Markey said this applies to teenagers, who need to examine their work and spending habits.
"One of the arguments is that young people are working towards a trap because, if anything, they are more materialistic than their parents," he said.
"I see that with students at university. It's not that they need the jobs for food -- they need it for other things, consumable things."
Markey will be escaping the texts of academia over the Christmas break with the latest John Le Carre novel.
* Dr Ray Markey has been professor of employment relations at Auckland University of Technology since 2005. Prior to this he was associate professor in industrial relations at the University of Wollongong, Australia.
Recommends: The Labour Market Ate My Babies -- Work, Children and a Sustainable Future. By Barbara Pocock.
