Workplace Policy Big Factor in Crisis Pregnancy Decisions
Crisis Pregnancy Agency and Centre for Gender & Women’s Studies To Host Workplace Seminar
Employers and policy makers will be attending a seminar, jointly hosted by the Crisis Pregnancy Agency and the Centre for Gender & Women’s Studies, TCD, on the importance of workplace policy in influencing crisis pregnancy decisions, it was announced today.
1 in 5 women between the ages of 25-34 have experienced a crisis pregnancy. When women are faced with a crisis pregnancy, their decisions about whether to continue with the pregnancy and whether to continue in work if they decide to become parents are significantly influenced by workplace policy and culture. This is according to recent research commissioned by the Crisis Pregnancy Agency and Centre for Gender & Women’s Studies, TCD, which also is the main theme of its seminar, titled “The Workplace of the Future: Reconciling Pregnancy, Parenting and Employment”, taking place on Thursday, November 8 at the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland.
Ms. Caroline Spillane, Director of the Crisis Pregnancy Agency (CPA), stressed that companies need to think more about their workplace policy and culture around this area. “Our research indicates that there are strong linkages between parenting, pregnancy decision-making and the workplace. Workers need to be supported to allow them to combine employment with family and personal commitments; this is what underpins work-life balance. Moreover, this is an issue that affects workers across the full gamut of socio-economic groups and business sectors. The seminar will focus on this and facilitate discussion and debate on what is a vital issue for women and their partners but also business generally.”
Dr. Maryann Valiulis, Senior Lecturer and the Director of the Centre for Gender and Women’s Studies (CGWS), TCD, said: “Work life balance and diversity policies in the workplace have been identified as key to Ireland’s future economic success. This seminar aims to bring together recent evidence and thinking around the workplace of the future, women’s’ participation in the labour force, crisis pregnancy and work life balance policies for men and women.”
The seminar, which will be opened by Mr. Martin Cullen, T.D., Minister for Social and Family Affairs, will bring together Irish and international experts who will outline the latest research and allow participants to learn from practical case studies. Speakers will present trends and evidence in the areas of: economic sustainability and labour force participation; challenges to implementing flexible workplace policies and models of best practice as well as national and international policy developments in reconciling work and family life. The seminar will be of interest to policy makers, employers, unions, human resource executives, academics and government officials.
The first session of the seminar, called ‘Organisational Culture, Employment Policy and Family Formation – International and Cross-Cultural Research’, aims to explore current trends in the labour market, family formation, employment policy and social discourse. Speakers include Ms. Caroline Spillane, Director of the Crisis Pregnancy Agency, Dr. Carol Baxter, Head of Development at the Equality Authority, Dr. Stephen Bevan, Director of Research at The Work Foundation, Dr. Rosalind Chait Barnett, Director of the Community, Families & Work Programme at the Women’s Studies Research Centre at Brandeis University, Massachussetts, and Dr. Aline D. Masuda, researcher at the International Centre of Work and Family at IESE Business School in Barcelona.
Session 2, titled ‘Reconciling Work and Family Life Leading Initiatives and Models of Best Practice’, will present several employer initiatives and case studies that have responded to new and emerging issues in the workforce. Speakers include Mr. Eddie Sullivan, Secretary General in the Department of Finance, Mr. Bob Lee, founder and CEO of the Great Place to Work Institute Ireland, Ms. Freida Murray, Equality Opportunities Manager with the ESB, Ms. Lucy Fallon-Byrne, Director of the National Centre for Partnership and Performance, Dr. Maryann Valiulis, Senior Lecturer and the Director of the Centre for Gender and Women’s Studies (CGWS), TCD.
For further information on the seminar please visit: www.crisispregnancy.ie/whatsnew.php or www.tcd.ie/cgws or email Jennifer Redmond jennifer.redmond@tcd.ie
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For further information, please contact:
Q4 PR01-4751444
Jackie Gallagher 087-2371838
