To mark work-life balance week, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and the Work Foundation have both published studies on the issue.

The Joseph Rowntree report found that the average family today needs 1.5 earners to make ends meet.

And according to the Work Foundation, British business has accepted that work-life balance policies are here to stay and do provide business benefits.

A spokeswoman for the DTI told ePolitix.com: "The new rights to request flexible working which came into force in April as part of the Employment Act show the government's commitment to work life balance. Those new rights will provide a route for working parents to balance successful careers and healthy home life."

Forum Response: The Joseph Rowntree Foundation

Professor Shirley Dex of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, said: "The strategy of having two earners in a family appears to be effective in reducing risk and providing the standard of living to which most low and middle income families aspire.

"Most couples have found ways to juggle their work and family life, even if it means 'shift parenting' and sacrificing time they could spend together so one or other can be at home with the children.

"Even so, this research programme found a lot of tired parents, a large amount of dissatisfaction, and a desire to cut down working hours, or even give up paid work altogether.

"Clearly the preferences expressed by many mothers run counter to the direction of government 'welfare to work' policies since they would prefer to do less, not more, work while their children are young.

"Despite the plethora of new legislation and policy on families and work - and the need for new employment laws to bed down - there are areas where the government needs to consider further intervention alongside its targets to eliminate child poverty.

"Long working hours that routinely breach the EU directive and pressure to work on Sundays and at weekends deserve particular consideration because they are areas where parents express the strongest levels of dissatisfaction.

"Parents' values about childcare were very evident in the choices they made. Since many parents, especially in lower socio-economic groups, say they strongly prefer parental or informal care, the government's focus on formal provision is likely to face difficulties persuading the very parents it most wants to influence to take paid work."

Forum Response: The Work Foundation

Nick Isles, deputy director of advocacy at the Work Foundation, said: "The idea that flexible working should only benefit the employer still pervades the thinking of too many UK managers. Survey after survey and case study after case study shows that those employers who instigate and apply policies that improve the work-life balance of their employees see bottom line benefits for their organisations.

"It is reassuring to see so many organisations moving into the 21st Century and adopting an enlightened approach to managing their people. In a service sector dominated economy like the UK's, workers and their discretionary labour have become the most important factor of production. It's therefore important that we don't wear them out too soon."

Forum Response: Nationwide

Keith Astill, head of corporate personnel at Nationwide, told ePolitix.com: "Is it possible to have a successful career and a fulfilling personal life? These days, most of us have to try and juggle the pressures of work with the conflicting demands of home.

"Pay isn't the only thing people are interested in when looking for work. More and more people want flexibility and work life balance is an important factor in deciding which jobs they apply for. The 2003 UK Graduate Careers survey showed that graduates value flexibility more than pay when looking at prospective employers.

"A traditional nine to five working arrangement doesn't suit everyone. The ideal balance can vary at different stages throughout life. Early on in their career, people may be happy to work longer hours then take a break to go travelling. Further down the line, they may want to reduce their working hours to give them greater flexibility in how and when they work in order to fit in family commitments.

"The success of any organisation is in attracting and retaining good employees. This is in part achieved by helping to foster a healthy work life balance for employees - thus reducing stress that might otherwise contribute to sick leave.

"The introduction of flexible policies has proved to be a 'win win' situation for many companies. It can help improve morale, reduce absenteeism and turnover as well as increase productivity. New mums, dads and adoptive parents are getting better pay and leave under employment laws - and firms have to seriously consider requests to work more flexibly from parents with young or disabled children.

"Meanwhile, people without children are also looking to find a balance between work and life for a whole host of other reasons such as taking time out from their career to pursuing hobbies or travel.

"Nationwide Building Society was a founding member of Employers for Work Life Balance which was formed in March 2000 by the government. The work of this organisation has now been taken on by Investors In People and the Work Foundation. The Society offers some of the most balanced employee policies in the UK for which it has won numerous awards. As a result, employee turnover at the society is almost half that of other major financial organisations.

"We aim to give all employees the opportunity to strike a balance between their responsibilities at work and outside it. This flexibility means we can retain our talented employees which in turn helps us to meet our business objectives."

Forum Response:Association of Chartered Certified Accountants

John Davies, head of Business Law at ACCA, said: "ACCA supports, in principle, the idea of family-friendly policies in the workplace. The proposal to enhance tax and National Insurance Contribution exemptions for employer-sponsored child care has the potential to offer particular benefits to both sides.""But our primary concern is that many smaller firms, which may rely on a small number of key workers for the day-to-day running of their operations, will not be in the best position to accommodate these new worker rights.

"Small firms continue to feel that they are held back by the burden of complying with government regulations. The rate at which new compliance burdens are being brought in, many of which introduce new liabilities or which add to the cost of insurance, remains a matter of serious concern to small businesses.

"The government must recognise that 99 per cent of businesses in the UK are small firms which may experience considerable difficulty in coping with long or frequent absences of key personnel. It must acknowledge that what large firms may be able to do as regards flexible working practices should not become the basis for deciding what small firms are required to do. "

Forum Response: Federation of Small Businesses

David Bishop, deputy head of press and parliamentary affairs at the FSB, told ePolitix.com: "The FSB recognises that with a seven day a week, 24 hours a day economy, it makes sense for everyone to consider how they can combine their work with their home responsibilities, providing that changes to working patterns do not penalise businesses."

Forum Response: Usdaw

Sir Bill Connor, general secretary of Usdaw, told ePolitix.com: "Work-life balance issues are high on Usdaw's agenda. We represent over 325,000 members, over half of whom are women.

"Our members are concentrated in the retail sector, which is characterised by atypical working hours. We know the difficulties our members' face in trying to juggle the demands of work with family and other commitments because we've asked them.

"In late November 2002 we conducted a survey of over 7,000 Usdaw activists. They told us that there is enormous pressure to work weekends, late nights and early mornings as shops are opening later and longer. We also learnt that many of our members are juggling two or more part time jobs in order to make ends meet.

"We welcome the steps government have taken to enable parents to better balance work and life. However, employers also have an important role to play.

"We have negotiated agreements with employers that allow staff to take paid time off to attend their child's medical appointments, a facility to take annual leave at short notice as single days for family emergencies and paid leave to meet family commitments."

Forum Response: Barclays

Niccola Swan, director of equality and diversity at Barclays, told ePolitix.com: "A truly equal and diverse work environment is a business priority for Barclays. We want to break the glass-ceiling for senior women and have leading-edge policies that encourage people from all backgrounds to want to work for Barclays and enjoy the experience when they do.

"This meant setting some really tough targets and while we are making significant progress in some areas, embedding work-life balance into our culture is crucial to us succeeding in meeting some of the more challenging ones."

Forum Response: Institute of Directors

Ruth Lea, head of the Policy Unit at the Institute of Directors, told ePolitix.com: "Everyone should be able to balance their work lives and home and family lives satisfactorily. British employers know this and are some of the most flexible in the world.

"Business is certainly not against work-life balance. But, very flexible though the British employer is, there are clearly limits to the flexibility of working practices he/she can accommodate and employees should recognise this."