Abortion link to work fears

WOMEN faced with unplanned pregnancies worry most about their ability to continue in work and may opt for abortion on the strength of those fears.

A seminar to be held this week will hear that one in five women aged between 25 and 34 have experienced a crisis pregnancy, and for many of them their job was a key factor in deciding how to handle the crisis.

“Our research indicates that there are strong linkages between parenting, pregnancy decision-making and the workplace,” said Caroline Spillane, director of the Crisis Pregnancy Agency which commissioned research on the issue from the Centre for Gender and Women’s Studies (CGWS) at Trinity College Dublin.

“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 socioeconomic groups and business sectors.”

The seminar, which takes place on Thursday at the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland in Dublin, will be opened by Minister for Social and Family Affairs Martin Cullen, and brings together Irish and international experts who will outline the latest research and provide practical case studies for participants.

It is billed as being of particular interest to policy-makers, employers, unions, human resources executives, academics and government officials.

Dr Maryann Valiulis, director of the CGWS, said the issue was of national importance.

“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.”

Among the speakers will be representatives of the Equality Authority and British-based, non-profit consultancy, The Work Foundation, as well as Dr Rosaline Chait Barnett of Brandeis University in the US and Dr Aline D. Masuda of the IESE Business School in Barcelona.

The line-up also includes Eddie Sullivan, secretary- general in the Department of Finance; Bob Lee, chief executive of the Great Place to Work Institute Ireland; Freida Murray, equality opportunities manager with the ESB; and Lucy Fallon-Byrne, director of the National Centre for Partnership and Performance.

www.crisispregnancy.ie