It’s time we began to recognize a different type of pollution that truly affects us all – social pollution.

Companies can unwittingly pollute their own organizations and society through practices that prevent their employees from fulfilling duties outside of work. When Canadian workers struggle to juggle competing priorities, children and families suffer, the workers themselves suffer, and their organizations inevitably suffer as well. The effects trickle far and wide.


Conflict affects organizations

Two out of three employees suffer moderate or high work-to-family conflict1

Canadians with high work-to-family conflict are more likely to report1:

  • job stress and burnout (6.0x than low-conflict)
  • intent to turnover (2.8x)
  • absenteeism (1.3x)
  • poorer physical health (2.3x)
  • lower job satisfaction (67% lower than low-conflict)
  • being less committed to their employer (29% less than low-conflict)

Absenteeism alone costs $3-6 billion annually to employers1


Conflict affects children, families and tax-payers

53% have fewer children, delay having a family or have none because of work-life conflict1

Related Statistics – Children brought up amidst increased family arguments are at higher risk of:2

  • unemployment (2.3x)
  • major depression (2.7x)
  • alcohol abuse/dependence (3.9x)
  • adult antisocial behaviour (2.7x)

$7 billion spent annually in government programs to remedy family breakdown3


1 “Work-life conflict in Canada in the new millenium – Report 6,” L.Duxbury (Sprott School of Business) and C. Higgins (Richard Ivey School of Business), 2009. The sample (31,571 people) for the National Study on Balancing Work and Family was drawn from 100 Canadian companies with 500+ employees.
2 “Impact of family arguments and violence,” Pardis et al., J Am. Acad. Child. Adolesc. Psychiatry, 2009;48(3):290-298. Evidence for increased family arguments was gathered at age 15 and the adult outcomes were recorded at age 30. Sample size: 346 children in New England, US.
3 “Private choices, public costs: How failing families cost us all,” Institute of Marriage and Family Canada, 2009.