In a state where the family has such constitutional and social importance, it's ironic how little is done to support family needs. While the new tax-free allowance for "home carers" goes some way to recognising the value of parents working in the home, all parents realise we've a long way to go.

With new regulations for childcare and developments in training, it's arguable that dropping kids off in creches and with childminders in the morning imposes a little less anxiety than it did 10 years ago. Nonetheless, finding the wherewithal to cope with the stressful demands of work and home can prove impossible.

A study carried out by the Family Policy Studies Centre and published by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation in Britain last month shows that the pressure of juggling childcare arrangements and work commitments leads to depression and stress. Couples are becoming alienated, and there is little or no time for leisure or relaxation.

Ceridwen Roberts, director of the centre, says: "Public attitudes must shift so it is not acceptable for employers to make staff work long, anti-social hours. The government must set a legislative framework to support employees and encourage employers."

A similar sort of framework from our own government is also urgently needed, as more and more employees complain of stress arising out of the difficulty of balancing work and family responsibilities.

Recognising the problems this causes in the workplace, employers are increasingly looking at family-friendly initiatives as a solution.

Among them, the Bank of Ireland, the civil service, Dublin Corporation and pharmaceutical company Organon (Ireland), have found that implementing family-friendly policies is not only effective from a business point of view, but essential.

Les Richards is human resources manager with Organon (Ireland). "Our priority here is that we've a job to get done, and done by people. So if we can create a system that suits them, then everyone wins. "To us it makes good business sense. If people have difficulties reconciling family and work needs they end up stressed, and sometimes leave. "Losing an employee is a huge loss: you have to find someone to replace them, train that person up, there's the cost of that involved, and the loss of work done in the meantime. It just makes more sense to put in place policies which means you hang on to the people you have."

A few years ago, the Employment Equality Agency (now subsumed into the Equality Authority published a report, Introducing Family Friendly Initiatives in the Workplace. Among the benefits it cited for companies implementing family-friendly policies were increased staff loyalty and employee retention. Organisations with such policies "attract a wider range of potential employees, enabling employers to draw on the skills and qualifications of the best available", the report said.

With a shortage of workers in some parts of the economy, this latter is a particularly important issue for employers. A year ago, Dublin Corporation set up a working group to look at ways to promote an employee-friendly ethos. "It's about trying to make work more appealing," says Phil Brown, chairperson of the working group.

The corporation offers its employees a range of options including job-sharing, flexitime and adoptive and parental leave. It also has a workplace creche at its headquarters. The Bank of Ireland has similar initiatives in place, as part of their overall objective to make the workplace "as flexible and progressive as possible, fostering a sense of community among employees", they say.

Among the initiatives in the civil service is a relatively new development known as "term-time leave". A number of departments are participating in this scheme, whereby parents opt to stop working during school summer holidays - with a reduction, naturally, in their overall income. Parents who tend to panic when the days start to grow longer can imagine that this scheme has proven very popular.

At Organon, where approximately 30 to 35 per cent of the workforce avails of the family-friendly initiatives, a recent development is appealing to a lot of parents.

"A lot of our employees are now working their hours over two weeks, doing maybe three long days one week and four long days the next week, so that they have one or two days off during the week to dedicate to family needs," Richards says.

"Organisations these days can no longer afford to neglect this area, there's too much competition and if the options aren't there, employees will just walk."