Introduction
Work-life balance has always been a concern of those interested in the quality of working life and its relation to broader quality of life. Work-life balance has come to the fore in contemporary discussion about work and stress largely because in affluent societies the excessive demands of work are perceived to present a distinctive issue that needs to be addressed.

It is only some twenty-five years ago that pundits were warning that advances in technology would lead to the threat of mass unemployment - or the promise of a life of increased leisure for most in western (post-) industrial society. So what has changed? It is possible to identify a set of factors that have brought the issue of work-life balance to the forefront of human resources policy debates.

Interest in Work Life Balance
Three broad sets of overlapping influences can be identified, those concerned with developments at work that might be seen as causing the problem of work-life imbalance, those relating to life outside work that might be viewed as consequences of work-life imbalance and those concerning individuals and their lives that give rise to the need to address the challenge of work-life balance as a contemporary policy issue.

• Work Pressure
• Quality of Life
• Generation X

Much of the general analysis about the causes and consequences of work-life imbalance is speculative and based on limited convincing evidence. We need to learn more in particular about the consequences of imbalance on family and community and on changing values among younger workers. It is also notable that debates about work-life balance often occur without any clear and consistent definition of what we mean by work-life balance.

Next week, Psychology & Behaviour in the Work-Life Equation, be aware of how work-life balance is viewed.