Firms could, and should, be doing more to help their employees tackle the work-life balance, researchers from the University of Cambridge and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) will tell a conference in London today (Monday 17 June).

At the event, which has been organised by the Cambridge-MIT Institute (CMI), speakers will argue that the failure of businesses to keep pace with the changing nature of work and the workforce is holding back their ability to innovate and compete - and having a negative impact on society.

Too many jobs, they will argue, still seem designed for men who are the sole breadwinners in their family. But there has been a great increase in the last 30 years in the numbers of working women and families where earners also have to care for children or elderly relatives. So the need for employers to work in partnership with their staff, and for working hours and practices to be much more flexible, is paramount.

At the conference, which takes place at the TUC Congress Centre in London, Professor Tom Kochan from MIT, and Professor Susan Eaton of Harvard University, will present new case studies of US businesses that have introduced family-friendly policies - including on-site cr

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