Professional Employees, Manual Workers, and Informal Workers in Achieving Work Life Balance

Abstract

This article develops a conceptual discussion of social class and access to work life balance across professional employees, manual workers, and informal workers. It argues that the capacity to manage boundaries between work and personal life is strongly shaped by structural position in the labour system, rather than by individual choices alone. Professional employees are described as having relatively greater access to formal entitlements such as paid leave, flexible arrangements, and welfare programmes, even while facing high performance pressures. Manual workers are portrayed as constrained by rigid schedules, dependence on overtime income, and limited voice in workplace decisions. Informal workers experience blurred boundaries between work and home, enduring income insecurity and absence of formal protection. The paper highlights how gender, unpaid domestic labour, and cultural ideals of a balanced life intersect with class based differences. By linking social class, employment relations, and everyday experiences of time and rest, the article offers a conceptual frame for understanding inequalities in work life balance and for guiding future empirical research and policy design aimed at more equitable working conditions.