As the White House convened a day-long summit on working families with a heavy focus on work-life balance , I remembered a major survey last year that took issue with the prevailing notion that juggling work and home life is mainly a woman 's issue . According to a survey by the Pew Research Center , 56 % of working mothers said it was very or somewhat difficult to balance the responsibilities of their jobs and their families ; 50 % of working fathers , nearly as many as working mothers , said the very same thing . And when it comes to who is doing more of the telecommuting , another survey also challenges the longstanding belief that it 's mainly working moms . By a wide margin , more men than women are working not from the office , but from home , a business center or another location , according to the national survey by Flex+Strategy Group/Work+Life Fit Inc. , which works with organizations and individuals to create flexible workplaces . Nearly one-third of the 556 full-time employed adults who were surveyed said they do most of their work remotely , and nearly three out of four of those telecommuters were men . Why do these findings matter ? Because too often , when work-life balance is discussed among policymakers , in the media , even online , the general sense is that it 's primarily a concern of women , especially working mothers . `` The significance of the research is that it proves that the way we think and talk about work-life flexibility does n't track with reality , '' said Cali Yost , chief executive officer and founder of Flex+Strategy Group/Work+Life Fit Inc. `` As a result , both business and people are n't reaping the rewards of a more thoughtful , deliberate , strategic approach to managing work and life . '' And when these misperceptions are held by C-suite executives , they can dramatically impact how far organizations might go to create more flexible workplaces for their employees . `` An everyone issue '' Consider a recent analysis of interviews with nearly 4,000 executives worldwide conducted by Harvard Business School students from 2008 to 2013 . Both male and female executives considered the `` tension between work and family to be primarily a woman 's problem , '' according to the report . `` As Rebecca Traister recently pointed out in the New Republic , when we 're trying to solve the problem of not enough women in the upper echelons of business , tech , and politics , we always direct these conversations at women themselves , '' wrote Jessica Grose for Slate earlier this year . `` But the problem here is n't women 's lack of ambition or , necessarily , their lack of support at home . The issue is that we need to get men to acknowledge work-life conflicts as an everyone issue , not a women 's issue or a mom 's issue , '' wrote Grose . Craig Cincotta , vice president for brand communications for Porch.com , an online home improvement network , said in today 's 24/7 connected world , work-life balance becomes an issue for nearly everyone , women and men . WATCH : Why Zuckerberg 's sister says to log off . `` In my experience people often feel the need to be accessible at all times to demonstrate their commitment to the job , '' said Cincotta . `` Answering e-mail at 3 a.m. becomes a badge of honor . When that becomes the societal norm , it makes it hard for people to find a healthy work-life balance . '' Jennifer Styles , a co-owner and managing partner of The Workshop Collective , a marketing , public relations , design and Web development firm , said work-life balance is an issue for both genders , and not just working parents . `` I am not a parent . I am a co-owner of a company with over 20 employees ( who are my family ) and I feel guilty not 'working ' all the time or being readily available for my team during all hours of the day , '' said Styles on Facebook . `` I try not to look at my phone after 9 p.m. but it is a challenge . ... Most business owners do n't have the choice to not respond to their team/clients in a timely fashion . '' Weakened commitment to flexibility ? After Marissa Mayer of Yahoo ! banned working from home shortly after taking over as the company 's chief executive officer , many women and men wondered if more companies might follow her lead and move in the direction of less flexibility as opposed to more . The results of another survey by Flex+Strategy Group/Work+Life Fit Inc. show that , at least as far as employees ' perceptions are concerned , that might be the case . While 97 % of those surveyed said they had some flexibility at work , more than four out of ten said they perceive a `` waning commitment '' to flexibility at their company , according to survey results released in May . In addition , only 40 % of those surveyed who had work-life flexibility received any guidance or training from their employer on how to use work-life flexibility most effectively . What all this means , said Yost , the expert on workplace flexibility , is that the majority of workers with flexibility `` are flying by the seat of their pants and are not optimizing the flexibility they have to benefit themselves and the business . '' `` Everyone loses ... including women , '' she added . No `` one size fits all '' approach . Cincotta of Porch.com says as a manager and leader within his company , he wants to help people find work-life balance -- or life-work balance , as he thinks we should call it . But he says it 's an issue that each person has to define for himself or herself . `` We can not expect a 'one size fits all ' approach to the solution , '' said Cincotta . `` Maybe it is working from home one day a week , perhaps it is a commitment not to check mail on the weekend . Whatever the solution people fundamentally develop as their own , they need to identify and respect the boundaries required to make it effective . '' Expanding the conversation about work-life balance to include men and people without children can lead to more workplace changes that benefit more employees , men and women I talked with say . It can also provide more opportunities for working parents , especially mothers who would choose to continue their professional paths if they and their partners had more flexibility to balance the demands at home . `` Having a partner split the child-rearing duties enables you to juggle your art/career/work with the responsibilities and fun that come with raising a child , '' said Amy Glazer , who is head of the theater program at San Jose State University and the mom of a college-age son . `` The beauty of actually dividing the parenting labor , although it 's chaotic , is that when the child grows up , as my child has -- we both still have careers to come back to and the nest is too busy to feel empty . '' How important is work-life balance to you ? Share your thoughts in the comments or tell Kelly Wallace on Twitter or CNN Living on Facebook .
The White House is holding a summit Monday on issues affecting working families . Working fathers , like working mothers , find it hard to balance work and family , survey says . More men than women are telecommuting , according to another survey . Work-life balance is an `` everyone issue '' not a women 's or moms ' issue , says one writer .