The impact of Great Barrier Reef Pilotage work on wives and families

Results and Discussion

3.0 The Study Sample

A total of 35 wives/partners of Great Barrier Reef Pilots participated in the study, giving a response rate of 60%. This response rate was more favourable than in similar studies involving responses to postal surveys by the wives of commercial airline pilots (56%) (Cooper & Sloan 1985) and wives of Australian seafarers (40%) (Foster and Cacioppe 1986). However, it was less favourable than the 70% response from the wives of off shore oil rig workers (Taylor et al. 1985). Participation in the study was voluntary and anonymous.

Table 1 provides the socio-demographic characteristics of the respondents. Approximately 49% of the sample were aged 50 years or younger. The majority of respondents were currently married.

Table 1

Demographic Characteristics of the Sample

The women participating in the study were well educated, with just over 30% having a university or postgraduate qualification. The majority of the sample were currently employed (approximately 69%). The number of wives employed was higher than broadly comparable Australian population data indicating 58% of women aged between 15 and 64 are in the workforce (Australian Bureau of Statistics 1998). The percentage of the present wives employed was also higher than data from earlier studies indicating 54% of wives of British airline pilots (Cooper & Sloan 1985), 50% of wives of Australian seafarers (Foster & Cacioppe 1986 ), and 33% of off shore oil wives worked (Taylor et al. 1985). The older age category of the present wives and absence of young children in the present sample (only 23% of the sample have children aged 18 years or younger), may partly account for differences between the studies in the percentage of working wives.

From the qualitative data it was evident that for many of the women, participation in the paid workforce was directly related to deregulation and a consequent drop in family income. Several women felt they had, in fact, been ‘forced’ to return to the workforce to supplement the family income. Some of the older women who had been out of the paid work-force for 20 or more years, had found this return difficult and were unable to return to jobs they had been trained for, but now had to work in low skilled employment. Despite the mostly forced, rather than voluntary re-entry into the workforce by the present wives, some positive aspects of workforce participation by wives in other home and away situations have previously been reported. For instance, working wives of airline pilots tend to be less vulnerable to various forms of stress and life dissatisfaction than their non-working counterparts. The opportunity to pursue one’s career and achievements leads to greater overall life and job satisfaction in the working wives of airline pilots (Cooper & Sloan 1985 ).

A number of women believed that the impact of their partners home and away lifestyle was ‘much greater’ when they were younger and had young children. The greater level of stress for the younger family is consistent with previous studies of marine pilots wives (Berger 1984) and Australian seafarers wives (Foster & Cacioppe 1986 ). Additionally, results from studies on other home and away occupations have shown younger wives tend to be more susceptible than older wives to symptoms of anxiety and depressionassociated with IHS (Rigg & Cosgrove 1994; Taylor et al. 1985).

4.0 INDUSTRY SPECIFIC ISSUES

Respondents were asked a series of 20 questions that examined their perceptions of their husband/partners work. On the basis of factor analysis three sub-scales were identified.

4.1 Concern for the physical and mental stress on partner.

This sub-scale comprised 9 items. These items and their frequencies are described in Table 2. Respondents were asked to "rate each statement in terms of the degree of concern it caused them".

Table 2

Distribution of scores on the nine items comprising the measure of concern for the physical and mental stress of partner

Missing values *n=1; ** n= 3.

The physical risks and fatigue associated with piloting work were factors of concern to approximately 70% of the respondents. Sixty percent were concerned about the levels of stress associated with piloting. Approximately half of the sample were concerned about the mental demands made upon their partners; the amount of leisure time their partner received; the adequacy of their partners living conditions while they are away; and the impact that piloting work has upon their partner’s health. The women were less concerned about the physical demands being made upon their partners and the adequacy of rest periods between work.

A number of women pointed out that the stress their partners were experiencing was, they believed, largely attributable to deregulation and the split between organisations. This was considered by at least two women to have seriously damaged their partners’ health. A number of women also related the levels of stress and exhaustion their partners were experiencing to increased stress within the family. Deregulation and corporate changes have been shown previously to increase subjective ratings of stress and depression in commercial airline pilots, with implications for family life, health and safety (Little et al. 1990).

The women were also very concerned about the safety of their husbands/partners when they were away at sea. Several women described in considerable detail the dangers that their husbands/partners faced as Great Barrier Reef pilots and the types of accidents which have occurred. Levels of concern appear to rise during inclement weather.

4.1.1 Construction of the Index

Factor analysis was used to group the 20 industry specific items. The index was constructed on the following basis: women who expressed "very, definitely or generally no concern" scored 0 and those who expressed concern were scored 1. Scores were then summed to provide a count of the number of items women were concerned about. Three respondents did not express concern about any items. However, more than half the respondents were concerned about five or more of the items. Seven respondents were concerned about all nine items. The reliability of the index as determined by Cronbach’s alpha was 0.92.

4.2 Concern for Long Term Financial Issues

This sub-scale comprised six items. The item content and distribution of responses across response categories are presented in Table 3.

Table 3

Distribution of scores on the six items comprising the measure of concern for long term financial issues

Missing values *n=1; ** n=2.

Financial issues were of central concern to these women. The changes in income structure were of concern to 94% of the women. Similarly, other work has shown wives of airline pilots expressed a great degree of concern over resultant income changes following airline restructuring (Cooper & Sloan 1985 ). According to these authors since the wives of airline pilots (and also the present wives) virtually take on domestic responsibility for the family unit, the level of anxiety associated with changes in income levels was to be expected. The women were least concerned about the security associated with piloting work although approximately 45% of the sample expressed some degree of concern over this issue.

Concern about financial matters and particularly the consequences of changes in the structure of the industry were clearly evident in the qualitative data. The women commonly reported a decline in income, with several women commenting that they did not believe that the men were now being paid what they were worth. The women expressed considerable concern that their husbands were not sufficiently remunerated for their work, in view of the high level of skills and responsibility demanded by pilotage work in the Great Barrier Reef region. The restructuring has also increased the expenses associated with their partner’s work. For example, Great Barrier Reef pilots are now required to fund their own superannuation and income protection insurance, as well as pay their own travel and accommodation expenses. Concern was also expressed about delays pilots were experiencing being paid for work completed. These delays appear to compound problems associated with increasing costs and reduced income since competition was introduced. Concerns about money were linked to increased levels of family stress. The financial burden has led to lifestyle changes for many of the families with women having to return to the paid workforce, and some families having to borrow money or sell property to survive following deregulation.

4.2.1 Construction of the Index

The index was constructed on the following basis: women who expressed "very", "definitely" or "generally no concern" scored 0 and those who expressed being "generally", "definitely" or "very concerned" about each item were scored 1. Scores were then summed to provide a count of the number of items women were concerned about. Not surprisingly, only one respondent was not concerned about any of these items. Sixteen women were concerned about all six items. The internal reliability of this measure was assessed using Cronbach’s alpha which was 0.86 for these six items.

4.3 Concern for the Uncertainty Associated with Piloting

On the basis of the factor analysis a third sub-scale was identified comprising three items. The item content and distribution of responses across categories is presented in Table 4.

Table 4

Distribution of scores on the 3 items comprising the measure of concern for the uncertainty associated with piloting

Missing Values * n=1

Eighty-two percent of women expressed concern about the regularity of their income. The majority of women (70%) were also concerned about the uncertainty associated with how long their partner would be home between tours of duty. From the qualitative comments it appears that extended periods of time at home can heighten financial worries due to the uncertainty over when more work will become available. Several women commented that this uncertainty also made planning any social and leisure activities difficult. It was difficult to rely on their partner when they did not "know how long he would be at home". Approximately 64% of women expressed some level of concern about funds being available for recreational and leisure activities.

4.4 Additional Items

Two additional items did not load on any sub-scale. These are described in the following table.

Table 5

Distribution of scores on the two items examining competition between piloting organisations and the qualifications required for Great Barrier Reef Pilots

Missing values * n=1

The competition between piloting organisations which has come about as a direct result of restructuring in the industry was of concern to 100% of pilots wives. From the qualitative comments it seems that the competition for work has just about ‘pushed’ at least one family ‘over the edge’. It was also believed to account for some serious health problems experienced by the pilots such as high blood pressure. Indications of a higher than normal presence of elevated blood pressure have been shown in an earlier study of Australian seafarers which included a sample of the present pilots (Parker et al. 1997).

Approximately 60% of the women were also concerned about the qualifications required for entry to pilotage services. Several women believed that the lowering of qualifications increased levels of risk and that the present safety rate was, in part, due to the previously high entrance requirements. Lowered entrance qualifications have also led to a perception of a loss of prestige in the profession of Barrier Reef Pilots. Almost all of the women made the point that while piloting was once a most prestigious position, this is now not the case. One respondent linked this to the fact that her husband was no longer happy in the profession.

5.0 THE HOME AND AWAY NATURE OF PILOTAGE WORK

Respondents were asked a series of 26 questions which explored in some detail the impact of the home and away nature of pilotage work and how this affects the spouse and the family. These have been grouped into the following categories: items focusing on stress experienced by the spouse and family; methods of coping with stress during the partner’s absences; and items examining the impact of pilotage on different aspects of family life.

5.1 The Experience of Stress

Five items explicitly asked the spouse whether or not she experienced stress as a result of the home and away nature of her partners lifestyle. The item content and distribution of responses across categories is contained in the following table. Respondents were asked "How often do you….?"

Table 6

Distribution of scores across the five items examining the effects of stress on the life of the spouse and family of pilots

Missing values *n=6; **n=7

The missing values reflect women who do not have children or do not have children at home.

The majority of women appeared to experience only infrequent stress when their partner arrived home and do not believe that their children experience stress. A partner returning home, and to a lesser extent, the uncertainty over the length of time a partner will be away, appeared to cause stress at least "sometimes". Approximately one quarter of the women experience considerable stress when their partner returns; considerable stress was also related to the uncertainty associated with piloting and the duration of tours of duty. The qualitative comments indicated that some of this stress was related to the financial pressures associated with uncertainty about the next job.

The percentage of wives reporting stress on a partners return was considerably lower in the present study than the 80% figure reported by Foster and Cacioppe (1986). There are several potential explanations for this. Firstly, it is possible that the shorter periods away from home experienced by marine pilots (3 weeks) compared with those experienced by seafarers in general maritime work (8 weeks) (Foster & Cacioppe,1986) may account for the differences in the level of reported stress by wives. From the qualitative responses it appeared that those wives who had experienced both life as a wife of a seafaring husband and life as the wife of a pilot, found the shorter periods pilots spend away far more preferable. One woman believed that she saw more of her partner than couples with a partner working 9 to 5. However, another woman with young children expressed concern about the effect the home and away nature of the work was having on her partner’s relationship with their children.

Secondly, the study by Foster and Cacioppe (1986) included a group of younger women; 23% of their sample were under 30 years of age. This may account for the differences in reported stress from this source. Studies have previously shown that younger wives are more susceptible than older wives to symptoms related to IHS (Taylor et al. 1985).

5.2 Items Examining Ways of Coping with Stress

There are a number of different ways of coping with stress. Respondents were asked a series of eight items that examined some coping strategies. The item content and distributions of scores are presented in Table 7.

Table 7

Distribution of scores across the eight items examining methods of coping with a home and away lifestyle

Missing values * n=1; ** n=4; *** n=16

The majority of women (60%) admitted to sometimes having difficulty coping when their partner is away. The most commonly reported effect of this form of stress on the wives is reflected in their eating patterns. While some women (approximately 23%) tend to eat more when their partner is away, the effect on approximately 47% of women is that they eat less. Previous work by Taylor et al. (1986) found that 59% of wives of off-shore oil workers reported changes in eating patterns during their partner’s absence.

The use of social drugs, smoking and alcohol do not appear to increase when partners are away. The percentage of wives reporting the use of medication (~11%) to cope during a partner’s absence was similar to earlier findings indicating approximately 9% of wives of Australian seafarers used medication to cope with spousal absences (Foster & Cacioppe 1986 ). While the samples in both these seafaring studies were quite small, it is interesting to note that the percentage of wives using medication to cope was over twice that reported for the general Australian population.(between 3-4%) (ABS, 1995). This finding may highlight the additional levels of stress experienced by seafaring wives.

It was also evident from the present data that for a small number of women, coping, and methods of coping with separation is a very important issue. Over half the women (51.4%) reported that a support group for wives would help them cope. The formation of a support group may be an initiative which could be pursued jointly by all three pilot providers. Presently in Australia, the Australian Seafarers Assistance service provides support for seafarers and their families but this does not include pilots. One international airline has initiated a Spousal Program to acknowledge the role of wives and families in the pilots’ working environment and help the pilots become more aware of the demands placed on wives and families by their occupation (Karlins et al. 1989).

In their more detailed qualitative responses, several women pointed out that they knew what to expect from their life before they married a seafarer. They knew that they would have to cope with a life spent, at least in part, separated from their partners. In their opinion, they do cope. There is also a perception amongst a number of the women that they are very resourceful and strong themselves; coping on their own is not a major issue. One commented that a seafarer’s wife is ‘born’ not ‘made.

5.3 Items Examining the Impact of Piloting Work on aspects of Family Life

The home and away nature of Barrier Reef piloting impacts on all aspects of family life. The following eleven items examine some of these issues. Table 8 presents the item content and distributions for these eleven items.

Table 8

Distribution of scores across the eleven items examining the effects a home and away lifestyle has on wives/partners families

Missing values * n=1

Almost one quarter of the women (23%) participating in this study appeared to be concerned about the nature of their partner’s work being a risk to their relationship. This figure was somewhat less than the 42% of wives of Australian seafarers reporting concern over marital risk (Foster & Cacioppe 1986).

Approximately 47% of respondents believe that their partner’s work ‘often’ or ‘always’ limits their social life. Previous work has shown that the major cause of most arguments between wives of off shore oil workers and their partners revolved around the impact of the job on social life (Taylor et al. 1985). The disruption to social lives caused by airline schedules has also been shown to be a significant predictor of life dissatisfaction in the wives of airline pilots (Cooper & Sloan 1985). For the seafaring wife, interacting in society as sometimes single and sometimes married has been shown to lead to a fringe dwelling approach to involvement in social activities (Foster & Cacioppe 1986 ). Strategies to reduce the upheaval to social life such as rosters containing considerable forward planning (Rigg & Cosgrove 1994) are likely to be extremely difficult to implement in Great Barrier Reef pilotage work due to the unpredictable nature of work availability in the region.

For the majority of respondents however, the ‘dual’ nature of their lives; that is, sometimes being a married woman and at other times a single mother, had some benefits. Approximately 85% of women reported that the additional time they were able to spend with their partner after a tour of duty was positive, but that they also enjoyed having time to themselves when their partner was away. For 60% of the women this home and away lifestyle was stimulating to their relationships. According to one respondent "life as a continual flow of the unexpected is stimulating".

The qualitative data also highlighted another perspective. Several respondents have found that being forced back into the workforce has meant that they actually have less time to spend with their partner, because while he is at home, they are at work.

Disrupted sleeping patterns of spouses appear to be characteristic of home and away occupations. Approximately 55% of the present wives, 60% of off-shore wives (Taylor et al. 1985) and airline pilots wives (Rigg & Cosgrove 1994) reported disrupted sleep due to their husbands work. Although not able to be assessed from the present data, it is very likely that pilots who reside close to the operational region and return home more frequently (Northern and Central Queensland) may cause more disrupted sleep for wives and families, than colleagues who return home only on completion of a tour of duty (South East Queensland).

5.4 Items Examining General Areas of Concern

The women were also asked a series of three questions focusing on concern with household security, loneliness and with having to cope with crises on the own. The item content and distribution of scores are described in the following table.

Table 9

Distribution of scores across the three items examining general areas of concern

Missing values * n=1

The majority of women were concerned with these issues at least ‘sometimes’ or ‘often’. Of greatest concern (79.4%) was attending to crises (either personal or household) while their partner was away. Household security was a concern for 69% of respondents. Loneliness was a concern for 60% of respondents.

The qualitative data provided some insight into these results. A number of women commented that because their partner is often away, he is unable to share problems. For one respondent with a very serious health problem, her concern was with being alone at a time when she required help.

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