FIFO Parenting

With the cost of living rising all the time, parents are hard pressed to keep up feeding and clothing their kids, while pensioners and others on fixed incomes are greatly disturbed by increasing costs that are not compensated by increases in their income. The media reports are depressing if you read them all and in Western Australia the constant stories about the mining boom that has not been translated into better incomes for all leads to the conclusion that we really do have a two-speed economy.

Perhaps nothing is more depressing than the focus on the “cashed up bogans” earning huge salaries that are spent on luxury cars, extravagant holidays and the like. That focus, in my mind, insults the hard working parents who, with partners and children back on the city, endure the Fly In Fly Out (FIFO) cycles in the hope of building more financial security for their families. The constant media focus on the “bogans” misses the chance for the community to discuss how the FIFO life affects fathers, mothers and their children.  Those effects can spread a ripple effect through the community: in schools, sport and community groups as parents and children struggle to deal with the periodic absence and then return of one parent. Those families who see the mining boom as an opportunity to be grabbed, for the sake of their family’s future financial security, need special support.

FIFO - 777D Pow Wow - courtesy http://newminingjobsaustralia.com

With a new boom predicted to start in the North West of WA, the number of families affected by FIFO lifestyles will continue to increase. It has been predicted that by 2013, labour demands will result in an estimated 38,000 additional employees being required by the minerals and energy sector, with shortages expected to impact business sustainability and there are official reports from the Mining Council that there will be a need for an extra 86,000 workers by 2020. Many of those additional employees are expected to be women and many mining companies like women as operators of their large equipment like the big earthmoving trucks. At the moment it’s estimated that 15 percent of workers in the mining industry are women and this figure is growing fast every year.

Reading online posts from women whose partners work away – maybe on a three week on – three week off cycle – shows the impact the FIFO has on them and the children.  But it is not only those in the FIFO industries that have to cope with these family pressures.  There are many engaged in the DIDO (Drive In Drive Out) workforce, where one partner is away from home for five days or more at a time because they work too far away for daily commuting.  I remember when Robbie worked in Geraldton and Kalgoorlie and he either drove back to Perth or I flew up to join him for two or three days, before returning – to await the next three weekly meet up. It is very lonely, phone calls notwithstanding.

More traditional workforces have created family separations for many years: the defence forces, truck drivers in the long haulage business, seafarers and even those who find their work in managerial or sales positions requires them to be away from home often, for extended periods of time. How much genuine thought do we give to these families?

Parenting workshops are becoming more freely available to help families to know what to expect and how to deal with some of the common issues:

• How does the parent working away stay emotionally connected and in tune with their partner & children?
• How effectively do both partners function as a parenting team given the physical absence of one parent?
• How does the parent working away adjust back into functioning family life on their return?
• How does the family at home effectively manage and adapt the needs of their household in the patterns of absence and presence? (source: Ngala.com.au)

Being away overseas for six weeks, showcasing Stories My Nana Tells around the USA and Canada, I was also wondering about how these families will fare in the future. It needs more than an idle thought and it is something to which we have given a great deal of thought.  Stories My Nana Tells has been designed with many of the needs of the FIFO community specifically in mind.

Families who are involved in the FIFO or DIDO work life, or who are thinking of finding employment in the resources industry, can find lots of good advice and start making networking connections at Mining FM – A great resource site and FIFO Families

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