The demand for quality flexible work is increasing as more people engage in further education and training, more women take up paid work, skill shortages grow and the population ages. However, there has been limited research in New Zealand on the family factors that influence the amount or type of flexibility needed to support families in different circumstances, or on the impact that flexible work arrangements can have on families. This paper presents research the New Zealand Families Commission undertook in 2007-08 to explore how flexible working arrangements can best support family wellbeing and what the barriers and success factors are relating to the take-up of flexible working arrangements. The findings revealed a range of impacts that varying degrees of workplace flexibility can have on families, and explored how these differ over a range of family types. A mixed method approach was adopted using 11 focus groups, 15 case study narratives and a 15-minute telephone survey of 1,000 people. Focus groups and narratives enabled us to explore the influences that affect people's decisions to take up flexible work arrangements, and identified issues that are genuinely important to families as they balance paid work and family responsibilities. The quantitative research complemented the qualitative findings by allowing us to obtain population estimates of some of the trends found in the qualitative work. The comprehensive nature of this study is providing the Families Commission with a robust evidence base for developing targeted advocacy to support families to make choices about balancing their involvement in paid work and family life.