Planning policy is out of step with how real people live, according to a report published on Thursday.

The study by the Economic and Social Research Council suggests that large cities do not provide a decent quality of life for key workers and that attempts to address problems are muddled and incomplete.

Policy makers are said to take a piecemeal approach to the issue, by seeking to separate "work-life balance" problems from those of transport, planning and infrastructure.

Instead, the report's author, Helen Jarvis, suggested a more holistic approach is necessary.

"Planners emphasise the number and distribution of homes, jobs and transport while social policy advisers concentrate on questions of work-life balance," she said.

"By contrast, we consider how the changing nature of work and employment influence housing and travel behaviour, at the same time that the built environment shapes everyday activities and social encounters."

The report suggests that the language of a "new urbanism" masks an essentially laissez faire approach to urban policy, which puts increasing strains on families.

Expensive or badly located housing contributes to pressures on infrastructure and reduces the ability of key workers to find suitable accommodation.

In turn this creates divisive social pressures, as child care and other essential services become unobtainable in certain areas.

Transport systems are often ignored by planners and local shortcomings increase the number of journeys families are forced to make to enjoy a decent standard of living.

Jarvis considers that these issues together with burgeoning living costs mean two parents working long hours is increasingly normal.

But she argued that planners should consider these problems as "it is difficult for this arrangement to survive the effort and emotional toll it takes to maintain daily life."