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Work-life balance
Work–life balance refers to the level of prioritisation between an individual’s work and personal life. A good work–life balance is achieved when an individual’s right to a fulfilled life inside and outside paid work is accepted and respected as the norm – to the mutual benefit of the individual, business and society. Enabling a better work–life balance for workers across the life course has been an EU policy goal for many years as it is central to ensuring that work is sustainable for all.
In this episode of Eurofound Talks Mary McCaughey speaks with Eurofound Research Manager Tina Weber about new research on the right to disconnect, the evolution of the right to disconnect...
Even before the outbreak of COVID-19, various forms of flexible work, such as teleworking and flexitime, were in place across EU Member States. However, the pandemic led to a surge...
Eurofound has launched its 2024 European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS) aiming to interview about 50,000 workers across 35 countries. The survey covers all EU Member States and 8 additional countries...
19 Feabhra 2024
Corporate news
Eurofound research
Work–life balance continues to be a significant research topic for Eurofound, in its surveys and other studies.
Podcast
Listen to or watch a recording of our International Women's Day 2023 podcast on the work–life challenges of women and men.
Eurofound’s European Quality of Life Surveys (EQLS) provide comparisons between countries on the reconciliation of work and family life, flexible working time arrangements and the provision of quality care services. The European Company Surveys (ECS) provide data on why and how companies make use of a broad variety of working time arrangements. The European Working Conditions Surveys (EWCS) look at the organisation of working time across the EU and issues related to it including flexible arrangements, working time preferences and work–life balance.
Eurofound’s unique e-survey, Living, working and COVID-19, provides a snapshot of the impact of the changes that occurred during the pandemic on people’s lives, with the aim of helping policymakers shape the response to the crisis. Conducted in five rounds during 2020, 2021 and 2022, it allows for comparison of the challenges that arose during the different stages of living through the pandemic. A range of questions focus on people’s work situation, their level of teleworking during COVID-19, experiences of working from home and the impact on work–life balance.
The latest findings, published in July 2022 show that despite some improvement in work–life balance issues, there has been a sharp decline in family time among workers in 2022, with almost 30% reporting that their job is preventing them from spending time with their family, from a much lower 19% in 2020.
Working life and work–life balance
Eurofound gathers information on working life in the EU, looking at national and EU-level policies to promote work–life balance and investigating the role of social dialogue and collective bargaining in this area.
Research investigates the opportunities for working time flexibility and improved work–life balance related to digitisation and platform work, linked with the labour market integration of specific groups, such as those with care responsibilities or health issues.
In its research on working conditions and sustainable work, Eurofound has looked at the implications for work–life balance for parents and caregivers.
In the context of the negotiations on the work–life balance package at EU level, and at the European Commission’s request, Eurofound has produced a review of national statistics on the uptake of family-related leave by fathers over time across the EU Member States and Norway.
The fifth round of Eurofound's e-survey, fielded from 25 March to 2 May 2022, sheds light on the social and economic situation of people across Europe two years after COVID-19...
Digital technologies have made it possible for many workers to carry out their work at any time and anywhere, with consequent advantages and disadvantages. Eurofound data show that teleworkers are...
Developments in information and communication technology (ICT) have been among the key drivers of change in working life over the past two decades. Specifically, telework and ICT-based mobile work (TICTM)...
Gender inequality at work persists across Europe, despite the long standing attention paid and efforts made to tackle it. This Eurofound report presents a closer look at women’s and men’s...
Advances in ICT have opened the door to new ways of organising work. We are shifting from a regular, bureaucratic and ‘factory-based’ working time pattern towards a more flexible model...
In the context of ongoing negotiations at EU level on adopting a work–life balance package for families and caregivers, Eurofound was requested by the European Commission to provide an update...
7 Feabhra 2019
Publication
Customised report
EU context
On 17 November 2017, the European Parliament, the Council and the European Commission formally proclaimed the European Pillar of Social Rights, which included an initiative to support work–life balance. Subsequently, in June 2019, the Council adopted a new Directive on work–life balance for parents and carers. The Directive aims to increase women's participation in the labour market and outlines a number of new or improved minimum standards for parental, paternity and carer’s leave, as well as flexible working arrangements, aiming to also increase men's take-up of these.
Jorge Cabrita is a senior research manager in the Working Life unit. He is responsible for formulating, coordinating and managing European-wide research, and promoting the...
This article presents some of the key developments and research findings on aspects of working time in the EU during the first quarter of 2014. Work–life balance and weekend working are the main focus of this report.
This article presents some of the key developments and research findings on health and well-being in workplaces in the EU during the second quarter of 2014. The new strategic framework on health and safety, work–life balance, patterns of sick leave and initiatives to combat violence and harassment
This report gives an overview of working conditions, job quality, workers’ health and job sustainability in the activities of households as employers of domestic personnel sector (NACE 97), referred to here as the households as employers sector.
This report gives an overview of working conditions, job quality, workers’ health and job sustainability in administrative and support services activities (NACE78–82). It is based mostly on the fifth European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS), which gathers data on working conditions and the quality
This report gives an overview of working conditions, job quality, workers’ health and job sustainability in the transport and storage sector (NACE 49 to 53). It is based mostly on the fifth European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS), which gathers data on working conditions and the quality of work
This report gives an overview of working conditions, job quality, workers’ health and job sustainability in the insurance sector (NACE 65). It is based mostly on the fifth European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS), which gathers data on working conditions and the quality of work across 34 European
This report gives an overview of working conditions, job quality, workers’ health and job sustainability in the financial services sector, covering the subsectors of banking (NACE 64), insurance (NACE 65), and activities auxiliary to banking and insurance (NACE 66). It is based mostly on the fifth
This report gives an overview of working conditions, job quality, workers’ health and job sustainability in the motor vehicles sector (NACE 45). It is based mostly on the fifth European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS), which gathers data on working conditions and the quality of work across 34
This report gives an overview of working conditions, job quality, workers’ health and job sustainability in the manufacturing sector. It is based mostly on the fifth European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS), which gathers data on working conditions and the quality of work across 34 European
This report gives an overview of working conditions, job quality, workers’ health and job sustainability in the industrial cleaning sector (NACE 81). The findings are based mostly on the fifth European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS), which gathers data on working conditions and the quality of work
Nowadays, for many employees, successfully combining work and non-work has become a major challenge that sometimes creates problems or conflicts. The process whereby work demands negatively affect one’s functioning in the home domain is defined as ‘work–home interference’. This situation is assumed
In April 2007, the Spanish parliament (Congreso de los Diputados [1]) approved a report (in Spanish, 657Kb PDF) [2] with policy proposals on the regulation and adaptation of working time regulation and work flexibility in Spain. The overall aim of the report is to address the issue of reconciling
Established in 1994, the Research Centre for Gender Equality (Κέντρο Ερευνών για Θέματα Ισότητας, KETHI [1]) is managed and funded by the General Secretariat for Equality, attached to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Public Administration and Decentralisation (Υπουργείο Εσωτερικών, Δημόσιας
In June 2004, the National Statistical Institute (NSI [1]) carried out an ad hoc labour market survey as part of the harmonised EU programme for business and consumer surveys. The survey was conducted in the industry, retail trade and services sectors. Employers in 3,131 enterprises were interviewed
Within the framework of the European Commission’s EQUAL [1] initiative, the project FORWARD! Reconciling family and work (in Lithuanian) [2] aimed to minimise the labour market exclusion of families with young children and to improve childcare facilities. In 2005, as part of the project, 30
Within the framework of implementation of the EU’s EQUAL [1] initiative ‘Forward! Family and work reconciliation development’ (in Lithuanian) [2], a survey of families and parents with children of preschool age was carried out in Lithuania in 2005. The survey looked at the needs of such families
Not only women who care for children opt to work from home, but also students, disabled people or individuals with a particular lifestyle. The characteristics of teleworking and the reasons given for working from home should be examined separately for men and women. That is because women generally
The study /Women and men in Romania: Reconciling work and family life/, published by the National Institute of Statistics (Institutul Naţional de Statistică, INS [1]) in 2006, examines the gender dimension in terms of demography, health, education, employment and income. [1] http://www.insse.ro/
The study carried out by Joanneum Research [1] and FORBA [2] investigated areas such as working conditions, career paths and strategies for coping with work pressure. [1] http://www.joanneum.at [2] http://www.forba.at
On 19 July 2006, the Department of Safety, Health and Environment and the Working Women’s Department of the Cyprus Workers’ Confederation (Συνομοσπονδία Εργαζομένων Κύπρου, SΕΚ [1]) published a nationally representative study entitled /Safety and health in the workplace: Reconciliation of family and
The jury is still out on the question whether men and women are from distinct planets. When it comes to the world of work, however, they are worlds apart.
Telework has become a permanent feature of working life in Europe. While we’ve seen the benefits of more flexible ways of working – particularly during the pandemic – the problems that arise from an increasingly connected life are also becoming clearer. Unfortunately, legislation alone may not be en
The pandemic has had differential impacts on women. Raised consciousness about them must be applied to advance gender equality in recovery measures. All crises have a strongly gendered impact and none more so than the current pandemic, across a range of indicators. While the virus itself seems to ta
The decades-long trend of a narrowing gender employment gap in Europe has halted in recent years. Now the COVID-19 pandemic is disproportionately affecting low-paying service sectors with a high share of social contact, including many with a majority of female workers, risking forcing them ou
Whatever the benefits of telework – and there are many, including more flexible working time, increased productivity and less commuting – there are drawbacks, as many of the one-third of Europeans who were exclusively working from home during the pandemic will attest. Primary among these is the ‘alw
The COVID-19 health crisis prompted governments to take the unprecedented step of shutting down all workplaces, apart from those providing essential goods and services, to control the spread of the virus. Every worker who was able to do so began to work from home, initiating a social experiment of a
While women appear to be more resilient than men to COVID-19 in terms of health outcomes, that is not the case when it comes to the economic and social fallout. Measures taken by governments to control the spread of the virus are exacerbating gender divides in unemployment, domestic labour an
