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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 February 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 February 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...
The Foundation’s Company Survey on Working Time and Work–Life Balance 2004–2005 set out to map the use of a variety of working time arrangements in companies, to assess the reasons for their introduction and their impact. This report presents an overview of the survey’s initial findings. It focuses
The Foundation carried out a comprehensive survey on working time and work–life balance in more than 21 000 European workplaces between autumn 2004 and spring 2005. The countries surveyed included the 15 ‘old’ Member States of the European Union (EU15) and six of the new Member States: the Czech
Family support, social contacts and an adequate work–life balance are essential factors in overall quality of life for individuals. However, time constraints resulting from changing work and family patterns are having a negative impact on personal life. People are finding it difficult to find time
Full-time work has become an increasingly common employment pattern in the European Union, for both sexes, since the enlargement of the EU to 25 countries in 2004. At the same time, there is widespread discussion about working time flexibility as a desired solution to enhancing the work-life balance
This report explores how families, social networks and work–life balance issues affect quality of life. The survey shows that time constraints in the workplace impact negatively on overall quality of life, formation of families and family life. It highlights that people, particularly in the new
This report explores the distribution of time between work and private life, and the organisation of its interrelationship, as it is of pivotal importance for the overall quality of life in Europe. As a result, the relationship between the quality of economic and social development has become an
Working conditions and gender in an enlarged Europe presents a comparative study of working conditions for women in 10 central eastern European countries. The countries include eight of the 10 new Member States of the European Union, and two of the candidate countries, Bulgaria and Romania. National
This background paper sets out the the context and poses questions on different aspects of attaining a better balance between the demands of work and personal life and finding new ways of organising individual working time over the life course. The main objective of the Foundation Forum is to
This is a summary of the conference on 'Better work and life: towards an inclusive and competitive enlarged Union', co-organised by the Greek Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs and the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions. The broad theme of the conference
What are the working-time preferences of the workforce in Europe? Which schedules are the most compatible with family and other commitments? These questions are relevant to European employment policy and for the working-time policy negotiations of the social partners and are examined in this article
In the past, the division of labour was absolute: women ruled the house and men ruled the labour market. However, in the 1960s this picture began to change. Women entered the labour market and the traditional male ‘breadwinner’ model changed to a dual earner model. This evolution was distinctive in
In 2005–2006, *the Bulgarian Ministry of Labour and Social Policy (*Министерство на труда и социалната политика, MLSP [1]) *and the* Gender Project for Bulgaria Foundation [2] conducted a project entitled ‘Men equal, men different’ [3]. It *was* part of a European project under the EU 5th Framework
A joint study (in Greek, 490Kb PPT) [1] entitled ‘Models of work-life balance [2] and the demand for gender-based equality of opportunity – Social networks for work–life balance’ was published in December 2007 by the Frederick Research Centre (FRC [3]), the Centre for Social Research and Development
‘Fostering caring masculinities’ (FOCUS [1]) is the name of a project that seeks to encourage men to play a more active role in caring tasks, challenging the stereotype of caring as a gender-related and undervalued activity in society. The project involves five countries: Germany, Iceland, Norway
Within the framework of the European Commission’s EQUAL [1] initiative, the project FORWARD! Family and work reconciliation development [2] implemented in Lithuania allowed for a sociological survey to be carried out among employers. The survey aimed to identify employers’ attitudes towards ways of
Work-life balance [1] policies in the workplace are regulated through a mix of collective agreements, legislation and guidelines for good practice in Denmark, with collective agreements often allowing for more extensive entitlements than the law. The various work–life policies include flexible
Jobs in public administration are considered dependable and rarely involve overtime work. For this reason, employment in such institutions is often deemed as the ideal choice for parents in the Czech Republic. However, a questionnaire-based survey has revealed that the use of flexible working
In December 2007, the temporary work agency Adecco [1] presented the results of a survey on the main preferences of Spanish workers in relation to their working and employment conditions. The Adecco survey, entitled ‘What would you ask your company at Christmas time?’ (¿Qué le pedirías a tu empresa
Combining work and non-working life is becoming an increasingly important subject of interest due to the growing number of employed women in the Netherlands and the fact that government policy is directed at encouraging even more women to become active in the labour market and to work more hours
Finding a balance between one’s family and professional life is one of the preconditions for personal contentment and a high quality of life. In 2005, the Institute of Sociology of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic (Sociologický ústav Akademie věd České republiky, SOÚ AV ČR [1]) carried
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
