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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...
Work plays a pivotal role in people’s lives, in the functioning of companies and in society at large. Improving the quality of work and working conditions has long been at the forefront of EU policy, most recently in the Europe 2020 Strategy towards ‘Smart, inclusive and cohesive growth’. The fifth
Eżami ta’ kif inbidlu (jew baqgħu l-istess) ilkundizzjonijiet tax-xogħol jista’ jitfa’ dawl fuq il-progress li qed isir lejn dawn l-għanijiet tal-politika. Jista’ jindika wkoll x’impatt kellhom il-fatturi li jwasslu għall-bidla bħall-globalizzazzjoni, l-iżvilupp teknoloġiku, il-forom iktar
The number of hours worked per week continues to drift downwards, on average – the result of more people working part time, fewer people working long hours, and a fall in the collectively agreed working hours in many countries. Foundation Findings provide pertinent background information and policy
The report describes over 50 cases of companies in 11 Member States that have adopted measures to support their employees with care responsibilities for disabled children or adults. Key initiatives by companies include: various types of leave; reduced working hours; and such supportive measures as
This report describes over 50 cases of companies in 11 Member States that have adopted measures to support their employees with care responsibilities for disabled children or adults. Key initiatives by companies include: various types of leave; reduced working hours; and such supportive measures as
Parenting support and education encompass different types of interventions (e.g. information, training, counselling, etc.) directly linked to rearing children. The ultimate goals of parenting support and education are helping parents raise their children and having a positive impact on the physical
Perceived quality of life is lower in the candidate countries of Croatia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Turkey than in the EU27, largely due to poverty. Women’s labour force participation is low and jobs in general are characterised by long hours and poor work–life balance. Families
This report explores the subject of work and family life across Europe, looking at ways to find a better balance between the demands of work and family responsibilities. Based on data from the second European Quality of Life Survey (EQLS), conducted by Eurofound in 2007, the report analyses tensions
This issue of Foundation Focus looks at the relationship between work and health, using first findings from Eurofound’s fifth European Working Conditions Survey which was launched on 16 and 17 November 2010 under the Belgian EU presidency. With the additional support of the European Commission, the
Compensating workers for weekend public holidays, the effect of legalising marijuana in the workplace, and a proposal that the first day of sick leave should be unpaid are the main topics of interest in this article. This country update reports on the latest developments in working life in Malta in
The Shared Parental Leave (SPL) regulations came into force on the 1st of December 2014 and apply to eligible parents where a baby is due, or a child is placed for adoption, on or after 5 April 2015. This report outlines the details of the scheme and then presents the findings of a number of
A proposal to bring in a law allowing part-time workers in Germany to claim a full-time job has failed. The ruling coalition of the Social and Christian Democrats could not agree on the extent of the initiative. The proposal was put forward by Federal Minister for Labour and Social Affairs Andrea
Amendments to the Working Environment Act on working time and whistle-blowing; the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (LO) congress; and the start of parliamentary election campaigning are the main topics of interest in this article. This country update reports on the latest developments in
Working time is set to be a high priority during the next collective bargaining round, according to the German Metalworkers’ Union (IG Metall), whose recent survey looked at working time satisfaction. Another survey, by the Federation of German Employers’ Associations in the Metal and Electrical
Issues related to the European Commission’s proposal on the European Pillar of Social Rights, as well as some developments in social dialogue at EU level, are the main topics of interest in this article. This update reports on the latest developments in working life at EU level in the first quarter
In 2014, researchers at Lithuania’s Vytautas Magnus University began a two-year project to identify how young families could reconcile parenting and working life. Interviews with parents and employers showed that, individual employers’ attitudes are crucial to establishing the conditions for a good
Young men in Slovakia are increasingly breaking with tradition to take time off to care for their children. There is a small but steady rise in the numbers of men benefiting from two forms of parental entitlement: parental allowance and maternity benefit (open to fathers under certain conditions).
Preparations for the presidential election and a revival of national social dialogue with the signing of a new collective agreement on the unemployment insurance scheme are the main topics of interest in this article. This country update reports on the latest developments in working life in France
A law proposed by Kris Peeters, the Minister of Employment, Economy and Consumers, has been met with mixed reactions by the social partners. The law, adopted by the Chamber of Representatives in February, aims to allow more flexibility in work organisation in order to modernise the Belgian labour
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
