Reconciliation of work and family life

Iiris Niemi

Brussels 12 October, 2006

Lisbon targets of 2000Employment rate should be raised to 70 % in 2010for women to 60 %

Dimensions of reconciliation policy1. Child care servicesBarcelona summit targets 2002Child care to at least 90 % of children between 3 years old and mandatoryschool age, andat least 33 % of children under 3 years of age.2. Parental leave3. Flexible working-time arrangements4. Monetary benefitsFamily allowances or financial benefits at the birth of a childChild-related tax allowances

Source: Reconciliation of work and private life. A comparative review ofthirty European countries (2005). EU DG Employment, Social Affairs andEqual Opportunitieshttp://bookshop.europa.eu/eubookshop/FileCache/PUBPDF/KE6905828ENC/KE6905828ENC_002.pdf

Gender MainstreamingReconciliation between work and private life

A good work-life balance – reconciling competing time demands at homeand work – is key to- boosting women’s participation in employment and- men’s taking up of more responsibilities in the home.

Childcare: allowing women to work

Childcare facilities must be affordable, accessible and of a good quality.To encourage men to share responsibilities for care of children.

Flexible working patterns

Source:http://ec.europa.eu/employment_social/gender_equality/gender_mainstreaming/familylife/family_life_reconciliation_en.html

Content of this presentation

1. Background information on- employment in Europe, and- parents’ experience of difficulties in reconciliation of work and private life.

2. Reconciliation reflected in time use in twelve European countries- Time spent on employment among working mothers and fathers- Share of gainful work by the parents- Share of domestic work by the parents- Total hours worked by the parents- A pilot project on local time policy in Finland

Employment rate of women aged 20 to 49 with children under 12

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90S

I

DK

LT

PT

AT FI

CY

NL

BE

FR

LV

EE

UK

EU

25

DE

LU

PL

SK

CZ

GR

ES

HU IT

MT

Source: Reconciling work anf family life in the EU25 in 2003. Eurostat 2005

Difficulties to fit working hours with commitments outside work

Full-time employed mothers, EU15 + Czech Republic, (total fertility rate)

39

33

27

27

27

27

24

23

21

19

18

17

14

11

11

9

Italy (1,25)

Greece (1,3)

Germany (1,34)

France (1,89)

Spain (1,22)

Czech (1,14)

EU 15 (1,47)

Netherlands (1,72)

Sweden (1,54)

Austria (1,32)

Luxembourg (1,78)

Portugal (1,54)

Finland (1,73)

United Kingdom (1,64)

Belgium (1,65)

Ireland (1,89)

Denmark (1,76)

0 10 20 30 40 50

%

Sources: European Working Condition Survey 2000

European social statistics: demography. Luxembourg 2002, Pärnänen et al 2005

Difficulties to fit working hours with commitments outside workFull-time employed fathers, EU15 + Czech Republic

Sources: European Working Condition Survey 2000European social statistics: demography. Luxembourg, 2002 Pärnänen et al 2005

34

32

31

29

29

24

24

23

22

21

19

19

18

16

16

15

11

Greece

Czech*

SpainItalyUK

Portugal

EU15

GermanyFrance

Sweden

NetherlandsIrelandAustria

Luxembourg

Belgium

FinlandDenmark

0 10 20 30 40 50

%

Time spent on employment by fathers by age of youngest child

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

IT SI UK ES FI FR SE HU NO BE DE EE

Min

ute

s p

er a

vera

ge

day

Up to 6

7 to 17

Sources: How Europeans spend their time. Eurostat Pocketbook 2004 INE time use survey 2002-2003

ISTAT time use survey 2002-2003

Time spent on employment by mothers by age of youngest child

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

SI BE SE NO FI FR EE UK ES IT HU DE

Min

ute

s p

er a

vera

ge

day

up to 6

7 to 17

Sources: How Europeans spend their time. Eurostat Pocketbook 2004 INE time use survey 2002-2003

ISTAT time use survey 2002-2003

Time spent on employment by parents with children 7 to 17

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

IT ES FR SI SE UK FI EE HU NO DE BE

Min

ute

s p

er

av

era

ge

da

y

Father

Mother

Sources: How Europeans spend their time. Eurostat Pocketbook 2004 INE time use survey 2002-2003

ISTAT time use survey 2002-2003

Sharing gainful work between spouses with children 7 to 17

0 %10 %20 %30 %40 %50 %60 %70 %80 %90 %

100 %

ES IT DE BE FR UK NO EE HU SE FI SI

Min

ute

s p

er a

vera

ge

day

Mother

Father

Sources: How Europeans spend their time. Eurostat Pocketbook 2004 INE time use survey 2002-2003

ISTAT time use survey 2002-2003

Domestic work of mothers by age of youngest child

050

100150200250300350400450500

HU IT EE ES SI DE UK FI FR SE BE NO

Min

ute

s o

n a

ve

rag

e d

ay

Up to 6

7 to 17

Sources: How Europeans spend their time. Eurostat Pocketbook 2004 INE time use survey 2002-2003

ISTAT time use survey 2002-2003

Time spent on domestic work by parents with children 7 to 17

050

100150200250300350400450

IT ES HU BE FR EE DE SI UK FI SE NO

Min

ute

s p

er a

vera

ge

day

Mother

Father

Sources: How Europeans spend their time. Eurostat Pocketbook 2004 INE time use survey 2002-2003

ISTAT time use survey 2002-2003

Sharing domestic tasks between spouses with children 7 to 17

0 %

20 %

40 %

60 %

80 %

100 %

IT ES FR DE BE HU UK SI EE FI SE NO

Min

ute

s p

er a

vera

ge

day

Father

Mother

Sources: How Europeans spend their time. Eusrostat Pocketbook 2004 INE time use survey 2002-2003

ISTAT time use survey 2002-2003

Total hours worked by parents with youngest child 7 to 17

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

HU SI IT EE ES FR SE FI UK BE NO DE

Min

ute

s p

er a

vera

ge

day

Mother

Father

Sources: How Europeans spend their time. Eurostat Pocketbook 2004 INE time use survey 2002-2003

ISTAT time use survey 2002-2003

Total hours worked by fathers with youngest child 7 to 17

050

100150200250300350400450500

SE HU SI FR UK FI EE NO IT BE ES DE

Min

ute

s p

er a

vera

ge

day

Domestic

Employment

Sources: How Europeans spend their time. Eurostat Pocketbook 2004 INE time use survey 2002-2003

ISTAT time use survey 2002-2003

Total hours worked by mothers with youngest child 7 to 17

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

HU SI IT EE ES FR SE FI UK BE NO DE

Min

ute

s p

er

av

era

ge

da

y

Domestic

Employment

Sources: How Europeans spend their time. Eurostat Pocketbook 2004

INE time use survey 2002-2003ISTAT time use survey 2002-2003

Local time policy

Popular in Italy, France, Germany, Spain, Netherlands Improving time management of families (working time, transportation, services

etc) Finnish Pilot ARJA in Helsinki and Turku Funded by European Social Fund 2004 - 2006 Bureaucrats and researchers as project members Networking with local institutions and residents 20 pilot families and employers Socio-spatial and temporal coordination of housing, work, services and mobility.

Source: Horelli 2006

Concrete results of the Finnish project ARJA

Neighbourhood forum continues to solve problems found by ARJA- improvement of the metro station (safety-risk for children), networking and intergrating of local family services, mobility management, development of a help desk.

Help desk with a digitalised service portal including public, private and third sector services - offering service packages for special needs of the families, e.g. transportation, baby sitting, catering.

Source: Horelli 2006 http://www.tkk.fi/Yksikot/YTK/tutkimus/ARJA/focus_on_health_promotion.pdf#search=%22Horelli%20IAPS%202006%22