Work-life balance
Overview
How can Europe balance work-life commitments, while moving towards the full employment target of the Lisbon agenda? As well as aiming to create more and better jobs, policymakers across the 25 countries of the new European Union are increasingly faced with the pressing issues of flexibility at work, pension reform, time management, and labour market restructuring.
Eurofound has addressed these and many other issues in its research. A recent initiative in this area is the survey on working time and work-life balance policies, in companies throughout the EU.
The recent report Second European Quality of Life Survey: Family life and work 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.
In 2004, the Foundation Forum Living to work - working to live: Tomorrow's work-life balance in Europe brought together high-level European representatives and experts, to provide greater insight into the future direction of this debate.
Sources
- European working conditions surveys
Regular pan-European surveys on working conditions: the first survey was carried out in 1990 and the fourth took place in summer 2005 - News updates on working conditions issues
Regular updates from EWCO correspondents on the latest data and developments, at national and EU level - Quality of life in Europe surveys
Regular surveys that monitor and analyse quality of life and living conditions across Europe - Employment options of the future
The issue of work-life balance played a central role in this survey of future employment preferences in the 15 EU Member States and Norway (1998)