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Work-Life Balance as an Indicator of Job Quality in Europe

Sonja DrobničUniversity of Hamburg

Academia Sinica, 19 May 2011

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Outline of the presentation• European Employment Strategy 2001• Work–Life Balance: theoretical considerations• Job demands and job resources• Capabilities approach by Amartya Sen• Work–Life conflict in Germany and Spain

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European Employment Strategy 2001

• Shift in EU policy objectives in the area of employment and social integration under the slogan:

‘Not just more jobs but also better jobs’ • Policy objectives formulated in terms of common indicators

and measurable targets

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Groups of Indicators for monitoring employment quality (Laeken Indicators):

• intrinsic job quality; • skills, life-long learning and career development; • gender equality; • health and safety at work; • flexibility and security; • inclusion and access to the labour market; • work organization and work–life balance; • social dialogue and worker involvement; • diversity and non-discrimination; • overall economic performance and productivity.

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The EU definition of job quality:

• Multi-dimensional approach, including objective characteristics of the job subjective evaluations by workers workers’ characteristics the match between the worker and the job

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Groups of Indicators for monitoring employment quality (Laeken Indicators):

• intrinsic job quality; • skills, life-long learning and career development; • gender equality; • health and safety at work; • flexibility and security; • inclusion and access to the labour market; • work organization and work–life balance; • social dialogue and worker involvement; • diversity and non-discrimination; • overall economic performance and productivity.

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What is Work-Life Balance (WLB)?• Shorthand for „work“ and „the rest of life“• Life domains in which people perform different roles• Theory of role strain (Goode 1960)• Role conflict due to conflict in time, place, resources total

role obligations are overdemanding• Enhancement arguments (Marks 1977; Sieber 1974) suggest

that engagement in multiple life roles can generate social and economic resources

• Research on the work-family interface has been heavily dominated by a conflict perspective

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Resources-Demands Approach• When role demands and resources in one domain are

incomatible with role demands and resources in the other domain conflict

• Types of demands: time-based strain-based behavior-based

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What is Work-Life Balance (WLB)?• Mechanisms that span various life domains: spillover,

segmentation, and compensation• “Balance” another ill-defined term (methaphor)• ‘Perceptual phenomenon characterized by a sense of having

achieved a satisfactory resolution of the multiple demands of work and family domains; equilibrium or an overall sense of harmony in life… ‘

• Measurement: balance level, satisfaction with WLB • But in most studies, the opposite is studied: tensions,

interference, conflict

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Work – Life (Family, Home, Nonwork) Interface• Type and direction of interaction:

Negative aspects of Work–Life Interface: work–family conflict, interference Positive aspects of Work–Life Interface: work-family facilitation, enhacement… Bi-directional concept: work can interfere with or facilitate the family/home domain AND family can interfere with or facilitate the work domain

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Work – Life (Family, Home, Nonwork) Interface

• Two important considerations: Work-to-Home spillover more prevailing and „stronger“ than Home-to-Work spillover job characteristics and working conditions (job quality) are of primary importance Societal context plays a very important role

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The level of work-to-family conflict in the EU countries

• Reference: Chung, Heejung (2011): „Work-Family Conflict across 28 European Countries: A Multi-Level Approach” in Sonja Drobnič and Ana Guillén (eds.) Work-Life Balance in Europe. The Role of Job Quality. Palgrave Macmillan.

• (Data: European Quality of Life Survey 2007)

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WHTCSeveral times a month

WHTCSeveral times a week (A)

WFRCSeveral times a month (B)

Both WFC (A+B)

Belgium 36.4 13.9 28.2 10.3

Denmark 39.9 13.7 21.6 7.5

Germany 39.1 13.3 24.3 9.7

Greece 71.8 34.8 45.6 27.0

Spain 58.1 31.2 37.8 22.7

Finland 43.5 16.6 19.9 9.3

France 46.6 22.1 17.3 9.0

Ireland 45.3 14.9 24.8 8.7

Italy 36.8 17.3 24.8 12.5

Netherlands 37.3 15.4 29.3 10.9

Austria 45.2 12.2 31.6 10.5

Portugal 46.5 25.6 29.2 17.7

Sweden 46.3 16.8 18.6 9.0

UK 52.4 28.8 28.8 19.0

Bulgaria 65.8 29.4 45.6 23.1

Cyprus 68.0 37.8 41.0 26.5

Czech Rep. 57.4 23.6 38.4 18.3

Estonia 62.3 38.7 34.0 22.9

Hungary 61.9 26.8 40.6 21.9

Individuals with work-household task conflict (WHTC) and work-family responsibility conflict (WFRC) across European countries (weighted averages)

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Latvia 60.8 34.9 47.3 29.2

Lithuania 53.4 24.8 40.1 20.5

Malta 58.5 32.0 29.3 18.3

Poland 56.8 21.6 43.7 18.2

Romania 64.9 30.8 46.7 24.0

Slovakia 45.1 11.6 30.8 9.4

Slovenia 54.1 28.8 42.7 26.4

Norway 40.0 14.6 23.4 9.6

Average 48.2 21.6 29.6 14.9

Individuals with work-household task conflict (WHTC) and work-family responsibility conflict (WFRC) across European countries (weighted averages)

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Study of Work-Home Interference (WHI) in Germany and Spain

• WHI in relation to work-Iife balance: it draws attention to tensions

• WHI in relation to work-family interference: also employees without family-care responsibilities face the challenge of integration work and nonwork roles.

• WHI has been linked to decreased job and life satisfaction and a whole range of stress-related outcomes and family outcomes, as well as social problems such as lower productivity, declining birth rates, ageing of society, gender inequality…

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Resources-Demands Theoretical Framework

Work demands: time-based (e.g. long working hours, overtime, organizational time expectations...) strain-based demands (work overload, work pressure, work distress, job insecurity…)

Work resources: job autonomy, career opportunities,…

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But…… why are certain job characteristics differentially perceived

as resources or stressors by the employees?… what is the role of broader institutional and societal

arrangment?… how can significant country differences be explained

within the resources-demands framework?

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The Capability Approach (Amartya Sen)

• A key assumption in this framework ist that work-life balance and avoidance of WHI is a valuable functioning that enhances capabilities and agency for attaining a better quality of life and increase an individual’s well-being.

• Sen explores well-being in terms of a person’s ability to do valuable acts or reach valuable states of being („what people are effectively be able to do or to be“)

• In our analysis, we focus on the means and resources individuals have to achieve the functioning. Sen refers to these means and resources as a ‘capability set’.

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The Capability Approach (Amartya Sen)

• We contend that high quality jobs generate capabilities that allow incumbents to achieve work-home balance, and reduce negative interference between work and home

• To assess a person’s capability set, broader societal context has to be taken into account to understand how societal resources can be translated into agency and capability.

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Institutional Context: Germany and Spain• Both can be described as states of a Bismarckian system of

social security • Spanish welfare state: conservative familialist

Family plays a significant role as a care giver and bears high responsibility for the welfare of its members

• German welfare state: conservative corporatist State takes considerably more responsibilities in form of family benefits. Benefits are allocated to families and not directly to dependents (as it would be the case in social-democratic welfare regimes)

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The Labor Market• Spain: dualized labor market, flexibilization through

temporary employment, part-time employment less important; young workers particularly affected

• Germany: part-time (female) employment high, youth unemployment not higher than in other age groups; still large differences between East/West parts of Germany

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1995 2000 2005

Spain: Males Spain: Females

Germany: Males Germany: Females

Source: Eurostat

Labor force participation rates in Germany and Spain

The Labor Market

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Gender Relations and Family models

• Both countries: traditionally male-breadwinner family model but changing rapidly

• In spite of dramatic increase in women‘s educational level persisting wage gap

• Family policies, parental leave: less generous in Spain.• Recent changes in leave policies in both countries (the aim is

to increase fertility, increase fathers‘ participation in child care…)

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Women‘s Labor Force Participation Rate by Age of Youngest Child 2005 (age 25-49)

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Women‘s Labor Force Participation Rate by Age of Youngest Child 2005 (age 25-49)

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Women‘s Labor Force Participation Rate by Number of Children 2005 (age 25-49)

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Women‘s Labor Force Participation Rate by Number of Children 2005 (age 25-49)

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Data analysis: WHI in Germany and Spain

• European Quality of Life Survey, EQLS 2003• European Social Survey, ESS 2004• European Social Survey, ESS 2006

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Measurement of WHI • European Quality of Life survey (2003):• I have come home from work too tired to do some of the

household jobs which need to be done (strain-based demands)

• It has been difficult for me to fulfil my family responsibilities because of the amount of time I spend on the job (time-based demands)

Several times a week Several times a month Several times a yearLess often/rarelyNever

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Measurement of WHI European Quality of Life survey (2003):• I have come home from work too tired to do some of the

household jobs which need to be done (strain-based demands)

• It has been difficult for me to fulfil my family responsibilities because of the amount of time I spend on the job (time-based demands)

Several times a week Several times a month Several times a yearLess often/rarelyNever

WHI (binary variable): if any of the two items experienced several times a week.

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Measurement of WHI European Social Survey II 2004:• How often do you feel too tired after work to enjoy the

things you would like to do at home?• How often do you find that your job prevents you from

giving the time you want to your partner or family? • How often do you keep worrying about work problems

when you are not working?• How often do you find that your partner or family gets fed

up with the pressure of your job?Never Hardly everSometimes Often Always

WHI (dummy): if at least one of the four problems always or two or more of the four problems is experiences often

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Measurement of WHI

• European Social Survey III 2006:

“How satisfied are you with the balance between the time you spend on your paid work and the time you spend on other aspects of your life?”

extremely dissatisfied …………………………... extremely satisfied

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

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Aim of the Study• Assessing job characteristics and working conditions as

resources or means to people‘s capabilities and achieved functionings

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Work demands – resources

• Working hours: < 30, 30-39, 40-45, > 45• Long commuting• Job demanding / stressful• Tight deadlines• Job dangerous / unhealthy• Job insecurity• Job autonomy• Good career prospects• …

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Job characteristics and WHI / satisfaction with WLB

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Children and WHI / satisfaction with WLB

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Outcomes• Strong association between working conditions and WHI• Negative impact on employees in general: long working

hours, hard, demanding, stressful work, time pressure, working under tight deadlines, dangerous, unhealthy job.

• These job characteristics increase WHI and/or decrease satisfaction with WLB

• Positive impact of job resources: interesting job, being appropriately paid

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Outcomes• Unexpected result: job control and job autonomy higher WHI • Negative impact of job insecurity for men only• Positive impact of good career prospects in Germany only

• No effect of parental status on WHI/satisfaction with WLB this is a surprising result in view of the „double burden“

hypothesis

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Conclusions• The quality of jobs matters! • Workplace characteristics and jobs in many ways constrain

German and Spanish employees in their capabilities for avoiding tensions between work and nonwork life.Time pressure and working hard are particularly detrimental to WLB.

• Interesting jobs, jobs with good career prospects and satisfactory pay increase the potential of individuals to achieve work-life balance and well-being.

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Conclusions• Particularly problematic: Measures that should expand

capabilities for balancing life domains (work control, job autonomy) increase WHI instead.

• Job control is a particularly important from the capabilities perspective. Job control or autonomy is conceptualized as a work resource and is hypothesized to expand individuals’ capabilities and agency.

However, there is an agency gap in WLB: employees cannot translate capabilities into agency.

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Conclusions• Little association between personal characteristics (age, education)

as well as children and WHIPossible reasons:

- inadequate measurement of WHI and satisfaction measures- Sample selection bias for women in Germany and Spain: mothers of young children with presumably highest WHI are not in the labor force.

Employed mothers in Germany and Spain are a select group of women, as combining employment with raising children in conservative-corporatist and conservative-familialist states may be particularly problematic.

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Conclusions• The institutional contexts of Germany and Spain curtail

women’s ability to reconcile employment and parenthood. Women who are more likely to be employed are those with more resources.

• Mothers may select out of long working hours and working conditions that generate WHI.

• Parents have lower sense of entitlement, downplay difficulties.• WHI of non-parents may be underestimated: contemporary

working conditions make work-home interface problematic also for employees without caring responsibilities.

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• This study will be published in:• Sonja Drobnič and Ana M. Guillén (2011): “Tensions Between

Work and Home: Job Quality and Working Conditions in the Institutional Contexts of Germany and Spain”. Social Politics