Work-Life Balance in (Central and Eastern) Europe from the Perspective of Women‘s Health Findings from the European Working Conditions Survey Štěpánka Lehmann Research Institute for Labour and Social Affairs (RILSA)

Outline of the presentation Introduction o Research questions o Methodology Results of the analysis o Work-life balance in different European regions o Relationship of WLB and health o Predictors of health status Conclusions

Introduction Mass entrance of women to the labour market since the second half of the 20th century has raised the issue of work-life balance (WLB) o Women remained responsible for daily house chores and care o ‘Second shift’ = potential risk for women‘s health Since 1980s many countries and companies have developed various measures to improve work-life balance of women o Family-related policies o Flexibility measures (part-time jobs, flexible working hours etc.) Considerable differences between countries o European context – women in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) appear to have more difficulties with WLB

Research questions Is it possible to document differences in work-life balance between Western European countries and CEE countries based on empirical evidence? o What are these differences? Does a poor work-life balance have any impacts on health of individuals? o To what extent? Which European countries are the less favourable to the WLB and/or good health of individuals? Focus on women (in particular in CEE)

Methodology European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS) o The European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Eurofound) o Representative sample of ‘persons in employment’ (employees and self-employed) aged 15+ o Individual level o Every 5 years o Fifth wave (2010) – 34 countries: 27 EU countries + NO + 3 candidate countries (HR, MK, TR) + AL, XK, MO Typology of countries – cluster analysis Aspects of WLB, health status etc. in country clusters - cross tabulation Evaluation of impact of WLB on the health status – factor and regression analyses

Country clusters CEE countries are not homogenous as for women‘s work-life balance o ⟹ more adequate to work with more restricted country groups Cluster analysis on the basis of women‘s WLB characteristics in European countries → 6 clusters (3 in Western Europe and 3 in CEE) Variables: o Working hours (actual and preferred), time spent commuting, work on weekend, how working hours fit in with other commitments, time to have the job done o Time spent caring for children / elderly, with housework, leisure time activities, training or education, voluntary activity etc.

Country clusters 1.Benelux + Denmark + Norway o BE, NL, LU, DK, NO 2.Anglo-Saxon countries + Finland + Sweden o IE, UK, DE, AT, FI, SE 3.Mediterranean countries o FR, ES, PT, IT, EL, MT, CY 4.Central-Eastern Europe o CZ, SK, HU, SI, EE, LV 5.Eastern Europe o PL, LT, RO, BG, HR, MK 6.South-Eastern Europe o AL, XK, MO, TR

Women‘s work-life balance in Europe Women have generally shorter working hours than men o They do not work so often at night, in the evening, on weekends, in their free time, and more than 10 hours a day Still, differences among women Data source: Eurofound: EWCS 2010

Weekly activities by gender Data source: Eurofound: EWCS 2010 Men

Female employment rates in 2010 (population 15+) Data source: OECD, World Bank (by Bluenomics.com) EU average

Women‘s work-life balance in Europe Women – lower flexibility of working time than men o Work more often every day the same number of hours, every week the same number of days and hours o More often fixed working hours, more difficult to take time off during working hours to take care of personal matters More often work in shifts Less often on-call work Women have less chance to determine their working schedule o Gender difference the most significant in Central-Eastern Europe, Eastern Europe and South-Eastern Europe Data source: Eurofound: EWCS 2010

Women‘s potential to determine their working schedule Data source: Eurofound: EWCS 2010

Women‘s work-life balance in Europe However, women evaluate better their potential to match working hours with other commitments Data source: Eurofound: EWCS 2010

Work-life balance and health status Men indicate more often than women that their health and/or safety are at risk because of their work o They actually perform hard labour in difficult working conditions more often than women Women mostly do not think that their work affects their health (neither positively nor negatively) o If they do, then negative impact is reported mainly in Eastern Europe Data source: Eurofound: EWCS 2010

Work-life balance and health status However, women‘s subjective evaluation of health status is worse than that of men o Gender difference the most significant in Central-Eastern Europe and Eastern Europe o Could indicate impact of poor WLB Data source: Eurofound: EWCS 2010

Health-related problems of women in CEE countries Women from CEE countries suffer more often than other women from o Headache or eyestrain o Overall fatigue o Cardiovascular diseases Data source: Eurofound: EWCS 2010

Women are absent from work for reasons of health problems more often than men But also work more often when being sick ⟹ Does a poor WLB explain deteriorated health? Other characteristics of work to be considered o e.g. the type of work (profession, sector, physical or intellectual work,...) physical working conditions, stress level, ergonomic factors etc. o + factors not related to work (lifestyle, environment,...) Work-life balance and health status

Benelux + DK + NO o Professionals o Health care and social work, arts, entertainment and recreation Anglo-Saxon countries + FI + SE o Managers, technicians, clerical support, service and sales workers o Financial and insurance activities, administrative activities, health care and social work, arts, entertainment and recreation Mediterranean countries o Clerical support, workers in elementary occupations o Accommodation, food service and other service activities, professional, scientific and technical activities, public administration and extraterritorial organisations, activities of households More represented professions in individual clusters

Central-Eastern Europe o Technicians, plant and machine operators and assemblers o Manufacturing, transportation and storage Eastern Europe o Agricultural workers, craft workers, machine operators and assemblers o Agriculture, mining, manufacturing, electricity, gas, steam and air-conditioning supply, wholesale and retail trade South-Eastern Europe o Agricultural workers, craft workers, machine operators and assemblers o Agriculture, manufacturing, real estate activities and other services More represented professions in individual clusters

Female working conditions in CEE Less often direct work with people Less often intellectual work Lower incomes Data source: Eurofound: EWCS 2010

Factors with negative impact on health status: 1.High stress o working at high speed, to tight deadlines, impossibility to interrupt work,... 2.Physical work o carrying heavy loads, standing, unskilled labour,... 3.Poor working conditions / environment o noise, high or low temperatures, smoke,... 4.Low frequency of leisure time activities (e.g. sport) 5.Long working hours and work in unsocial hours Time devoted to house chores and care did not show a significant impact on health status of women Which working conditions have the greatest impact on health?

Conclusions Worse work-life balance of women in Central and Eastern Europe (Central-Eastern and Eastern European clusters) In the same countries worse health status of women In CEE – lower level of stress at work BUT o More women exercise physical work o Work in poor environment o Less time to leisure activities o Work long working hours ⟹ More negative impact of work on women‘s health in CEE

Thank you for your attention Data source: European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions, European Working Conditions Survey, Colchester, Essex: UK Data Archive (distributor).