1. Work-life balance: Capabilities Perspective Thoughts on Reconwe project Diane Perrons London School of Economics

2. Capabilities perspective and WLB resources achievements/outcomes limitations/value added Implications and cautions

3. Capabilities perspective and WLB resources: allows a multi-faceted approach to the question of well being rights / sense of entitlement and claims the significance of how WLB is framed achievements/outcomes

4. Capabilities perspective and WLB achievements/outcomes: expands the capabilities framework by including the idea of ‘entitlement to make a claim’ facilitates analysis of intersectionality between state and firm level of analysis and so provides a better understanding of the context within which people make decisions focuses more on the processes of achievement rather than the welfare regime perspective that focuses more on opportunities

5. Capabilities perspective and WLB value added: expands the capabilities framework by including the idea of ‘entitlement to make a claim’ facilitates analysis of intersectionality between state and firm level of analysis and so provides a better understanding of the context within which people make decisions

6. Capabilities perspective and WLB limitations: overlook the feedback mechanism between state polices and social norms individualistic liberal foundations of the capabilities perspective – capabilities not equalities as the goal policy confusion e.g. UK’s EHRC empowerment matrix

7. Hungary: men less agency freedom - strong gendered social norms we find a virtually “women only” use of parental leave in our Budapest sample. This reflects strong gendered norms in the workplace, family, and wider society that weaken Hungarian men’s capabilities to use their parental rights. one cannot ignore the undeniably powerful role of cultural gendered assumptions in determining why so few men take any parental leave beyond the targeted father days after the birth. The gendered normative expectations at the workplace in Hungary were taken for granted so that the idea of making a claim for parental leave appeared untenable (Hobson, Fahlén and Takács 2011: 179).

8. Sweden: agency freedom or new gendered social norms many of our Swedish fathers who took only short leave appeared to be apologetic and defensive in their explanations as to why they did not take more leave. This cognitive shift in Swedish father’s responsibilities for care has been in the making for several decades, with campaigns and media debates that culminated in the use or lose it policy. It is important to underscore that this policy is not seen as coercive in Sweden… instead, it is a policy that is viewed as increasing men’s agency to make a claim for parental leave (Hobson, Fahlén and Takács 2011: 180).

9. 10 domains: life, physical security, health, education, standard of living, productive and valued activities etc 6 identity characteristics – gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, religion and dis/abilities 3 aspects: - in outcome, in process and in autonomy 180 data items ! “its very comprehensiveness could … drown out the sense of direction so important to policy making” (Hirschman 1958) ‘relevance wants us to be ambitious, usability urges restraint’ (Sen 1987:20) UK EHRC -Equalities Measurement Framework/ substantive freedom matrix

10. Capability Set for WLB Source: (Hobson 2011) Agency Inequalities Agency gap Focuses more on the processes of achievement rather than the welfare regime perspective that focuses more on opportunities men women