Social Europe

  • EU Forward Project
  • YouTube
  • Podcast
  • Books
  • Newsletter
  • Membership

EU Needs Fair Work-life Balance

Montserrat Mir Roca 24th April 2017

Montserrat Mir Roca

Montserrat Mir Roca

When the nuts and bolts of the long-awaited European Pillar of Social Rights are unveiled at the end of April, the European Commission will at the same time set out plans to achieve a better balance between work and private life. This issue affects the lives of millions of Europeans, and has a direct bearing on economic growth and popular support for the EU. Trade unions believe ambitious action is needed.

Let’s look at the economic arguments. The EU has set the target of a 75% employment rate for both women and men by 2020. But – especially in the wake of austerity-based cuts in public services – people cannot take up paid work if there is no-one to look after their children, ageing parents, or sick or disabled family members. And of course, the great majority of carers are women. Without support, many women are forced into part-time, temporary and poor-quality jobs with no opportunity to develop the professional potential and skills Europe so badly needs.

New research by the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions estimates the total cost of women’s inactivity in the workforce to be around €370 billion across the EU, or 2.8% of GDP, including loss of tax revenues and payment of benefits. Enabling more women to work by investing in ‘work-life balance’ would be one sure way to boost Europe’s economic recovery.

There is plenty of evidence that in Nordic countries, for example, which offer a more generous and flexible approach to responsibilities outside the workplace, workers suffer less stress and the economy benefits from greater productivity.

The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) believes a coordinated mix of legislation and non-legislative measures is required now, including paid paternity and parental leave, flexible working arrangements, and universal, affordable child and elderly care with financial support from EU social and structural funds. Creating a better work-life balance would be in the interests not only of workers and their families but also employers and society in general.

We recognise the political difficulties facing the Commission as it contemplates the future of Europe, and we hope that Commissioners have taken our arguments on board. The trade unions are ready to support the Commission if the proposal on work-life balance matches the real needs of men and women trying to achieve this balance. But we fear that workers will find the final proposals disappointing. This could have been a major opportunity to show Europeans that the EU is listening.

Will it work this time?

We have waited almost 25 years for progress on maternity leave. The last attempt to improve maternity provisions was abandoned after the draft legislation had been blocked by the Members States in the European Council for some six years.

The EU should be ensuring better leave provisions and care facilities for both working parents in all Member States. The existing, out-dated EU directives on maternity and parental leave have largely failed to improve gender equality, neither expanding women’s opportunities in the labour market, nor encouraging men to use leave provisions and take a greater share of caring responsibilities. Currently, only 10% of fathers take up their option of one month’s paternity leave. Indeed, arrangements in some Member States tend to reinforce traditional gender roles, offering men a bit of extra time off but no opportunity for sharing responsibilities. Women are left to compensate for inadequate social care, depriving them of careers, equal pay and economic independence. The EU must also bring the minimum standards existing in some countries up closer to the level of Member States that promote a better work-life balance.

We have called for practical measures and policies that would make a real difference to people’s lives. We understand the Commission will propose new legislation, which we welcome in principle, but we are waiting to see what it contains. The ETUC has called, for example, for statutory maternity leave of at least 18 weeks on full pay; breastfeeding facilities; a Paternity Leave Directive guaranteeing at least two weeks, non-transferable paid leave for new fathers, and paid parental leave of at least 24 weeks which should be available until a child reaches the age of eight.

Stop stigmatising parents

Women need stronger protection from dismissal for at least six months after they return to work after maternity leave. A survey carried out among our members revealed that in every country new mothers are being sacked or demoted. In short, when women become parents their pay and promotion chances go down, whereas men’s go up. Carers’ leave should be introduced at EU level, and paid. And flexible working arrangements, while important, need careful regulation, which should be negotiated between trade unions and employers. Expecting parents to ‘telework’ eight hours a day with a toddler around their feet is expecting miracles.

Accessible, affordable childcare is key not only to increase women’s participation in the workforce, but also to meeting Europe’s demographic challenge. Member States where childcare is unavailable not only have higher levels of female unemployment, they also have lower birth-rates. And as the population ages, the burden of care for elderly and disabled parents and grandparents is falling more and more onto families – and therefore women. With social care under pressure across Europe, working people must have the flexibility to meet these responsibilities.

In the end, the ETUC’s red line is pay. The EU must require all leave schemes to be covered by adequate pay arrangements. This would go a long way towards reducing the gender pay gap, facilitating women’s re-entry into the labour market and encouraging men to make use of parental and paternity leave. To secure Europe’s future prosperity, Member States need to invest in work-life balance, to the benefit of all.

This column is sponsored by the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC).
Montserrat Mir Roca

Montserrat Mir Roca is Confederal Secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation. Previously, she was a member of the national executive of the CC.OO trade union in Spain.

Harvard University Press Advertisement

Social Europe Ad - Promoting European social policies

We need your help.

Support Social Europe for less than €5 per month and help keep our content freely accessible to everyone. Your support empowers independent publishing and drives the conversations that matter. Thank you very much!

Social Europe Membership

Click here to become a member

Most Recent Articles

09d21a9 The Future of Social Democracy: How the German SPD can Win AgainHenning Meyer
u42198346 How Trump’s Tariff Regime Fuels Global OligarchyGabriel Zucman
u421983462 041df6feef0a 3 Universities Under Siege: A Global Reckoning for Higher EducationManuel Muñiz
u4219836ab582 af42 4743 a271 a4f423d1926d 0 How Trade Unions Can Champion Solidarity in Europe’s Migration DebateNeva Löw
u421983467298feb62884 0 The Weak Strongman: How Trump’s Presidency Emboldens America’s EnemiesTimothy Snyder

Most Popular Articles

u4219834647f 0894ae7ca865 3 Europe’s Businesses Face a Quiet Takeover as US Investors CapitaliseTej Gonza and Timothée Duverger
u4219834674930082ba55 0 Portugal’s Political Earthquake: Centrist Grip Crumbles, Right AscendsEmanuel Ferreira
u421983467e58be8 81f2 4326 80f2 d452cfe9031e 1 “The Universities Are the Enemy”: Why Europe Must Act NowBartosz Rydliński
u42198346761805ea24 2 Trump’s ‘Golden Era’ Fades as European Allies Face Harsh New RealityFerenc Németh and Peter Kreko
startupsgovernment e1744799195663 Governments Are Not StartupsMariana Mazzucato
u421986cbef 2549 4e0c b6c4 b5bb01362b52 0 American SuicideJoschka Fischer
u42198346769d6584 1580 41fe 8c7d 3b9398aa5ec5 1 Why Trump Keeps Winning: The Truth No One AdmitsBo Rothstein
u421983467 a350a084 b098 4970 9834 739dc11b73a5 1 America Is About to Become the Next BrexitJ Bradford DeLong
u4219834676ba1b3a2 b4e1 4c79 960b 6770c60533fa 1 The End of the ‘West’ and Europe’s FutureGuillaume Duval
u421983462e c2ec 4dd2 90a4 b9cfb6856465 1 The Transatlantic Alliance Is Dying—What Comes Next for Europe?Frank Hoffer

Eurofound advertisement

Ageing workforce
How are minimum wage levels changing in Europe?

In a new Eurofound Talks podcast episode, host Mary McCaughey speaks with Eurofound expert Carlos Vacas Soriano about recent changes to minimum wages in Europe and their implications.

Listeners can delve into the intricacies of Europe's minimum wage dynamics and the driving factors behind these shifts. The conversation also highlights the broader effects of minimum wage changes on income inequality and gender equality.

Listen to the episode for free. Also make sure to subscribe to Eurofound Talks so you don’t miss an episode!

LISTEN NOW

Foundation for European Progressive Studies Advertisement

Spring Issues

The Spring issue of The Progressive Post is out!


Since President Trump’s inauguration, the US – hitherto the cornerstone of Western security – is destabilising the world order it helped to build. The US security umbrella is apparently closing on Europe, Ukraine finds itself less and less protected, and the traditional defender of free trade is now shutting the door to foreign goods, sending stock markets on a rollercoaster. How will the European Union respond to this dramatic landscape change? .


Among this issue’s highlights, we discuss European defence strategies, assess how the US president's recent announcements will impact international trade and explore the risks  and opportunities that algorithms pose for workers.


READ THE MAGAZINE

Hans Böckler Stiftung Advertisement

WSI Report

WSI Minimum Wage Report 2025

The trend towards significant nominal minimum wage increases is continuing this year. In view of falling inflation rates, this translates into a sizeable increase in purchasing power for minimum wage earners in most European countries. The background to this is the implementation of the European Minimum Wage Directive, which has led to a reorientation of minimum wage policy in many countries and is thus boosting the dynamics of minimum wages. Most EU countries are now following the reference values for adequate minimum wages enshrined in the directive, which are 60% of the median wage or 50 % of the average wage. However, for Germany, a structural increase is still necessary to make progress towards an adequate minimum wage.

DOWNLOAD HERE

S&D Group in the European Parliament advertisement

Cohesion Policy

S&D Position Paper on Cohesion Policy post-2027: a resilient future for European territorial equity”,

Cohesion Policy aims to promote harmonious development and reduce economic, social and territorial disparities between the regions of the Union, and the backwardness of the least favoured regions with a particular focus on rural areas, areas affected by industrial transition and regions suffering from severe and permanent natural or demographic handicaps, such as outermost regions, regions with very low population density, islands, cross-border and mountain regions.

READ THE FULL POSITION PAPER HERE

ETUI advertisement

HESA Magazine Cover

What kind of impact is artificial intelligence (AI) having, or likely to have, on the way we work and the conditions we work under? Discover the latest issue of HesaMag, the ETUI’s health and safety magazine, which considers this question from many angles.

DOWNLOAD HERE

Social Europe

Our Mission

Team

Article Submission

Advertisements

Membership

Social Europe Archives

Themes Archive

Politics Archive

Economy Archive

Society Archive

Ecology Archive

Miscellaneous

RSS Feed

Legal Disclosure

Privacy Policy

Copyright

Social Europe ISSN 2628-7641