Though the era of the 60-hour working week is gone and the number of working hours in the EU has been declining, reconciling work and family life remains a dilemma for most of us. The EU is currently in a heated debate on revising its working time directive, providing basic protection for workers, and a group of MEPs, ministers and experts got together to debate the work-life balance in Brussels this week.
The focus of the debate was on finding a balance between work and family life in a world where people live longer and have fewer children. Among the issues discussed were sharing responsibility for caring, raising female participation in the labour market, the need to make the EU more competitive through the Lisbon strategy and the problems of work-related stress. "Europe is making progress on economic issues but it seems to have problems in implementing the social agenda. We need to convince our citizens that we can do the two," said French Socialist Harlem Desir.
 
Who really does work the longest hours - men or women?
 
Working hours vary widely across the EU, from an average 30-hour week in France to 36 hours in Hungary. A key issue in the current debate on the working time rules is whether to allow an opt-out making it possible to work longer than 48 hours a week. 
 
According to the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions a woman working full-time works 40 hours a week, while men average 43 hours. However, as Tina Weber from the European Centre of Enterprises said, "If unpaid working hours (caring for children, household work, caring for elderly or disabled relatives) are added to paid working hours, it is women, not men, that have a significantly longer working week."
 
Work-life balance options
 
The meeting discussed options for improving the work-life balance such as job sharing, home-working, flexitime and compressed working (where full-time is compressed into fewer days) as well as part-time work. There are huge differences between countries as regards the possibilities for part-time employment. While 9 out 10 Dutch companies employ part-timers, only 2 in 10 do in Greece and Portugal.
 
The vast majority of part-time workers in the EU are women. Some 33% of women work part-time, compared with just 6% of men. Many choose part-time work to fit in around the demands of caring for children or elderly relatives. However, part-time work also has attractions for young people just entering the labour market and older people who want to cut back on the amount they work. But a big drawback remains the negative attitude of many managers and less favourable conditions for part-time workers
 
Spanish Socialist Alejandro Cercas said, "I saw this (work-life balance) earlier mainly as the women's dilemma, but there's a lot more to it. It's about meeting the Lisbon targets, about facing the demographic changes that are affecting Europe." There was general agreement that it is necessary to find the right mix of options for men and women to achieve a "win-win" situation with the work-life balance.
 
EP resolution on demographic challenges
 
The EP adopted a report on demographic challenges and solidarity between the generations in March. Employment promotion, more attention for family needs, the reconciliation of work and family life, a balanced immigration policy and encouragement for older people to work longer were key issues in the report drafted by British Conservative Philip Bushill-Matthews