Time Use and Work Life Balance in Germany and the UK

1
Time Use and Work Life Balance in Germany and the
UK

• Mark Smith, Hermann Gross, Gwen Oliver, Georg
  Sieglen and Frank Bauer.

2
The Research

• Anglo-German Foundation funded comparison of time
  use.
• Use comparable components of time budget surveys
  (UK 2000, DE 2001)
• First access to the German survey but also
  limited
• Explore work life balance issues in the context
  of different regulatory environments and labour
  markets

3
Institutional Arrangements in Germany and the UK
4
Working time outcomes in Germany and the UK
5
Pressure for change in time use

• Growth of female employment and dual earner
  families in both countries - move away from male
  breadwinner households
• erosion of collective norms around working and
  non working times
• Impact of flexibilisation and individualisation
  of working time patterns
• (change in aspirations around division of time
  around children ?)

6
The Surveys

• UK 2000-1 National Time Use Survey data and the
  German Time Budget Survey 2001-2
  (Zeitbudgeterhebung)
• 5000 households in Germany and 6400 households in
  the UK
• Sample householders required to complete two (UK)
  or three (Germany) 24 hour diaries plus
  individual and household questionnaires.
• Weekday and weekend days covered.
• Compatibility through the HETUS project

7
Categorising Time Use
8
Time Use Measures

• Time use patterns of working families
• Blurring of work and non-working lives
• Synchronisation of working and family time
• Fragmentation of family lives
• Support for working families use of services to
  help WLB

9
Time Use in Working Families
Men
Women
10
Time Use in Working Families (weekly means)
11
Share of full-time workers working over the
course of an average day (UK)
12
Share of full-time workers working over the
course of an average day (Germany)
13
Share of employees working in and around societal
core hours
14
Blurring employees working weekends, holidays
15
Fragmentation of childcare for 0-3 year old
children (childcare episodes interrupted by
another episode)
16
Synchronisation of work time average (mean)
number of minutes of both spouses at work - Total
time both spouses are in work (inc. paid work at
home)
17
Synchronisation of home time average (mean)
number of minutes of both spouses at home - Total
length of time spouses at home together (exc.
time spent sleeping and doing paid work)
18
Share of dual earning households not eating as a
family (presence of two adults and children)
19
Help for Working Families - care help received by
households with a child under 12 years.
20
conclusions

• Work life balance difficulties for all working
  families not just those with dual full-timers
• unequal time at home
• blurring of work and non-work time
• synchronisation problems
• Overall WLB seems harder in the UK
• Longer hours culture in the UK may level down
  gender gaps
• East West differences in Germany can be greater
  than UK (sample size)

21
conclusions - continued

• Work life balance challenges for all working
  families (even male breadwinners) highlights need
  
• for more equal division of working time in the
  home
• equality through shorter but not marginal hours
  for all, in line with preference data
• leave arrangements help to reinforce
  specialisation of time use
• need to take into account scheduling of hours as
  well as amount of working
• for sustainable family time
• pressures with jobs in the service economy
• Potential risks of equality through levelling
  down of family time
• sustainability? Impact on children?