Reconciliation of work and private life

1
Reconciliation of work and private life

• Jaime Cabeza Pereiro
• Vigo University

2
contents

• Several public and private policies and some
  trends of opinion.
• Main perspectives
• Gender equality.
• European Employment Strategy
• Demography chilbirth rate and care for elder
  people.
• Family protection.

3
Main policies

• Public also private?- services available to care
  children and dependant people.
• Parental leaves and time work reductions to care
  both- children and dependants. Social Security
  rights and allowances for this purpose. Care
  credits to be applied in retirement schemes.
• Work arrangements and flexible work conditions to
  attend labour and private life vg., part time,
  teleworking, flexible time arrangements

4
Deep convitions

• Family conceptions. Values.
• Contestation to public policies may be very
  sharp. For many groups and persons, family
  decisions must be kept out of public concern.
  They belong to the privacy and to the realm of
  Private Law.
• Against these thinkings, the feminist movements
  have promoted the publification of family spaces
  in order to challenge the status quo and to
  change the conducts and the stereotypes.

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CONFLICT BETWEEN TWO MODELS

• The classical breadwinner model, where men are
  supposed to provide only the economic resorces
  and women are expected to supply only the care
  unpaid work and without social recognition.
• A different pattern, where both, men and women
  share all the tasks with equity or where any
  person is treated as an adult worker individual.
  Of course, changes in family structure are
  largely involved in this discussion.
• Nevertheless, old schemes are still nowadays
  conditioning the reality. Gender stereotypes
  havent dissapeared at all.
• Sometimes, its easy to appreciate a deep divorce
  betweeen convictions and behaviours. And large
  difficulties to change the attitudes.
• New proposals and policies are avoiding the
  gender conflict in the assumption of
  responsabilities and tend to look for new
  perspectives. With this trends, old problems
  remain. And gender oriented distribution of roles
  remain alive.

6
Free choices?

• The Commission adopts this topic in its
  proposals.
• But this rethoric has encouraged classical
  possitions and has focused women in caring tasks.
• At the end, the social patterns and also the
  retribution differences between both genders have
  resulted in the traditional model of male
  breadwinners and female carers. Although maybe
  women enjoy Social Security protection in their
  domestic work.
• Free choices need equality and non discrimination
  as starting points.

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Sharing responsabilities v. reconciliating
private life and work

• Actually, the emerging discussion of
  reconciliating work and private law has had the
  result of diminishing the debate about sharing
  responsabilities.
• As an example, the traditional conflict about the
  assumption og domestic work had lost its
  intensity.
• Among some member States its encouraged the
  maintenance of traditional patterns using the
  reconciliating approach.
• Por exemple, in any M.E. it is encouraged the
  formalised domestic work in the scope of
  Proximity Works. But in this way its secundary
  if men become implied in the development of this
  work.
• Consequently inequalities spread in the labour
  market. Women are supposed to face up the burden
  of domestic work.
• So, the reconciliation approach has been used
  as an strategy to avoid men responsabilities. If
  family responsabilities become compatible with
  the labour relations, caring responsabilities are
  not for much longer a barrier. The question about
  who cares is not a problem of paramount
  importance.

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Divorce between reconciliating and gender
equality

• In this context, reconciliating work and family
  arises as a defence tool for men. The target is
  to help women with the purpose of making their
  social responsabilities compatible with their
  maintenance in the labour market. So, an implicit
  commitment with the sexist division of tasks
  between men and women is accepted.
• Reconciliating as help and assistance to
  mothers. This is the enthusiastic approach for
  the reactionaric political possitions to this
  topic.

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The European discussion

• Avoiding the vast majority of references, the
  First Programme on Social Action -1974- included
  the debate about sharing responsabilities between
  both genders. But the change in the language is
  very clear and evident. In the Strasbourg
  Community Charter on Social Fundamental Rigths of
  Workers -1989- the word sharing dissapears and
  its replaced for reconciliation. And care
  responsabilities become care obligations.
• Sharing is a discourse of equity private and
  public- and equality. Reconciliation is a
  market approach.
• Consequently, the reconciliation message has
  flourished in the European Employment Strategy.
• Consequently, in the Law field, the equality and
  non discrimination rethoric has been very away
  from the parental leave developments. In this
  context, as it would be easy to predict , the ECJ
  has largely denied to appreciate indirect
  discrimination in cases about parental
  institutions. Vg, in the recente Gómez Limón case.

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Recontructing the relationship

• Nevertheless, equality and reconciliating are
  fields with many links and close relations. At
  least, the European Commission recongnises this
  nearness reconciliating meassures have to tend
  to strengthening equality.
• And social and familiar reality have reinforced
  an individual approach to all persons
  irrespective of his/her family. Actually,
  individualization has been one of the main
  challenges of feminist policies.
• European policies have assumed these social
  changes, demographic pressures and new models of
  family.
• And mainstreaming means taking into account
  gender perspective in a field of policies with
  deep impact.

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Demographic problems

• Demographic concern is in the eye of the
  hurricane. There are several problems ageing
  between European people, the low childbirth rate
  and female fertility. Behind these trends, the
  main discussions are the following
• Increase of needs for dependant carers which must
  me answered with formal tools better than with
  informal carers.
• Necessity to improve the childbirth ratio. Public
  meassures are required. It is important not to
  delay the private decisions about paternity and
  maternity.
• To get at the rejuvenation the society and to
  guarantee the intergenerational solidarity.
• For all these purposes, reconciliating measures
  are very important.
• It is evident that States with lower percentajes
  of childbirth are at the same time those with
  worse balances between work and private life.
  Also, there is a direct relationship between
  female employment and fertility.

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PARENTAL LEAVE

• 96/34/EC Directive 3rd June 1996. Agreement on
  parental leave.
• Individual right for both parents to leave the
  work three months -4 months in the 18th Jube 2009
  Agreemet- to care children until they reach the
  age of 8 years old. The apply for the leave or
  its enjoying must be protected against
  retaliation dismissal or other disfavourable
  mesasures, in the new Agreement-. The worker has
  the right to keep his/her job or, at least, an
  equivalent job. During the leave, all adquired
  rights are preserved and also the rights in way
  of acquisition.
• Also, workers have an individual right to leave
  the work in vis maior situations linked with
  urgent family events, like accident or illness.

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OTHER ASPECTS OF THE DIRECTIVE

• No more compulsory rules
• Recomendation the leave should be granted in a
  non-transferable basis. One month compulsoyy, in
  the new Agrement.
• And concrete decisions
• Wheter the leave will be granted on full or part
  time basis, in a piecemeal way or as a time
  credit.
• If it will be required a previous lenght of
  services which shall not exceed one year.
  Cointing all temporary contracts with the same
  employer, says the new Agrement.
• To adjust the leave to the special circunstamves
  of adoption.
• To establish the notice periods in benefit of the
  company, specifying the beginning and the end of
  the leave.
• To define the circunstances in which the employer
  can pospone the granting of the leave.
• The authorization of special arrangements in the
  case of small companys.

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SOME REMARKS ABOUT THE DIRECTIVE

• It is one of the first Directives which contain
  an European Agreement.
• This bargained character explains some of the
  more evident gaps it has. The compulsory rules
  are few and it attends only the children care.
  There arent any minimum standards about
  remuneration or Social Security rights during the
  leave.
• The UNICE noe EUROBUSINESS- victory seems to be
  evident. Their thesis prevailed largely upon
  trade unions positions.
• But the bargained character has particular
  interest. Maybe it promotes changes in attitudes
  in the collective scope. The collective dialogue,
  in this sense, would be more permeable to the
  introduction of these measures.

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MORE REMARKS

• At the end the Directive is acting as a soft law
  instrument. The threshold of compulsory measures
  is very small. And it offers to the States
  several posibilities to comply with its
  requirements. From this perspective, its said
  that the Parental Leva Directive is a good sample
  of new trends .
• But it showes the minimum agreements in the
  mid-nities and the prudence of the European
  institutions in a moment when UK had opted out
  the Social Policy Agreement and when Sweden and
  Finland had become EU members too recently. Also,
  the poor policies of Mediterranean States.
• Actually, the Swedish experience was very
  important in the progress of reconciliation
  policies in several countries non transferable
  leaves and Social Security enought protection.
• In this context, the Directive was designed more
  as a family policy tool and less as an instrument
  to look for the equality between both genders.
  The purpose was mainly to afford flexibility to
  the worker persons.

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BUT

• More recent approaches give priority to care
  services, although they are not guaranteed by
  hard law instruments.
• From the employment point of view, parental leve
  is a doubtful thecnique it is true that it links
  workers mainly women- to the labour market. But
  it affects their professional careers very
  deeply. Their different alternatives -part-time,
  piecemeal basis or time-credit- can reduce the
  impact, but not avoid it.
• If the leaves have long duration, the adverse
  impact is broader. And if they are not covered by
  Social Security por the coverage isnt enought,
  they promote the male bradwinner model.
• The challenge seems clear to share the parental
  leave men and women. This target appears in the
  European Commission communications.

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CONCRETE MEASURES

• Leaves in non transferable basis daddys months
  model. To promote the enjoying by fathers of
  caring leaves.
• In the Social Security it is required to get a
  balence between lack of coverage or little
  coverage -which promotes male breadwinner model-
  and too generous protection, which can disuade
  reincorporation to work.
• There is a doubt if Social Security systems
  might encourage informal care or to develop
  patterns of formal caring.
• And other challenge is to develop reconciliation
  measures in self-employed field.

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CARING SERVICES

• These measures show a greater degree of
  implication from the governments and regional
  authorities. Its easier to recognise a parental
  leave, also if it implies social expenditure. But
  edfectiveness is greater in the case of caring
  services.
• However, in this field European commitment only
  involves soft law approach targets, benchmaring
  and monitoring.
• Another values of services they allow social
  integration, from the point of view of children
  and mothers. For mothers, working is fruitful
  with caring facilities. In this context, they are
  an important tool in the domain of EEE.
• The Barcelona Council -2002- fixed quantitative
  targets to be achieved in 2010 there should be
  services enough for 90 per cent of children
  between 3 years old and the age of compulsory
  scholarship and for 30 per cent of chilfren under
  three years old. But this last percentaje is far
  away from being accomplished in 2010.
• And there is a lack of qualitative targets in
  this field.

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FLEXIBLE WORKING CONDITIONS

• The main attention was given to time work
  arrangements.
• Other important topic is teleworking. The 2002
  European Agreement recognises its great
  possibilities for reconciliation purposes.
• But this is a clear example showing that there is
  a risk to focus the reconciliation answers in the
  domain of attypical work.
• Obviously, the develpment in some European
  contries like the Netherlans- of part time work
  constitutes the easiest sample of this trend. It
  is the one and a half family earner model.
• From the point of view of flexible models in time
  organization, the reconciliation challenges
  arent having been into account very much. As the
  best example, the 93/104/CEE Directive didnt
  express any concern about them, nor the
  2000/34/CE Directive. Only the 2008 draft
  proposals gave them some attention, but only as a
  concession to reinforce flexibility in favour of
  companies.

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BUT

• Notwithstanding the little concern of European
  legislation in this problem, some internal
  measures have had broad consequences in allowing
  people to attend their private responsabilites.
  This was the case of the French 35 hours per week
  system, nowadays sharply eroded. It was suggested
  that the poor success of part time work in France
  is a result of this reduction in working time.
• And also it would be very interesting to review
  the collective agreements approach to working
  time. Its possible to find good practices with
  the purpose of reconciliating work and private
  life.

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EUROPEAN EMPLOYMENT STRATEGY

• Its the domain where the reconciliation topic
  has focused the attention at a broader extent,
  with the Lisbon target for 2010 of 60 per cent of
  female employment. Its necessary to afford
  caring facilities to increase women participation
  in labour market.
• European bodies clearly recognise that this is
  the established status quo women have barriers
  which men havent. Actually, European approach
  isnt reluctant at all whit this situation.
• Only the broad objectives of economic policy have
  increased the commitment of the European
  Commissión in reconciliation measures. Mainly
  after the Win Kok report (2003-2004).

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THE AMSTERDAM TREATY

• The 1997 Treaty in this context has had a great
  influence in the development of reconciliating
  policies
• It integrated the Social Policy Agreement into
  the Treaty after the UK opting in.
• It created a new Title VIII Employment-, which
  was the origin of EEE.
• It recognized the mainstreaming approach at the
  highest level art. 3- and introducted the
  possitive action measures in art. 141.

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RECONCILIATION AND EMPLOYMENT POLICIES

• At the end, reconciliation has been coapted by
  the EEE. In this scope it has had the
  recongnition it lacked in other areas.
• However the target is not the sharing of
  responsability but the creation of employment.
  Women are a colective which is necessary to
  attract to the labour market
• And reconciliation has affected also the
  flexicurity discourse. To progress in their
  professional careers, women need leaves, caring
  services and flexibility in work conditions. In
  transitional markets, it must be easy to move
  from work to parental leave and to come back to
  work. All without large costs nor losses in their
  professional development.
• Unfortunately, women depend stronger on
  employment services. And the efficience of those
  services is higher in the case of men.

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Women in attypical work

• But at the end, women become tied to the
  secundary labour market part time, flexible
  conditions with less Social Security protection
  and less acquired rights. In broad terms, in
  attypical work.
• From 2000 Lisbon Summit onswards, female worker
  has grown in quantitative terms, but not in
  quality.
• In this path, parental leave policies , care
  services and flexibility in favour of workers can
  promote better qualitative standards.

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Last comments

• Nevertheless, in last years, the reconciliation
  policies seem to have lost visibility.
• At the beginning of the EEE, one of the four
  pillars equality- included in a natural way
  reconciliation policies. But since 2005, with the
  harminization of employment guidelines with
  economic guidelines, this pillar has disappeared.

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LEGISLATIVE TRENDS

• Scandinavian models have spread their influence
  in some internal legislation. As an example, last
  reform in German has developed the system of non
  transferable leaves with reserve in favour of the
  father.
• It has been improved social protection to
  override the male bradwinner model.
• Also, it is encouraged early return of mothers to
  the labour market after a leave.
• And it has been improved the net of child care
  services, mainly for chilfren under three years
  old.
• These trends are expected to have impact in the
  childbirth rate.

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OTHER TRENDS

• In France family policies have been focused to
  child care services and Social Secrurity
  allowances. This system has helped women to face
  their double task as mothers and workers.
• Last years the child care net of services has
  been maintained. But there has been a clear trend
  to increase the allowances in the case of
  parental leave or to contract a domestic workers.
• So mothers are supposed to chose between working
  or caring children. Some policies have tried to
  encourange woment to leave the labour market with
  the purpose of fighting agains t high
  unemployment rates.
• Fathers have had little incentives to take
  parental leave.

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Other trends

• Last reforms in Spain have been focused in the
  development of a paternity leave which is
  recognised for four weeks, but maintaning long
  leaves ultil three years- and long time
  reductions to care children or other dependant
  relatives.
• This leaves, except the paternity leave are not
  covered at all with Social Security measures so
  encouraging the male breadwinner model.
• However, the modern legislation insist in the
  need of sharing responsabilities between both
  genders.
• It has been passed an Act which pretends to
  afford care services for dependant people.
• And some regional authoritues Comunidades
  Autónomas are proposing quantitative targets in
  care services for children.

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Conclusion

• Two questions
• 1) Which values must be followed and with which
  priority?
• Sharing responsabilities and equality?
• Family protection?
• Chilbirth rate increase and other demographic
  challenges?
• 2) Which tools must be priorised?