Principle 9
Work-life balance
"Parents and people with caring responsibilities have the right to suitable leave, flexible working arrangements and access to care services. Women and men shall have equal access to special leaves of absence to fulfil their caring responsibilities and be encouraged to use them in a balanced way."
Work-life balance as a determinant of health
When work becomes an overwhelming part of life, it can put additional time and emotional pressure on those with caring responsibilities and become an unmanageable burden. Conflicts between work and family responsibilities may trigger stress, burn-out, maladaptive coping mechanisms, and overall mental health decline.
On the other hand, flexible and gender-sensitive working and leave arrangements with fair compensation promote workers' psychosocial health, productivity and job retention. Work and meaningful employment also plays a significant role in shaping identities, providing for quality of life and social status.
What does the EPSR Action Plan say?
The EPSR Action Plan sets out five key goals for EU Member States:
The provision of formal early childhood education and care should be increased to ensure that at least 78% of the population aged 20 to 64 is in employment by 2030.
Member States had to transpose the Work-life Balance Directive by August 2022.
Social partners should explore measures to ensure fair telework conditions and measures to ensure that all workers can effectively enjoy a right to disconnect.
Public authorities and social partners should cooperate to protect the rights of mobile workers, including seasonal workers.
Member States need to invest in health and care workforce, improving their working conditions and access to training.
Where are we now?
The Social Scoreboard measures progress on the principles of the EPSR. Linked to the principle of childcare and support to children, the Scoreboard outlines that in the EU:
The gender employment gap only decreased by 1 percentage point in the past 10 years (from 11.8 to 10.8).
The employment rate % of population aged 20-64 is at 73.1%.
The gender gap in part-time employment has decreased by 2.8 percentage points in the past 10 years (from 23.5 to 20.7).
*Latest figures - 2021
What are public health actors doing?
The following actions taken by public health actors at (sub)national level can support the implementation of this EPSR principle.
Click on a country to learn about initiatives taking place.
EU tools that help implement Principle 9
There are a range of other policies and instruments at the EU level that can help relevant actors in the field, including in public health, to work together to achieve EPSR Principle 9 on work-life balance.
More information about the EU institutions and programmes is available on EuroHealthNet's Health Inequalities Portal.
The Work-life Balance Directive mandates a more equal sharing of care responsibilities. As such it:
- Introduces paternity leave of at least 10 working days.
- Introduces a minimum of 4 months of paid parental leave, two non-transferrable between parents.
- Introduces carers' leave of 5 days/year.
- Extends the right of flexible working arrangements to all working parents of children up to 8 years old, and all carers.
Additional policy measures include:
- Protection against discrimination and dismissal for parents and carers.
- Encouraging a gender-balanced use of family-related leaves and flexible working arrangements.
- Improving provision of formal care services (childcare, out-of-school care and long-term care).
- Removing economic disincentives which prevent women from accessing the labour market or working full-time.
- Designing support measures for informal carers.
Available resources
For more supportive policy instruments on the topic, consult our other flashcards:
Have your say
Would you like to share promising policies or practices carried out by your public health institute, which support the implementation of this EPSR principle?
Feel free to reach out to our EuroHealthNet colleague Silvia Ganzerla.
What's next?
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