Sociologický ústav AV ČR, v.v.i.

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2005:04 Work/Life Balance in the Czech Republic: Policy, Time, Money, and Individual, Family, and Company Practices

Alena Křížková (ed.), Radka Dudová, Hana Hašková, Hana Maříková

The new labour market model that evolved in the Czech Republic after 1989 and the family strategies of women and men are two spheres that interact and overlap at various levels of society and in the individual strategies of those involved. The changes to the circumstances surrounding labour market participation that resulted from the economic, political and cultural changes in Czech society and the effects of a global labour market have created a dynamic foundation, which has altered the entire atmosphere of society and the developmental trends within it and on which individuals, families, employers, and companies must base their life strategies. This study analyses the provisions and conditions currently available to the actors – individuals, households, and companies – in the form of social policy measures, financial options or benefits, and the time granted individuals to reconcile work and family life or for employers to facilitate a work/life balance for their employees. Using sociological and statistical data, an analysis is also made of the strategies employed to make use of these conditions and resources with a view to the gender structure of society – family relationships and the functioning of gender relations in the labour market. The issue of work/life balance is studied especially from the perspective of the legislative changes that have occurred in the sphere of family and employment policies, changes in employment and gender relations in the labour market and in the family, and the demographic trends in Czech society, which have been the subject of long-term study in the Gender & Sociology Department at the Institute of Sociology AS CR.

Keywords

Work/life balance, labour market, parenthood, gender inequalities in the labour market, strategies for combining work and family, women

Summary

This study presents a sociological analysis of the conditions and strategies of work/life balance in Czech society. The study is the outcome of the first year of work on the project “Work/Life Balance from the Perspective of Gender Relations and Social and Employment Policies in the Czech Republic”, a project running in 2005–2007 and supported by the Grant Agency of the Czech Republic (403/05ú2474). The issue of work/life balance in relation to the gender structure of society is a topical issue today, especially from the perspective of the changing legislative, political, and institutional conditions and trends in Czech society and with regard to the increasingly global labour market. The study presents an analysis of the provisions and conditions currently available to the relevant actors – individuals, households and companies – in the form of social policy measures, financial options or benefits, and the time granted individuals to reconcile work and family life or for employers to facilitate a work/life balance for their employees. Using sociological and statistical data, an analysis is also made of the strategies employed for making use of these conditions and resources with a view to the gender structure of society – family relationships and the functioning of gender relations in the labour market.
The introductory chapter, by Radka Dudová, presents an overview of the theory dealing with the issue of work/life balance in contemporary sociology of gender, including perspectives addressing gender inequalities in the labour market and theoretical interpretations of the changes in the labour market that have occurred in recent decades and created new conditions for combining and redefining the public and private spheres and the relations between the two. The author shows how the historical ascription of the employment sphere as the reserve of men is reflected in the contemporary rules of the labour market, which establish conditions that a priori put women at a disadvantage. At the same time, work activity is of crucial importance for the formation of the identity of the individual – whether male or female – and for an individual’s position in society.
Policy, time, and money are the focus of the second chapter, by Hana Maříková, which summarises the various measures designed to facilitate a work/life balance in the Czech Republic. The chapter presents an analysis of the available provisions in terms of time, space, and finance offered in the form of services, social benefits and measures, which exist at the family and labour market levels, targeting in particular employees with children, and are designed to facilitate the combination of work and family commitments. The author discusses the availability of pre-school facilities and the degree to which they are used in the Czech Republic, where the use of such facilities has traditionally been high, and looks particularly at the institution of parental leave and the conditions for taking advantage of this option in terms of arrangements within the family, financial aspects, and the conditions in the labour market. She also describes other possible measures for facilitating a work/life balance that can be used at work.
In the third chapter, Radka Dudová, Hana Hašková and Alena Křížková analyse the strategies of the different actors involved at various levels of society: families, individuals (women and men), the companies and organisations that use the given policies, and the conditions and opportunities for combining work and family. In part this refers specifically to the individual strategies used to combine work and family commitments by women, who are still considered to be primarily responsible for running the family. Contemporary society views the issue of the relationship between work and the family to be a “woman’s issue”. The changes that have recently occurred at the policy level and in connection with women’s strategies are the main impetus behind the changes that have also occurred in men’s roles and in the need for them to combine work and the family in their life strategies. The authors analyse the position of companies towards women and men who want to and need to combine work and family commitments. Their findings indicate that at the company level the strategies and social policy introduced by the state to the benefit of family life are perceived and used in the employment sphere primarily to the disadvantage of women, although there do exist some businesses and organisations that are interested in supporting their employees in their effort to successfully combine work and family life, and offer various options for managing this. The chapter closes with an analysis of the societal trends that have arisen as a result of the joint effect of the policies and conditions that exist for combining work and family in the strategies of the actors, including particularly the phenomenon of poverty and the demographic changes that have occurred during the transformation of Czech society.
In the next chapter Hana Maříková reveals the immediate link between maternity and the disadvantaging of women in the labour market, which occurs in direct opposition to the considerable improvement in the position of men in the labour market as fathers. The chapter focuses mainly on the lower remuneration levels of women and on the “critical” period in their employment trajectory when they return to the labour market from parental leave, and it analyses the strategy choices that women with children can make within the framework of the current gender structure and especially with regard to the position of women in the labour market. The author shows that the way in which gender roles are arranged in the family, including the forms of support and dependency between partners, affects the work and career plans of women and men.
The final chapter, by Alena Křížková, highlights the issue of how reconciling work and family commitments is an obstacle to the establishment of gender equality in the labour market that is experienced by women in various parts of the labour market and as existing and as reflected in Czech society. It looks at the strategies adopted by women in management positions to attain equality, although, even after the barriers that exist in the form of the family burden (childlessness) and obstacles connected mainly with the life cycle (age, health) are removed, they remain in a position of inequality in relation to men. The problem is that it is not just maternity that plays a role in disadvantaging women in the labour market but also the very fact of being a woman. That is why even in one of the possible successful strategies for combining work and family, private business, a role is still played by the family context and the structure of management in the company, as in the case of a family business there is often the problem that family and employment roles are mixed, and are again arranged in a manner that puts the woman at a disadvantage.
In the study data is drawn from quantitative and qualitative surveys that were carried out in the Gender & Sociology Department over the past ten years, along with statistical data. The analysis of the conditions and how they are applied in practice by individual actors in contemporary society made it possible to formulate further directions of research. A representative questionnaire survey was carried out among parents with children aged 18 or under living at home, and focused on how these parents perceive the relationship between the work and family spheres and their individual life strategies. This research will be followed next year by a qualitative study of the strategies and conditions relating to work/life balance for actors at the business level.