CAPABLE looked at the European Union’s work-life balance directive in Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the UK. We then looked closely at gender inequality in work-life balance in the Netherlands, Slovenia, Spain and the UK. We focused on national and local policy in Amsterdam & Nijmegen (NL), Ljubljana & Maribor (SI), Barcelona & Pamplona (ES), and London & Leeds (UK).
Objective 1: To achieve this objective, CAPABLE unpacked work-life policy design at national, sectoral, organizational, and local levels using capability-based policy analysis, as well as quantitative (survey) and qualitative (interviews; focus groups; document analysis) methods. Across 10 publications and multiple presentations, our research shows, for example:
• Accessibility to flexible work arrangements is broader when specified in national legislation (thus not conditional to care obligation)s. Increasing accessibility to flexible work arrangements can, however, increase inequalities between men and women.
• Facilitating flexible work arrangements through collective bargaining offers innovation potential but can also (re)produce inequalities.
• Accessibility of policies targeting parents and carers can be improved by reducing policy complexity and using more simplistic language.
• Accessibility is lower for groups who diverge from the norm (e.g. workers not in stable, permanent employment; parents of children with complex care needs, people with migration backgrounds in need of social care services).
• More attention is needed for accessibility issues related to digitalization of policies and services.
Objective 2: CAPABLE collected unique, comparative quantitative survey data as well as longitudinal interview data with working parents and working. Publications using these data show how gender intersects with individual characteristics to shape what women and men are truly able to do and be when working, caring, and undertaking other activities. For example, people providing help or care to family, friends or others on a consistent basis are often faced with finding information at multiple levels (in the city they live, from their employer, from the national government), across multiple sectors (e.g. health care and social care). These findings have been published scientifically, and presented at academic conferences and stakeholder meetings.
Objective 3: Various forms of quantitative survey data were analysed, and discussions around individual wellbeing also emerged during the longitudinal interviews we conducted. We find, for example, that women’s’ worse mental health is related to the voluntary nature of part-time work as well as financial insecurity. In the Netherlands, with its high levels of part-time work, working fewer hours only reduces stress for women working longer hours part-time jobs and for mothers with young children. CAPABLE survey data also highlights how work-life policies might matter differently depending upon workers’ employment status and work hours.
Objective 4: The CAPABLE project focused on extensive stakeholder engagement, meaning we consulted with policymakers at local, national and European levels, creating actionable findings. For example, in 2023, project findings were used to inform the proposed reform of childcare policy in the Netherlands. In 2024, project findings were used to inform the ongoing development of an advisory report on informal caregiving in the Netherlands (with the Social and Economic Council). Project findings were also used to inform the ongoing development of the EU’s Gender Equality Strategy. In a final stakeholder event, held in November 2024, team members and stakeholders from across Europe discussed ways of leveraging results from the CAPABLE project for developing equitable and sustainable policies for work-life balance, outlined below.
