Family Futures

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priority must also be given to enabling jobless carers to find

and keep a job.

There are also some sectors which are predominantly

female: 80 per cent of health-care workers are women, and

the picture is similar in the education, childcare, home-care

and other social service sectors. Those sectors where the

majority of workers are women tend to have lower wages and

more part-time work. This partly suits the need for reconcil-

ing work and family responsibilities, but this sectoral gender

pay gap also leads to a growing pensions gap, which puts

older women at risk of poverty. Looking towards higher paid

positions, with higher responsibilities, we see increasingly

fewer women. Even though more women graduate from

universities than men, many have started a family by the

time they would reach a leadership position in their career,

and their priorities change. Women employed in the private

sector, in managerial positions, who ask for the possibility to

work reduced hours, are usually considered less motivated

and less career-driven, and this can lead to being sidelined

and even the loss of the position. There are some budding

initiatives for quotas for women in decision-making posi-

tions, which would help to break this ‘glass ceiling’, but it

remains to be seen whether these will work.

There have also been some successful quota systems for

men, notably in Norway, where quotas were introduced for

fathers to take their paternity leave. As more and more men

now report having difficulties in balancing their work and

family life, as well as feeling a growing need to spend time

with their children and families, there is a profound attitude

change happening for men, and in particular for fathers,

and its societal and economic impact cannot be underesti-

mated. However, progress remains slow, especially in the

private sector, where the take-up of paternity and parental

leave remains very low. Even in countries where the legal

framework guarantees this right for new fathers, many fathers

decide not to take their leave for fear of losing their job or

losing out on career opportunities or the next promotion.

Demographic changes coupled with increased labour

market mobility also have a profound impact on what fami-

lies look like today compared to 50 years ago, and how they

live their lives. We live longer, but not necessarily in good

health, have children later, and fewer children on average than

previous generations. This leads to a contracting workforce

and a growing dependency rate. As entire families or family

members move to find better jobs or opportunities they don’t

have in their own city, region or country of origin, the differ-

ent generations no longer live in proximity, and new parents

often find themselves without the help of grandparents and

other relatives. But the opposite is also true; ageing parents

can no longer count on regular help from their own children.

Of course, new technologies such as Skype enable families to

stay in touch, but this will never be a substitute for regular,

personal contact, help and care.

The financial and economic situation of Europe for the

past couple of years has had a rather negative effect on the

quality of life for families, and even set us back in some

areas where good progress had previously been made, such

as gender equality, women’s employment and childcare

services. Austerity measures to reduce public expenditure

and debt have had a devastating effect on public social

services, especially across the southern European countries.

Greece and Spain are among the worst affected, but Ireland

Women estimate that they spend 30 hours a week providing childcare

compared with 17 hours for men

Men feel a growing need to spend time with their families, but many

experience difficulties in balancing their work and family life

Image: Familles Rurales