News
EGB professor talks at EU hearing on employment and social affairs
Based on her long-standing research on the work-life balance directive, Caroline de la Porte presented an analysis of the implementation and impact of the directive from a gender equalization perspective. The focus was on whether there were sufficient incentives to promote the gender equalization of unpaid care between men and women.
The main conclusions of the presentation were:
- The directive has strengthened parental leave rights across the EU. Paid leave reserved for fathers and second parents has expanded, alongside improvements in compensation, supporting the aim of sharing unpaid care more equally.
- Countries have moved closer to the directive’s aims, but progress remains uneven. Ten countries introduced changes that fully met the presentation’s benchmarks for reserved leave and adequate pay. Substantial differences between countries remain, partly reflecting their existing leave systems.
- Stronger rights do not yet demonstrate more equal sharing of care. The presentation leaves open whether fathers and second carers actually take more leave. It identifies compensation, access to information and administrative procedures as factors that may influence take-up, and says uptake data need further examination.
See the stream of the public hearing “The impact of the EU’s work-life balance directive”
Visit the AGILE work-life balance project
Achieving Work-Life Balance: Citizens, Policies, and Firm Perspectives is Caroline de la Portes current research project