Work-Life-Balance Issues in Germany Recent Developments Maresa Feldmann, TU Dortmund University Sozialforschungsstelle (sfs) Germany
politics.co.uk Outline Legal requirements Different child care services in Germany Flexible work Attitude towards different aspects concerning work-life-balance from parents and employers
Maternity leave and parental leave Maternity leave 6 weeks before birth 8 weeks after birth, 12 weeks after multiple birth and preterm births Average salary (maternity benefit 13 Euro per day maximum by health insurance, difference to average salary paid by employer) Parental leave Maximum 36 months for employees (until the child s 3rd birthday) Option to leave for 8 years, if the employer agrees Entitlement for fathers and mothers Employees can work part-time during parental leave The employer must offer the same or a similar work place after return
Maternity leave and parental leave Child benefit 300 to 1800 (maximum) per month (67% of the former income) Benefit is paid during parental leave and up to 12 months if only one parent takes the leave It is prolonged to 14 months if both parents take parts of the leave Single parents get the benefit for 14 months
Institutional child care services All-day care for children at the age of 0-3 entitlement: none availability: for about 3% children in West Germany for about 27% children in East Germany Kindergarten for children between 3 and 6 years (1/2 day/increasingly full-day) entitlement: all children availability: for about 90% children in West Germany and nearly all children in East German 24% of this age group have all-day care; (17% in West Germany, 60% in East Germany)
Institutional child care services After school -provision of care Service for children at the age of 6-10 Entitlement: none, but political goal to offer it to all children The share of full time school children on secondary schools increase in Germany from 5,3% (2003) to 15,6% (2007) Problem for many parents: Few day care possibilities/ support during the time of school holidays
Additional forms of child care In the child s home (babysitter, nanny, employed by the parents) In the home of a child minder (day mother, family daycare) Internal day care places (company kindergartens, employ a child minder) Other individual forms corbisimages.com
Flexible work - Re-entering the labour market Entitlement to part-time work Every employee (in companies with at least 15 employees) has the right to demand a part-time job The employer can reject it for organisational reasons More than 70% of establishments in Germany offer flexible working time arrangements In addition: programmes to support the employees re-entering the labour market after a break due to family Trainings Support in finding a job
IHB-Kurzbericht 9/2011: http://doku.iab.de/kurzber/2011/kb0911.pdf Working-time in Germany Part-time quota Age-group Part-time quota Full-time Part-time regular Part-time in marginal employment Persons in thousands
Keep in mind Most of the part time workers are women Who works part time has a reduced income and less money in retirement People in part time have less carrier possibilities
The view of the employees
The view of the population Source: bmbf: Familienfreundlichkeit im Betrieb http://www.beruf-und-familie.de/system/cms/data/dl_data/df906b9d3dba5c26aa91c1140d5f5220/bmfsfj_allensbach_familienfreundlichkeit_betrieb.pdf, access data: 19.05.2011
The view of parents
The view of the employer
The view of the employer
Conclusion There is a profound desire of mothers AND fathers to achieve a better reconciliation of work and family life The government in Germany pushed this topic with many measures (financial support, legal regulations etc.) But: offering family friendly working places by companies is not enshrined in laws. Companies in Germany started to recognize that family friendly working places are an important topic in order to deal with the expected shortage if skilled labour due to demographic change. They slowly start to implement measures for a better reconciliation. The number of day care facilities increases but to meet the necessities more efforts are essential. Germany walks in the right direction, but it seems that there will be a long way - changes go on too slowly.
Thank you for your attention