Margareta Bäck-Wiklund

Quality of Life and Work in Europe

Quality of Life and Work in a Changing Europe T.van der Lippe & M.Back-Wiklund PART I: CONTEXT, THEORY AND METHODS Quality of Life and Work in a Changing Europe: A Theoretical Framework L.den Dulk, M.Back-Wiklund, S.Lewis & D.Redai The Institutional Context of the Quality of Life S.Kovacheva, A.van Doorne-Huiskes & T.Anttila Data and Methods T.van der Lippe, S.Szucs, S.Drobni? & L.Billquist PART II: EMPIRICAL RESULTS Quality of Work and Quality of Life of Service Sector Workers: Cross-national Variations in Eight European Countries P.Prag, M.das Dorres Guerreiro, J.Natti, M.Brookes & L.den Dulk Quality of Life and Satisfaction with the Work-life Balance S.Szucs, S.Drobni?, L.den Dulk & R.Verwiebe Variations in Work-Life Balance Satisfaction Among Service Sector Employees B.Beham, D.Etherington & E.Rodrigues Competing Demands: Work and Child Well-Being L.Lane, T.van der Lippe, S.Kabaivanov & M.Back-Wiklund Gender Differences in Quality of Life E.Fodor, L.Lane, J. Schippers & T.van der Lippe PART III: POLICY IMPLICATIONS AND THE FUTURE RESEARCH AGENDA Healthy Organizations S.Lewis, A.van Doorne-Huiskes, D.Redai & M.Barroso Scenarios for the Quality of Life in the Europe of the Future M.das Dores Guerreiro, A.Mark, L.Billquist & P.Manolova The Social Quality Instrument: Measuring the Social Quality of Work in European Workplaces S.Taipale, B.Beham & J.Natti Quality of ife and Work in a Changing Europe: Future Challenges A.van Doorne-Huiskes & L.den Dulk Bibliography Index

The Workplace as an Arena for Negotiating the Work-Family Boundary: a Case Study of Two Swedish Social Services Agencies

Paper presented at ESRC workshop: Employment and the family (22-23) April, 2004 at City University, London

Quality of Life and Work in a Changing Europe: A Theoretical Framework

Chapter 2 discusses the theoretical framework of this study, which explores the quality of work and life in eight European countries. Unlike many previous quality of life studies, our study looks at multiple life domains and the way they impact on one another. The rise of dual-earner families and the increase in the number of qualified women entering the labour market are forcing more people to combine paid work and care responsibilities or other life activities. Consequently, people increasingly need to adapt their working life to their private and family life and vice versa. Life becomes more complicated when trying to juggle two jobs, children’s school timetables and hobbies, and a social life. In addition, increased flexibility and advanced technology — for example, flexible working hours, e-mail and mobile phones — affect the permeability of work and family boundaries (Kossek et al., 2005). As a result, the work and household domains increasingly interact with and influence each other. Any analysis of the quality of life of workers must consider both domains as well as people’s ability to successfully manage their work and private life. Problems or conflicts between work and family life can have negative impacts on health and well-being (for example, OECD, 2001).

The presence of the absent father: how lone mothers with sons construct and animate the absent father through narratives

This article builds upon results from an empirical study of nine cases where single mothers and their teenage sons have reflected on the relationship to the absent father and on his significance for the family. The results have led us to reflect further on how the construction of a father figure is shaped. The cases are selected from ongoing interventions from the social services. The childs age at the start of the fathers absence varied from birth to seven years old or more. Through analysis of the different cases of mother–son dyad, their narratives and their joint construction of a father figure, the dyad transforms into a triad with the presence of the absent father. Also discussed is the question of which underlying conditions contribute to the need for a joint construction of the father. Further, doubt is cast on the one-sided gender perspective that presupposes young mens need for an adult man as a model of masculinity. The analysis is related to Swedish legislation, emphasising the importance of ascribed biological parenthood, meaning that fathers’ right to joint custody and to visit the child have been strengthened. Along with the biological relationship, the welfare state also regulates the content of fatherhood, i.e. a state-controlled fatherhood.

Quality of Life and Work in a Changing Europe

Intense globalization, rapidly changing workplaces and the increasing number of female employees and dual-earner families have revived the interest of researchers around the world in how people assess their lives overakll (Moen and Chermack, 2005; Crompton et al., 2007; Valcour, 2007; Esping-Andersen, 2009). In the European Union, social quality has been set as a new standard for assessing both economic growth and social well-being. Economic growth and global competitiveness are drawing more attention, while policies regulating the labour market and conditions of work are being used to retrench welfare regimes in crisis. One of the most pressing challenges is to ensure that improvements in economic competitiveness are not achieved at the expense of quality of life or by increasing inequity between people.

Fatherhood in the Nordic welfare states. Comparing care policies and practice

[Violence in Close Relationships: Causes – Consequences – Measures]. Reykjavík: Félagsog tryggingamálaráðuneytið. Haugen, Anni G. 2009. Rannsókn á Ofbeldi Gegn Konum: Viðbrögð Félags\xFEjónustu Og Barnaverndar [Research on Violence against Women: The Reaction of Social Services and Child Protection]. Reykjavík: Rannsóknarsetur í BarnaOg Fjölskylduvernd. Haugen, Anni G. 2012. ‘Það Kemur Alveg Nýtt Look á Folk’ Rannsókn á Gerð Áætlana Um Meðferð Máls í Barnaverndarstarfi [‘People react differently’: A Study on Making Plans of Handling of Cases in Child Protection Work]. Reykjavík: Rannsóknastofnun í BarnaOg Fjölskylduvernd. Kristinsdóttir, Guðrún. 2004. Ég Hef Verið Mjög Sátt Við Að Vera í Fóstri En ... Um Reynslu Ungs Fólks Af Fóstri [I Have Been Very Pleased to Be in Foster Care, But ... The Experience of Young People in Foster Care]. Reykjavík: Barnaverndarstofa, Ritröð 2. Mossige, Svein, and Elisabet Backe-Hansen. 2013. “‘Or Sensitivt for Ungdom?’ [Too Sensitive for Young People?].” In Barn i Forskning: Etiske Dimensjoner [Children in Research: Ethical Dimensions], edited by Hallvard Fossheim, Jacob Hølen, and Helene Ingierd, 45–73. Oslo: De Nasjonal Forskningsetiske Komiteene. Sederholm, Guðrún Helga. 2009. Rannsókn á Ofbeldi Gegn Konum: Viðbrögð 10 Skólastjóra Grunnskóla [Research on Violence Against Women: The Reaction of 10 School Administrators]. Reykjavík: Rannsóknasetur í BarnaOg Fjölskylduvernd.

Competing Demands: Work and Child Well-being

Changes in the world of work over the past 50 years have had important implications for family life. The single-breadwinner model has slowly given way to various forms of dual-earner models. Indeed, the majority of European children in two-parent households now live in families that practise some form of dual-earning (European Commission, 2008). Technological changes, access to global markets, the growth in services and labour market deregulation have reshaped both when people work and the way work is organized (Richter, 1994; Presser, 2003; Fagnani, 2003; Strazdins et al., 2004). These changes have had profound consequences for families and for the interaction between parents and between parents and their children. A major source of concern is the impact of dual-earning on children’s well-being and quality of life. It has been argued that when both parents work, having to juggle two work schedules makes it harder for them to co-ordinate time spent with their children — an outcome that may jeopardize children’s well-being.