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Balancing Work and Family Life during the Life Course

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  • A. Bovenberg

Abstract

This paper discusses how work and family obligations can be better reconciled in EU countries by adopting a life-course perspective. It stresses that longer and deeper involvement in paid employment allows people to exploit their longer life to reconcile the two ambitions of, first, investing in the next generation as a parent and, second, pursuing a fulfilling career in paid work. Greater flexibility of working time over the life course requires more individual responsibility for financing leave. Moreover, rather than shielding older insiders through employment protection, labor-market institutions should enable parents of young children to easily enter and remain in the labor market. Finally, more activating social assistance and in-work benefits should replace passive income support for breadwinners. Copyright Springer 2005

Suggested Citation

  • A. Bovenberg, 2005. "Balancing Work and Family Life during the Life Course," De Economist, Springer, vol. 153(4), pages 399-423, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:decono:v:153:y:2005:i:4:p:399-423
    DOI: 10.1007/s10645-005-2659-3
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    Cited by:

    1. Lei Delsen & Jeroen Smits, 2010. "Does the Life Course Savings Scheme Have the Potential to Improve Work–Life Balance?," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 48(3), pages 583-604, September.
    2. Mark van Duijn & Maarten Lindeboom & Mauro Mastrogiacomo & M. Lundborg, 2009. "Pension plans and the retirement replacement rates in the Netherlands," CPB Discussion Paper 118, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.
    3. Peter Kooreman & Henriëtte Prast, 2010. "What Does Behavioral Economics Mean for Policy? Challenges to Savings and Health Policies in the Netherlands," De Economist, Springer, vol. 158(2), pages 101-122, June.
    4. Zhelyazkova N., 2013. "Parental leave within the broader work‐family trajectory : What can we learn from sequence analysis?," MERIT Working Papers 2013-049, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    5. Bovenberg, A.L. & Hansen, M. & Sorensen, P.B., 2008. "Individual savings accounts for social insurance : Rationale and alternative designs," Other publications TiSEM 72e236b0-ad63-4bea-a314-6, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    6. Versantvoort, Maroesjka, 2008. "Studying time use variations in 18 countries applying a life course perspective," MPRA Paper 21141, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. Peter Birch Sørensen & Martin Ino Hansen & A. Lans Bovenberg, 2006. "Savings Accounts and the Life-Cycle Approach to Social Insurance," EPRU Working Paper Series 06-03, Economic Policy Research Unit (EPRU), University of Copenhagen. Department of Economics.
    8. Giovanni Russo & Wolter Hassink, 2008. "The Part-Time Wage Gap: a Career Perspective," De Economist, Springer, vol. 156(2), pages 145-174, June.

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