Having time for family and work
There is not enough time for the important things in life. In the national dialogue, many people said they do not have enough time for work, family and leisure. People want a better work-life balance, flexible childcare and working hours, more opportunities to work from home, and more time for themselves.
There is not enough time for the important things in life. In the national dialogue, many people said they do not have enough time for work, family and leisure. People want a better work-life balance, flexible childcare and working hours, more opportunities to work from home, and more time for themselves.
“Free time is of paramount importance today, especially in a world that keeps filling up with more and more work and stress.”from an online response submitted on 18 August 2015
Family and work – a life in balance
The increased labour market participation of women has brought up a key issue: how partners can ensure a fair division of time for family and work. Men and women are still affected in different ways by the reconciliation of family and work. Men usually work full-time and often longer. Women are more likely to work part-time and interrupt their employment. 70 per cent of working mothers with young children work part-time, but only 6 per cent of the fathers.1
“Work can be fun and gratifying and it can help you realise your potential – but it constantly demands more and more of your time.”from the national dialogue event of the Evangelische Landjugendakademie in Altenkirchen on 24 June 2015
The indicator comparison of actual and preferred working hours indicator measures the extent to which people can achieve their preferred working hours. The indicator approximates how satisfied people are with the way they spend their time.
There are still big differences in the actual working hours of men and women, though the gap is narrowing. In 2017, the actual working hours of men are on average, ten hours above those of women. Actual working hours for both sexes have fallen since 2000, in the case of women this is largely because of the increase in part-time work. Over time, the difference between actual and agreed working hours has narrowed a little for men. In 1991, they worked 4.2 hours more than the agreed working hours, in the 2017 the difference has fallen to 3.4 hours. In contrast, the gap is widening for women from 1.8 hours in 1991 to 2.4 hours in 2017.
Several factors can have an impact on whether people actually work the number of hours they want to work. One of these is whether the working time preferences of employers and employees correspond with each other. For example, is it possible to meet the employee’s desire to have flexible working hours? It also depends on whether working couples can agree on a way of dividing their time between work and family.
How many hours do you work?
Are you happy with your working hours or do you work longer than you really want? Or would you prefer to work longer hours?
In studies such as the Socio-Economic Panel a representative selection of people2 were asked about their preferred working hours.
The data shows how many the actual working hours of people in Germany per week and how long they would prefer to work – for men and women.
Compare your weekly working hours
Enter how many hours you actually work per week and how many hours you prefer to work.
The black circles show your entries on actual and preferred working hours and compare them with the data on actual and preferred working hours for all workers in Germany.
Underneath you will see the share of men and women in Germany who work more or less hours per week than you, along with the share of men and women who prefer to work more or less hours than you.
What Does the Government Do?
The German Federal Government financially supports families by increasing the child benefit and child allowance. Almost 18 million families with children benefit from this. Since 2019, it has been easier for bridge part-time workers to switch from full to part-time work and back again so that their work fits in better with their lives.
More flexibility for families
Balancing work and family life is a challenge – particularly when both parents are working. The participants in the national dialogue were largely unanimous that more comprehensive childcare and flexible working hours are the right approach. They also spoke extensively about the need to expand full-time childcare services in schools, daycare centres and after-school centres.
“Young people should no longer have to choose between a job and a family. Both should go hand in hand.”from an online response submitted on 22 June 2015
The childcare enrolment rate shows the relation between the number of children cared for in childcare centres or by nannies and the total number of children in a certain age group. The full-time childcare enrolment rate measures the proportion of children who are looked after for at least seven hours on weekdays, whether it is in childcare centres, publicly subsidised day care, after-school clubs or all-day schools. Childcare has a major impact on parents' ability to work, particularly mothers'.
There has been a positive trend since 2006. The full-time childcare enrolment rate for under-3-year-olds almost tripled until 2018. The full-time childcare enrolment rate for 3-to-6-year-olds also improved markedly and doubled in this same period. At around 46 per cent, the latter was 2.5 times as high as for the under-3-year-olds.
There are marked regional differences. In 2018, the full-time childcare enrolment rate in the east German federal states was much higher than in the west German federal states
In 2018, the full-time childcare enrolment rate for children under 3 in the east German federal states was with 41 per cent almost three times higher than in the west German federal states with 14 per cent. For children between three and six years, childcare enrolment rates in the east German federal states were with 74 per cent almost twice as high as in the west German federal states with 39 per cent. For children between three and six years the full-time childcare enrolment rate was highest in Jena in Thuringia (99.2 per cent) and lowest in the district Regen in Bavaria (5.7 per cent). For children under 3, the Saale-Holzland district (Thuringia) was on top with 58 percent, whereas the district Freyung-Grafenau (Bavaria) had a full-time childcare enrolment rate of 0.8 per cent.
Between 2009 and 2017, early childhood care for children with migration background also increased. However, in 2017 it was still clearly below the rate for children without migration background. The difference in the under-3-year-age group is particularly striking. Only 20 per cent of children with migration background were looked after in childcare centres or by nannies; for children without migration background the figure was 40 per cent. For children between three and six years the difference in the enrolment rates was fourteen percentage points (98 compared to 84 per cent). It is striking, that the converging trend has been reversed and differences in the early childhood care for children with and without migration background have increased in the last two years.3
The need for care does not stop when children leave kindergarten – indeed, quite the opposite. Chilcare for the primary school-aged children is provided in all-day schools or after-school centres.
The number of children in all-day primary schools increased sharply between the school years 2005/2006 and 2017/2018. In the school year 2017/2018 four in ten children go to an all-day primary school. For the last two school years, there has been a significant increase. In the west German federal states the share increased by 6.6 percentage point to a total of 34 per cent. In the east German federal states, the share increased by 9.1 percentage points to a total of 64 per cent. Afternoon care in after-school centres also increased. Overall, all-day care across all age groups has increased significantly.
What Does the Government Do?
The efforts of the federal states and the support of the federal government led to the increase in childcare enrolment. The federal government has already done a great deal to improve childcare since the launch of its Future Education and Childcare programme (Zukunft Bildung und Betreuung) in 2003. The „Good Daycare Facilities Act“ (Gute-KiTa-Gesetz) intends to improve the quality of daycare centres or to relieve parents‘ of the burden of daycare fees. For this purpose, the federal government gives 5.5 billion euros to the federal states until 2022.
Looking after children or caring for relatives – a balancing act
Many people in the national dialogue were concerned about having adequate, flexible care opportunities for their children and other family members in need of care. Finding ways of balancing work and care responsibilities is a major challenge for many people, and particularly for women, who still tend to shoulder this burden. A participant in the national dialogue event of the Zentralverband des Deutschen Handwerks in Berlin on 29 June 2015 described this conflict in a nutshell.
“Taking care of parents or other relatives used to be a normal thing, but these days people who provide such care are expected to work as well.”
People often lack recognition for staying home to look after their children or other relatives, and they can be left behind in their careers. The conflict can be illustrated with the reduced working hours for care responsibilities indicator. Care responsibilities include looking after children and other relatives.
The indicator at least provides a rough measurement of the need for care. More data needs to be collected in order to make more accurate statements about care needs and factors that restrict employment.
More and more people are working fewer hours because of care responsibilities. This proportion grew from 17 to 25.5 per cent between 2006 and 2017. The overwhelming majority of respondents said the main reason for reducing their working hours was to look after their children.
The number of people who have completely given up work because of childcare and other care responsibilities has also increased. In 2006, 8 of 100 respondents reported that they have completely given up work because of childcare and other care responsibilities. In 2016, it was more than 12 of 100 respondents.
It is generally women who shoulder these responsibilities. In future demographic change will make the situation more acute. More people are facing the challenge of having to reconcile their work and care responsibilities.
What Does the Government Do?
The federal government has increased funding for home-care and assistance services as well as for nursing homes. The government's focus is also on relieving the burden on caretakers who look after family members. Since 1 January 2015, employees have been given more flexibility and security so that they can look after family members themselves. With the parental benefit ElterngeldPlus and the partnership bonus, the Federal Government is improving the balance of work, family and childcare.
Long commutes, less time
Many people feel their commute to work is simply lost time. It is time that is taken away from their work, family and leisure time. Work needs to be much more flexible and mobile. Improvements to roads, rail and cycle paths and the expansion of technology such as fast, nationwide broadband and mobile phone connections, can all reduce the need for long commutes and increase wellbeing.
“Today’s technologies could easily enable more flexible working hours and more teleworking options in many professions.”from an online response submitted on 26 June 2015
The proportion of employed persons in Germany whose commute is longer than 30 minutes. is used as an indicator for commuting time.
In Germany there is a trend towards longer commuting times. About 27 per cent of employees in Germany travelled more than 30 minutes to work each day in 2016. Almost one in 20 workers in Germany is a long-distance commuter, i.e. almost 1.6 million people travel more than one hour to work every day.
At the same time, fewer and fewer people in Germany are willing to move house in order to accommodate their job. They want to stay in their familiar surroundings, so they are prepared to put up with longer commuting times. Commuting is clearly an individual choice. But the state can create conditions that makes it easier, even for long-distance commuters.
In metropolitan areas and the city states (Berlin, Bremen und Hamburg) the trend is shifting from cars to public transport and bicycles. In the rural areas it is the other way round: more and more commuters are driving to work, often because there is a lack of good public transport options.
The majority of commuters who travel more than an hour to work go by train, and this trend is upwards. But a great many long-distance commuters still use their cars.
What Does the Government Do?
To make rail travel more attractive, VAT on rail tickets will be reduced from 19 percent to 7 percent from January 2020. The federal government is also investing in local rail passenger transport. With an amendment to the Road Traffic Regulations, the federal government is working on more bicycle-friendly cities and enabling municipalities to improve the bike infrastructure.
Footnotes
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Klenner, C. and Lillemeier, S. (2015): Gender News: Große Unterschiede in den Arbeitszeiten von Männern und Frauen. WSI Report 22/2015.
- 2
The statistics distinguish between the general population and the sample. When applied to Germany's resident population the general population includes everyone who lives in Germany on a particular reporting date. A sample is when certain people are selected from the general population, for example for the purposes of a survey. This selection process is random, so the survey participants are not determined in advance. A basic law of statistics states that conclusions about the general population can be drawn based on an adequately large sample.
- 3