Communiqué, issue 6, 2004
Special Foundation Forum 2004
- Time to re-think work-life balance: Second Foundation Forum debates key issues
- Do we need to work longer hours?
- Time and flexibility
- Investing in work-life balance – a win-win situation?
- Work and care - payback for the elderly or investment in a new generation?
- Keynote round-up
- An economy or a society: where do we live and work?
Articles
- Focusing firmly on the year ahead
- Foundation forges closer ties with the EP
- Disability and social exclusion: Reversing the trend
- Europe ‘not losing jobs’ due to outsourcing of ICT services
Previous issues of Communiqué
Three keynote speakers helped to put the Forum in context, sketching out some of the main issues that need to be addressed.
Vlado Dimovski, Minister of Labour, Family and Social Affairs, Republic of Slovenia
‘Human capital is the key driver of productivity in a modern, knowledge-based society. However human capital isn’t just produced in the education system, it is also produced in firms and in families. Unfortunately, a lot of this knowledge remains locked in families due to the absence of affordable childcare, lack of working time flexibility and other obstacles.
‘Converting this personal and tacit knowledge into organisational knowledge is one of the big challenges and why reconciling work and family life is so important. Employers should find more creative ways to balance flexibility with security and social protection.’
Bernhard Jansen, Director, DG Employment and Social Affairs, European Commission
‘For many people the working day doesn’t finish when they get home from their paid employment: they start a second working day, including housework, educating their children and caring for dependent relatives and the elderly. When formulating strategies, this additional time has to be taken into account, as does the fact that this double workload is rarely distributed equitably between men and women.’
Micheál Martin, Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Ireland
‘The fight against unemployment is universally seen as one of the most important ways to improve economic and social conditions for families. Member States that have achieved high overall employment rates have in common policies that take into account the need to reconcile work and family responsibilities.
‘We also need to keep an eye on the quality of work. Research (in Europe) has found that a good job is considered the most important factor in ensuring a good life.’