Klammer, Ute

This report brings together the analysis of five previous studies on the topic of the life course published by Eurofound. It summarises the overall research findings from the perspective of the individual, the company and the state, and highlights key policy messages. Company cases provide an interesting insight into real life examples of enterprises offering a coherent long-term approach in their human resource management.

In recent years, the issue of flexicurity – how to maintain a balance between the needs of companies for more flexibility in employment contracts and the needs of workers for flexible working hours and for security of employment – has shifted to centre-stage in the policy arena. This report looks at the impact of the ongoing trend towards greater flexibility in the European labour market. It explores whether the trend has contributed to a better work–life balance for workers and reveals the long-term effects of working in non-standard contracts and working part time on individuals’ careers, incomes and employment security.

This study focuses on a sample of six European countries – France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom. These cover a wide spectrum of the potential societal systems, with variations in labour market characteristics, welfare state regimes, gender relations, level of participation and working time patterns. As the selected countries diverge significantly in terms of social protection systems, working time and gender regimes, they illustrate the impact of the institutional structure on the gender division of paid work and income development over the life course.