Reconciling Work and Family Life: a Study of Women’s Time Use Patterns, Unpaid Work and Workplace Policies.

Abstract

Work and family life balance are central in understanding the employment dilemma in the context of a highly segmented labour market and persisting gender inequalities in the world of work. Women, much more than men, devote a significant part of their time to unpaid household work, which includes caring for children, sick household members, and the elderly. Time-use surveys1 of 26 OECD countries and three OECD enhanced engagement countries (China, India and South Africa) show that women devote, on average, more than twice as much time to household work as men (OECD 2012). The term “work-life balance” is used in policy debates concerned with the distribution of time and effort between work and other aspects of life.2 International developments like the Beijing Declaration 1995 has recognized the importance of work-family reconciliation as essential in promoting gender equality.