Healthy balance between family responsibilities and work-life among employees
Abstract
There has been a continual discussion over the last 20 years, which is still growing prominence, on the relationship between family policies and the employment of women in the high-income countries. Research has been done across all study fields on the subject. Fields like sociology, business, politics, economics, and demography give scattered and fragmented information on the way forward concerning the matter. The objective of this discussion is to discuss the gap and some of the family regimes that are converging as well as some of the family policies and how these different policies influence the outcome of the employed women in high-income countries.
Introduction
The interest in looking at the correlation between family policies and the employed women in high-income countries have hit the spotlight in the last two decades. The debate is still in prominence, and there have been numerous article publications on the matter in major social sciences journals. For instance, the review of the American economy, the American journal of sociology, political theories, the journal of European social policy, and demography articles. The rise of the debate and the interest of the subject matter has come in per with the new trend of the increase of employed women and the expanding of the policies that are related to the family. However, this development on the side of the women seems to be just another dim light in their field of dimness. There is increasingly the growth of more inequalities on women as they strive to access the broader labor market in the world and more so in the high-income countries.
The debate has also been contributed by other facts like the fact that women are more diverse when it comes to labor supply and demand compared to the men. This is because the women are more likely to take breaks or work interruptions, and as a result, force them to take irregular labor paths. The other reason is the growth data and quantitative turn that has been made by the social sciences. In the past, works and information that were based on theory and evidence were not keenly taken. However, the times have changed, and a new era of scientists have emerged, who are more than concerned with social policies and their effects. This turn of events has led to investigations that are more concerned with the female gender that has been thrown to the wind for a long time.
The relationship between family policies and the employment of women in high-income countries has been approached through the approach of the welfare regime. Family policy is a basket that constitutes of the explicit and implicit policies. These are the policies that are the characteristics and dynamics of a family. To be able to separate the effects of family policies from the comprehensive package of social systems, mainly the definition of the explicit family policy is taken. This is inclusive of the support of the child income through money or tax, taking of leave and childcare concerning small children.
The employment outcomes of women are measured through four indicators. One is through the comparison of the woe and the men and comparing between childless women and mothers. Then is participation rates among women, the number of worked hours and the quality of the work, and the standards of earning. The macro theoretical perspective holds that the explicit family policies are linked in regimes that define the relationship between the market, states, and family types. There are four types of systems that are grouped regarding the different family policy packages attributes. One of the administrations is the Primary Caregiver Strategy. This regime is given in terms of cash allowances by the government to the mothers who are caregivers. The compensation is an effort by a state to recognize the struggle of the women who have the care work and also a way of reinforcing the male as the breadwinners of the families. Then is the Choice Strategy. The choice strategy is a two-way strategy. One is that it allows women to choose to work in the labor market and get child support, or they can acquire leave and cash allowances if they agree to take care of the children at home. Then is the Primary Earner Strategy that is attributed by the support of the public in activities of caregiving and the notion that all adults in the house are to work even without mutual backing so as to help in reducing the care burden at home. Finally is the Earner Care Strategy that is in support of both parents alternating between working and caring for the family.
The preference theory discusses that the structural factors do not constrain women, and they have the freedom to decide about their involvement in the labor market freely. Other approaches like the integrative perspective argue that the choices of women are conditioned with the structures of the society like the policies in place and the attitude of the men concerning women employment. The relationship between the family policies and the employed women in the high-income countries is attributed to the gender roles and the duties of the women in fulfilling the regulations and terms of employment and caregiving in their homes. Besides, attitudes about these two variables play a significant role. Those in favor of women employment also believe that family policy packages should be generous, inclusive of high wages of working mothers. It is therefore clear that the outcomes of employed women in top-income countries are dependent on the regimes that are used. Most working women dream that the Earning Caring Strategy regime is adopted and society gains a positive attitude towards it to make their caregiving work easy. It is reported that the lack of childcare and the absence of maternal leave limit the employment of women.
On the other hand, child benefits from the state and the joined couples’ taxation influence the work of women negatively, but on the other hand, it supports fertility and redistribution, while long parental leaves mainly take a break on the employment graph of women. The behavior of women in the employment field is entirely determined by the relationship between policies and cultural beliefs. However, all these effects of the different regimes are moderated and/ or magnified by the socio-economic characteristics of the individuals such as education, income, skills, ethnicity, class, and marital status.
Results Analysis
The Nordic countries include Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Iceland, and Norway. These countries are considered to be at the forefront when it comes to designing friendly family policies. According to history, their care for generous family policies started years back after the states started intervening on the conflicts between motherhood and the work-life for the women. In addition to this, the above rules have been able to keep a significantly positive amount of women in the labor market without the disadvantages of infertility in the countries as reported by many European countries. The Nordic countries have also been reported to have leaders who respect the right of gender equality and equal opportunities for both men and women in the labor market and societal positions.
The duration of leave given to working mothers in the Nordic countries as well as the compensation for childcare is significantly more compared to other countries. The countries report to having a lot of respect when it comes to paid paternal and maternity leaves, which in many countries, the leaves are not paid, like in the United States. However, countries like Iceland, Finland, and Norway report having smaller coverage for children between the ages of 0-2 years. It has also been proven that there is a lot of differences and at the same time, similarities among the five countries in terms of the design of family-friendly policies. In Finland, for instance, there is a long maternal leave duration compared to other countries. This is characterized by the supported care of the children at home, and therefore, the coverage publically provided for the childcare is less. In Denmark, public childcare compensation is high and has been so for the past couple of years. In demark, the maternal leave payments have been low until recently when it was slightly added. Maternal leave is a period that is reserved for another in order to aid her in taking care of herself and her infant. If the maternal leave can be transferred between the mother and the father, then it is termed as parental leave. In many of the Nordic countries mentioned, the leave period given to the fathers is less, approximately two weeks immediately after the birth of the child. In these countries, the leave can be granted even with the mother on holiday as well, unlike some countries. On the other hand, if it is only the father getting the vacation, then t is denoted as a paternal leave. In this case, the mother has to be at work, and only the father gets the leave period.
The compensation rates of both the maternal and parental leaves have been diverse over time in the Nordic countries. The compensations have, however, become more generous over time. Countries like Sweden, Norway, and Iceland, the settlement covers up to 80% of the former salary. In Finland, the rates of payment are 66% as well as in Denmark. However, in the public sector of the above countries, the benefit is 100%. The leave schemes structures of the settlement have significant consequences on the extent to which the leave is used. This is more so for the fathers. As much as the Nordic countries preserve the rights of equality among the men and the women, fathers still earn more than the mothers. In this case, the incentives are given equally concerning the parent who takes up the leave scheme, in the case of full compensation in the public sector. The countries also have a flexible leave scheme. For instance, the Nordic countries allow for part-time leaves that go for more extended periods compared to the___14 full time laves that take a shorter time. The states also allow the parents to set the leave periods for later dates if they do not want to take their leave at the documented years. Sweden is reported as having the most flexible leave schemes, while Finland and Denmark have strict flexibility on the programs.
School in the Nordic countries start later compared to other countries. Children start school with 6-7 years while in other countries it’s between 4-5 years. In this case, the arrangements of childcare are late until a child can get to the school age. In addition to this, schools in Nordic countries have short hours, and therefore, after school care is necessary. The aspect of childcare is of high quality and low price since, in Nordic countries, childcare is sponsored by the state. In Sweden, for instance, the ration of a child to staff in preschool is 1:6, compared to the 1:10 ration in other European countries.
Nordic countries have been reported to have the highest numbers of working mothers with children below the age of 6years. Denmark, Sweden, and Norway, for instance, have the highest number of employed mothers with children in preschool. The entrance age for female gender to the labor market in these countries is early. Additionally, the leave schemes have proven to be of positive effects on the participation of women in the labor market. The formal maternity rights in these countries help the women not to start from scratch when they go back to the employer after their maternal leave. Studies have however reported that high compensation rates and the availability of the supported public childcare in the Nordic countries, increase the net rate return from the employed mothers and thus there is positive labor supply from them.
The Nordic countries provide an excellent filed study and also an example to help in the understanding of the positive impacts of the friendly family policies in the states on the employed women.
Conclusion
The study and research of this paper elaborate that the Nordic countries have been able to find a healthy balance between family responsibilities and work-life among employees and more so the women, a balance that many European countries shave not been able to accomplish. The balance in the Nordic countries is an excellent advantage as it will help these states in future economic challenges concerning the female employment pool, fertility, and children development. As much as the Nordic countries are balancing the scales between family and work life, the model has its challenges. For instance, the model used by these countries is costly.
On the other hand, the women in the Nordic countries do not seem to understand the benefits they have. The women in these esteem countries lack the respect of their positions in the labor pool compared to other women in other states who do not receive the benefits of the Nordic countries women. The family-friendly policies provided by the Nordic countries tend to have a bounce-back effect on employed women with a high education level.
According to the above results, it is clear that the general position of the women in the labor market becomes s problem when the family policies are directed in the place of providing the mothers with the right of a paid maternal leave. The leave schemes in the Nordic countries as much as they are beneficial and fair, they cause the labor workforce to be off their jobs for a long time, which is a dangerous step to take if the countries want future development and advancements. Challenges of an aging population are significant in many countries, including the Nordic countries, as well as global competition. In this regard, the states cannot afford to have policies that cause a large number of its staff losing essential work skills due to extended leave schemes away from work.
On the positive side, some policies like the split leave periods between the father and the mother, an example in Iceland, tend to be fairer. This type of system ensures that the employees, in this case, the parents, do not stay long out of work and therefore reduce the risk of them losing work skills that could cost the country in times of development and competition.
The rise of the debate and the interest of the subject matter of the relationship between family policies and employed women have come in per with the new trend of the rise of working women and the expanding of the systems that are related to the family. However, this development on the side of the women seems to be just another dim light in their field of dimness. There is increasing the growth of more inequalities on women as they strive to access the broader labor market in the world and more so in the high-income countries. The debate has also been contributed by other facts like the fact that women are more diverse when it comes to labor supply and demand compared to the men. This is because the women are more likely to take breaks or work interruptions, and as a result, force them to take irregular labor paths. The other reason is the growth data and quantitative turn that has been made by the social sciences. In the past, works and information that were based on theory and evidence were not keenly taken. However, the times have changed, and a new era of scientists have emerged, who are more than concerned with social policies and their effects. This turn of events has led to investigations that are more concerned with the female gender that has been thrown to the wind for a long time.
There is a lot of differences between the regimes and the schemes used by the Nordic countries. As much as the countries are promoting and supporting the same policies, they have different ways of implementing their strategies. Iceland, for instance, was among the last of the Nordic countries in giving of social welfare schemes. The wages of the two parents in the Nordic countries is still the same as other countries where the father’s ear more compared to the mothers. However, it is essential to realize that the fathers are taking more parental responsibilities in the Nordic countries compared to other countries where the work and responsibility of childcare are solemnly left for the mothers. The Nordic countries have proven that a mother is not as perceived by most societal attitudes. She has the right to work and be a mother, as well. As discussed earlier, the behavior of women in the employment field is entirely determined by the relationship between policies and cultural beliefs. However, all these effects of the different regimes are moderated and/ or magnified by the socio-economic characteristics of the individuals such as education, income, skills, ethnicity, class, and marital status.
The research has contributed to a raider of several questions that would prompt further investigation. For instance, new research would be adequate to study the long term effects of the family-friendly policies in the Nordic countries and also be able to derive which of the used schemes and regimes in the Nordic countries is most appropriate and can be adopted by other countries. The research shows that a balance between work and family responsibilities can be met. Although the policies by the Nordic countries may not be the best to be adopted, the states have proven that they are doing something to benefit the future development of the countries in terms of the female employment issues, child development and problems of fertility. Further research could be appropriate to research on the best policies to use that are beneficial to the women in the labor market, the sates and the growing challenges of an aging population and global competition due to globalization.