Bakgrunn (fra kommisjonsmeddelelsen, engelsk utgave)

The choices which men and women make in combining the professional, private and family aspects of their lives are primarily personal. Nonetheless, the way in which individuals balance these competing demands has consequences for public policy, for example by influencing labour-market participation and fertility rates. At the same time, public policy in turn influences these choices, for instance by establishing legal rights to family-related leave and public provision of care for children and other dependants or by affecting other factors, such as the opening hours of shops and the length of the school day. Although the focus has tended to be on supporting the reconciliation choices of those who are — or wish to be — employed by others, these issues are equally relevant to the self-employed.

Strategies to support the above-mentioned reconciliation choices build on a range of components and require the commitment of various players. Childcare facilities, leave entitlement and flexible working time arrangements are core components of the policy mix, while the powers are spread between European, national and local levels and between social partners at European, national and sectoral levels.