Czas pracy w krajach Unii Europejskiej w 2010 r. – wybrane aspekty

Working time in countries of the European Union in 2010 – selected aspects The aim of this article is to characterise briefly working time on labour markets in countries of the European Union. There were presented its main indicators such as age, gender or type of employment. There were also described general impacts of the number of working hours on capacity to reconcile employment with commitments in family and private life. The discussed problems are confirming the assumption that the working time arrangement is a fundamental factor influencing quality of life both inside and outside work. The reconciliation of work with private life or life outside work is a longstanding goal of EU employment and social policies. It is an element of the Europe 2020 strategy not only to enable more people to take up paid work, but also to promote greater gender equality. As emphasised, people in their ‘prime working years’ – especially women – are particularly involved in unpaid work, such as childcare, household jobs or care of the elderly, so the issue of work – life balance extends across the whole working age. Flexible working time arrangements are generally seen as a way to improve employees’ work-life balance.