Reconciling Work and Family: Sharing Perspectives in Italy and Europe

1. Flexible workingarrangementsand parental responsibilitiessharingnewperspectives in Italyand Europe, Rome, 4 – 5 December 2017 EU-Project „Men and Reconciliation of Work and Family: Supporting the Path to Gender Equal Distribution of Parental Leave and Working Time”(Project No. JUST/2014/RGEN/AG/GEND/-7793) Better reconciliation of work and family for women and men Challenges, targets, main activities and project results

2. Equal share of child care between parents,challenges in Austria • 90% of mothers but only 3% of fathers interrupt their employment career for reasons of childcare • Only 3 – 4 % of fatherstakeup parental leave(mainlycloseto the minimumduration of twomonths) • Due to„fathersquota“ in the context of child care benefits, the participation rate of fathersincreaedto 19 % (the averagedurationisbetween 2 – 3 months) • 2015 the part-time employment quota for women was 48%, for men 10 % • Increasing convergence of working time wishes: women want to do more paid work, men want to work less to have more time for family and children • Majority of population wants an increased involvement of fathers in child care

3. Main targets of this EU-Project • Betterevidencebaseddataby analysis of obstacles and useful initiatives for increased involvement of men in parental leave and parental part-time • Promotion of equal share of child care between parents • Support to establish reconciliation strategies at sector and company level • Increasing awareness of positive effects of equal share of parental leave and (parental) part-time work between parents at household, workplace and social level

4. Project target groups • Employees • (Expecting) parents • Companies especially in mendominatedsectors • HR-Managers andshopstewards in selectedcompanies • Socialpartners • Policymakers • Broaderpublic

5. Project partners • Federal Ministry of Labour, SocialAffairsand Consumer Protection (Project coordinator) • Federal Ministry of Health an Women • L&R socialresearch • FORBA , Working Life Research Centre-Vienna • Socialpartners

6. Main project activities • Case studies at companyleveltoidentifychallengesandgoodpracticesforbetterreconciliation of workandfamily • Case studies at partnerlevel on decisionprocessesconcerningshare of child care betweenparents • Development of a householdincomecalculatortosupportdecisionsforbettershare of child care andpaidemploymentbetweenparents • Austrian-wide on-line-media awarenessandinformationcampaign • International informationexchangeevents • 2 Ministers press conferences

7. Main project results: Case studies at company level (L&R) • Thereexistgoodpracticeexamples of measures on betterreconciliation of workandfamily at companylevel, but theirestablishmentmainlydepends on the individual engagement of managersandshopstewards • Therearemissingreconciliationstrategies at companyandsectorlevel • An anchoring of the reconciliation issue in the context of employee appraisals might be useful • A positive communication of the reconciliation issue also concerning menin companies and in social environment is important • The establishment of a systematic parental leavemanagement in companieswouldcontributeto a betterplanabilityforcompaniesandparents • Reconciliationfriendlyworking-time arrangementsare vital

8. Main project results: Case studies at partner level (FORBA) • Fathersfeardisatvantages in theiremploymentcareerwhentheywouldtake-up parental leave (an optionformen, an obligationforwomen) • The wish for a professional break and having more time for the family are the main motivations of fathers take-up of parental-leave • Only few fathers take main or equal responsibility for child care even when he is in parental leave for a short time • In principle the idea of joint responsibility of the parents for child care is shared especially by young fathers but the reality in practice is different • Urgent need of a legal entitlement on paternity leave after the birth of the child also in the private sector • Huge information deficits of parents on existing legal entitlements • Better reconciliation-friendly working arrangements would help

9. Main project results: Household income calculator https://www.gleich-berechnet.gv.at/ • The online calculator for shared household income allows to calculate different variants of childcare allowance, part-time and full-time employment. • At a glance, it can be seen how much money is available for each parent and the family on a monthly basis if childcare is shared equally. • For the time after the parental leave, it can be calculated how an equal share of paid work and child care can continue financially - for example, by (parental) part-time. • A parental leave calendar helps for better joint planning of an equal share of child care • From Nov. 2016 – Nov. 2017: 217.331 different users, visits: 365.296

10. Main project results: Household income calculator https://www.gleich-berechnet.gv.at/ Variant 1: One partner stays at home and receives child care benefit, the other is working full-timeVariant 2: One partner is doing some paid work and receives child care benefit, the other partner reduces working time

11. Main project results: Household income calculator https://www.gleich-berechnet.gv.at/ Variant 1: Both partners are working 32 hours per week Variant 2: One partner is working 38,5 hours per week, the other partner 25 hours per week

12. Main project results: On-line media campain • Target group: young couples, young families, families with children • 11 most relevant on-line media in Austria covered • Ad Impressions: 5,148 Mio. • Clicks: 41.568

13. Main project results: International information exchange events • Not in all EU-MS the existing EU- directive 2010/18 on parental leaveseemstobefullyimplemented • Gender Care gap in the EU: In most of the EU-MS womenare still carrying the mainburdenforchild care • The up-take rate of fathersconcerning parental leaveand parental part-time isslightlyincreasing in the EU, but the averagedurationis still short • In a lot of EU-MS therearemissingsufficientandaffordablechild care services • Loweremploymentrates of women, gender paygap of andlowerpensionsforwomen

14. Main project results: International information exchange events • Legal entitlements on paternityleaveandrespective high incomecompensations (EE, LT, SLO) areimportantandneededverymuch • „Use-or-lose-it“ – provisions (ISL, FIN, N, SWE) thatforesee in the context of parental leave, thatsomemonthscannotbetransferredto the otherpartner, seemtobe the mosteffectiveinstrumenttoincreasefathersparticipation in child care • The obligatoryup-take of (someparts) of paternityleave(B, I, P) and of parental leave (P) helpstoovercome traditional rolemodels • Financial incentivesfor a bettershare of parental leave (D) and of child care benefits (AT, D) betweenparentsareuseful • Reconciliation-friendlyworking time provisionsandarrangementsare important

15. Main project results: Brochure on parental leave, parental part-time and child care benefits

16. Main project results:Ministers press conference, 6. April 2016

17. Main project results,Ministers press conference, 16. November 2016

18. Information and contacts Websites:www.sozialministerium.at/site/Soziales/EU_Internationales/EU_Projekt_Vereinbarkeit/ or www.maennerundvereinbarkeit.at E-mail: Harald.Fugger@sozialministerium.at Phone: +42 1 71100 6130 or +43 664 2453 293