In recognition of International Women’s Day on the 8th of March 2025, we shed light on the intersection of gender, work-life balance, and informal childcare, offering insights into the challenges many women in Europe face in balancing their professional responsibilities with caregiving roles. This article will specifically tap into the varying gender-effects concerning how supportive social networks around families influence how they can manage demanding working hours and reduce work-family conflict as a result. This topic was researched and discussed in working paper 12 on the “presence of supportive social networks, demanding working time schedules and work-life balance”.
The working paper starts by outlining that technological and globalisation changes in European labour markets created flexibility but consequently also a growing demand on worker’s time schedules. This growing demand in terms of heightened work expectations, often beyond standard working hours and the necessity of ongoing skill training have exacerbated the pressure of balancing professional responsibilities with family life, especially among dual earner couples with care responsibilities. For many families across Europe, a traditional 9-5 Monday-Friday is no longer the reality, with many working at weekends, long hours, or no predictable work schedule.
While there has been research on the role of welfare state policies – such as formal childcare and workplace cultures- in alleviating the negative effects of work-time demands on work-family conflict, the potential moderating role of social network has not been examined in this context. By using data from the Panel Analysis of Intimate Relationships and Family Dynamics (PAIRFAM) which provides information on respondents’ work schedules, work-family interference and social support networks, this study sheds light on the crucial role of social networks (such as relatives, friends, and others) in helping parents navigate the rising demands of modern work schedules.
Regarding varying gender effects, the research evidenced that while work-time demands significantly increase work-family conflict for both mothers and fathers, working in the evening is associated with higher levels of work-family conflict for mothers. This is thought to be linked with the fact that many mothers do the bulk of evening childcare and core family tasks, leading to more conflict when this work cannot be done. The effect of work-time demands on family conflict can also be seen for fathers, but this was observed to kick in when there work hours were substantially longer than mothers. Highlighting again the lack of gender equality in the household, where fathers can work longer without as strong expectations on them to provide childcare.
To moderate this increasing work family conflict, the study brings compelling evidence that having a strong social network of people who can help out to provide childcare or other family support moderates the effects of work-time demands on work family conflict. Support from family members and friends thus plays an important role in helping parents navigate the rising demand of modern work schedules. However, there is also a gender-difference between mothers and fathers regarding who provides this informal care. One of the report’s key findings is that mothers tend to benefit most from maternal grandmother’s support across all measures of work-time demand, while fathers appear to benefit more from support by other family members and friends, especially regarding managing time pressure. This is attributed to the fact that mothers bear the primary responsibility for childcare and to replace this support they need a source of informal childcare that they can rely on, rather than ad hoc solutions.
As the rEUsilience research examines the available capacities and adaptive strategies of families in changing labour markets and welfare states in Europe, keeping a gender-lens in mind is important, as these research findings also highlight. Gender roles, norms and expectations do shape the management of work and family and the division of care-giving tasks in Europe. It is therefore important for policymakers and employers to take this into account when creating policies which also recognise the significance of these informal networks that facilitate work-life balance and mitigate work-family conflicts. International Women’s Day serves as an opportunity to advocate for the recognition of these gendered patterns and the inclusion of policies that support also the broader social support network, emphasising that work-family balance is not just an individual concern but a societal issue that requires systemic solutions.
To find out more about this research, click here.