Gendered roles and gendered organisations and their effect on work and private life

Abstract

As early as 1974 the European Union, or the European Economic Community as it was then known, was suggesting action which would enable women and men to reconcile the demands of remunerated work with the demands of non-remunerated work related to the home and the family (Scheibl, 1999). Throughout the years, the EU has been fundamental in bringing about key pieces of legislation which promote gender equality at work through the Equal Pay Directive -1975); the Equal Treatment Directive - 1976 the Social Security Directive - 1979 the Occupational Social Security Directive - 1986, the Self-employment Directive - 1986, the Pregnant Workers Directive - 1992, the Parental Leave Directive - 1996, the Burden of Proof Directive - 1996, the Equal Treatment in Employment Direct - 2002 and the Goods and Services Directive 2004. However till this day there is no directive which focuses directly on the reconciliation of work and private life Indeed more than three decades after the first Equal Pay Directive (1975) the European Commission is still debating and searching for solutions on how to tackle the issue of balancing work with family life. In 2005, the European Commission in the context of an ageing society, launched an open debate on how to tackle the issues of better work-life balance for women and men in ways which would also “boost birth rates by promoting incentives and removing obstacles to private choices” (Equality between women and men in the European Union, 2005).