The Organisation of Time Over the Life Course: European Trends

Anxo, Dominique; Boulin, Jean-Yves

doi:10.1080/14616690600645175

Cited by 28 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…The country grouping somewhat reflects the working time regime typologies found in the previous studies of Anxo et al (2006), Figart and Mutari (2000) and Anxo and O'Reilly (2000), but does not replicate it completely. This is not too surprising given that the focus of this regime typology was not on gender equality, but examines the flexibility needs of workers of both sexes.…”

Section: Clusters Of Countriesmentioning

confidence: 80%

“…However, the distinction of arrangements used in the survey is derived through previous studies on the company levels (Anxo, et al, 2006), and are general categories of working time practices that can be applied for all countries covered in the survey. In addition, if we take into account that a working time arrangement can differ in character not only depending on the country, but also sector, company and even the individual who is taking it up (Anderson, Coffey, & Byerly, 2002;Blair-Loy & Wharton, 2002), it is sometimes useful to take a broader view of the issue using broad strokes to come to a general theory.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Working time flexibility components and working time regimes in Europe: using company-level data across 21 countries

Chung

Tijdens

2013

The International Journal of Human Resource Management

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Working time flexibility comprises a wide variety of arrangements, from part-time, overtime, to long-term leaves. Theoretical approaches to grouping these arrangements have been developed, but empirical underpinnings are rare. This paper investigates the bundles that can be found for various flexible working time arrangements, using data of the Establishment Survey on Working Time (ESWT), 2004/2005, covering 21 EU member states and 13 industries. Using factor analyses, the results confirmed that working time arrangements can be grouped into two bundles, one for the employeecentred arrangements, a second for the employer-centred arrangements, and that these two bundles are separate dimensions. We have also tested the stability of the factor analysis outcome, showing that although we find some deviations from the pan-Europe and pan-industry outcome, the naming of the components as flexibility for employees and flexibility for employers can be interpreted as holding rather stable. Lastly, we also find that there are three country clusters that can be found for the 21 European countries using the bundle approach. The first group consisting of the Northern European countries with Poland and Czech Republic, the second group the continental European countries with UK and Ireland, and lastly, the southern European countries with Hungary and Slovenia.

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Section: Clusters Of Countriesmentioning

confidence: 80%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Working time flexibility components and working time regimes in Europe: using company-level data across 21 countries

Chung

Tijdens

2013

The International Journal of Human Resource Management

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“…In the field of social science, the past few decades have witnessed an increasing amount of interest in a life-course approach to understanding individual lives in relation to their structural and institutional settings (Anxo and Boulin 2006;Kohli2007). While researchers acknowledge the influence of the broader socio-cultural contexts on life transitions that are normatively governed, it is also stressed that questions of agency must be posed in contemporary post-industrial societies character-ised by less regulated labour markets and troubled welfare states (Heinz 2003).…”

Section: A Glimpse On Precariousness Based On Life-course Patternsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It is widely held that the growing participation of women in paid work, debates surrounding the need for a work/life balance, the constant rise of life expectancy and the central emphasis placed on human capital in knowledge-based societies are all drivers of the emergent interest in a life-course approach as a way to address the link between life patterns and social change (Anxo and Boulin 2006). In their effort to understand household patterns of economic integration over life courses, the above-mentioned authors have drawn attention to the need for life-course policies that promote social equity (and, more narrowly, gender equity) by enabling different groups to choose how they allocate their time and incomes over a life course without reducing their prospects for retirement or stifling the development of their career.…”

Section: A Glimpse On Precariousness Based On Life-course Patternsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Romanian Households Dealing with Precariousness: A life-course approach

Vlase

2015

European Societies

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This paper addresses the main pathways through which households avoid slipping into poverty in Romania by employing a life-course approach. Recent researches on social stratification found that in every country we can delineate a particular social layer composed of households living just above the poverty threshold, whose members struggle to reach a more secure prosperity while facing constant threats of downward mobility. Drawing on recent precarious prosperity research, and based on in-depth interviews carried out in 2013 with 25 households situated in between poverty and prosperity from a Romanian city (Cluj-Napoca), we use a life-course approach in order to account for the main routes into precarious decency of our sampled cases. We found evidence that opportunities for agency in order to overcome precariousness are contingent on household's type, its gender composition and members' interlocking life trajectories. Life-course approach allows us to understand household situation in time perspective and to account for the influence of changing structural context framing individuals' life-course patterns. At the same time, individuals' life courses are increasingly de-standardised within the current post-communist context. The transition from state planned to market economy, coupled with the minimalistic welfare state, and with the low social and institutional trust altering the solidarity of communities are joint factors leading to declining opportunities to rely on other resources than those provided by household members. Interviewed households vary according to their composition, history and assets, further affecting the odds of slipping into poverty. Therefore, our paper raises concerns for policy-makers.

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“…The arrangements that have been surveyed reflect the outcomes of the previous studies that examine types of arrangements that are used to enhance work-life balance for workers along with flexibility strategies that are used by companies (See Anxo et. al., 2005, Anxo et al, 2006. The list might not be exhaustive but does include the majority of arrangements that are currently being used in companies throughout Europe to facilitate flexibility needs of workers and companies.…”

Section: The Eswt Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

Do Countries Matter? Explaining the Variation in the Use of Numerical Flexibility Arrangements Across European Companies Using a Multi-Level Model

Chung

2007

SSRN Journal

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Do countries matter, especially compared to other aspects that affect the flexibility behaviours of companies? Many studies on the labour market assume that there are country differences, cross-national variances, and that it is a crucial factor in explaining the actual practices of the labour market by individuals and companies. The supposition is that although there are variations across countries, the behaviour of actors within the country is rather homogenous. Thus, due to country level characteristics, the actors within the country are seen to act similarly. This is due to the fact that individuals and individual companies are restricted within the country due to their institutional frame, cultural and social boundaries. However, this does not necessarily mean that actors are completely restricted within these boundaries. This becomes more evident when we are dealing with labour market flexibility options, for this can be developed (in companies or perhaps by individuals) as a coping mechanism to overcome the restrictions of society. This paper asks the questions, do countries matter, and to what extent it does matter and how it matters. It addresses this issue by first comparing the variance of each level under examination, that is, the country, sector and company level, through the use of a multi-level random effects model. The examination of the variance of each level will allow us to see to which extent countries matter. Also this model allows us to see how factors that explain the flexibility behaviours of companies show different effects across countries to answer the question how countries matter in an exploratory manner. The issue of flexibility is addressed uniquely in this paper in two aspects. Unlike many of the previous studies on this issue, this paper uses a broader definition of flexibility, thus, it perceives labour market flexibility as a method used for the needs of workers as well as those of employers or companies. In other words, as companies facilitate their adaptation to business cycles through labour market flexibility, workers adapt to life cycles through it. Based on this definition, flexibility practices used within companies can be measured two dimensionally, on one side its overall level and another to whom it is (more) geared towards. Also, unlike studies that focus on one or few specific arrangements, this paper does not examine various flexibility options as separate entities. It examines the practices as a whole, i.e. the use and the combination of various arrangements in achieving numerical flexibility. The data used here is the European Survey of Working-Time and Work-life Balance (ESWT) from the European Foundation of the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions. This survey covers 21000 establishments in 21 EU member states for the years 2004/2005. The outcomes of this study show that being within a certain country is indeed an important factor in explaining the differences between companies in taking up flexibility options. However, the variance between comp...

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The Organisation of Time Over the Life Course: European Trends

Cited by 28 publications

References 7 publications

Working time flexibility components and working time regimes in Europe: using company-level data across 21 countries

Working time flexibility components and working time regimes in Europe: using company-level data across 21 countries

Romanian Households Dealing with Precariousness: A life-course approach

Do Countries Matter? Explaining the Variation in the Use of Numerical Flexibility Arrangements Across European Companies Using a Multi-Level Model

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