(1) The share of the labor force that works extreme hours;
(2) leisure time; and
(3) employment rates for women who have children
those criteria came verbatim from the cited story report. I went to the source webpage for more info, but the format makes it difficult to find information:
- 'extreme hours' are defined as >50/week
- 'leisure time' is described to include time spent 'eating, sleeping "socializing with friends and family, hobbies, games, computer and television"
I have no issues with the definition of extreme hours.
I'm highly suspicious of the study's abilty to accuractely measure leisure time (unless they are simply taking 24 hours/day and subtracting work hours, but if they're doing that, then they're essentially giving double weight to the first criteria).
What really strikes me is the very sexist criteria of examining employment rates for women with children under the guise of rating work/life balance for the whole nation (not just the ~50% female population). The survey seems to give bonus points where women with children are unemployed. Is this really a good thing? This shows up all over the place:
Spain: "Key stat: Female employment in Spain is still below the OECD average (59.6%); 75% of mothers go back to work only 8 years after childbirth"
Hungary: "Key stat: At 1.33 children per woman, the total fertility rate in Hungary is the ..."
Austria: "Key stat: In Austria, 71% of mothers are employed after their children begin school"
Iceland: "Key stat: In Iceland, 87% of mothers are employed after their children begin school"
Germany: "Key stat: In 2009, only three countries in the OECD had fewer babies per woman than Germany"
I'm very interested in hearing from the women's rights activists on this -- is it reasonable to assess a 'work/life balance' of a country while giving such bias to the female population? Should women with children not be expected to work? not be expected to work as much as those without kids? (follow up question: should men with children not be expected to work? as much as those w/out kids?)
Lastly, this is titled a study in work-life balance but seems to put disproportiante weight when considering statistics that impact working families with young children. for example, the 'key stat' for the US is ".. the only OECD country without a national paid parental leave policy, although some states do provide leave payments." why such weight being placed on worker's with young children? my kids are grown -- is my work/life balance less important today than it was 10 years ago? is my work/life balance less important than those who breed regularly througout their fertile years?
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