Jobs with a high degree of flexibility in terms of the scope and location of daily working hours, as well as more family-friendliness, are very popular with women and men. Only part-time work is obviously less popular.
Gütersloh, September, 05th, 2024: At first glance, women are well integrated into the German labour market with an employment rate of just under 78%. Almost half, around 48 per cent, of women work part-time, which they do not find all that attractive. The Bertelsmann Foundation conducted a representative survey of 2500 women and men on this subject.
Regardless of whether the respondents have a child or not, they prefer jobs that offer flexible hours as well as variable daily working hours.
The classic full-time job is not the first choice – more flexibility desired
The results of the differentiated survey showed that ‘This is an indication: Couples today want to divide up paid work and care work differently. To do this, they need to be able to adapt working hours more flexibly to their needs,’ emphasises Michaela Hermann, labour market expert at the Bertelsmann Stiftung.
From the part-time trap to time sovereignty
However, traditional part-time jobs are also not an option for many women. ‘Purely part-time work is clearly not a preference, not even for mothers,’ explains Luisa Kunze, labour market expert at the Bertelsmann Stiftung. ‘Mothers can often only work part-time after returning to work due to the stereotypical division of tasks in the partnership. If they cannot increase their working hours more flexibly, they are stuck in the part-time trap. Many remain at a low number of hours, professional careers are cancelled and potential is lost.’
Flexible daily working hours desired
Completely flexible working hours without fixed core hours are also very popular. 45 per cent of all women and men surveyed are very much in favour of such a working time model. ‘Flexible working hours offer the opportunity to achieve a better work-life balance,’ explains Michaela Hermann. ‘This flexibility creates more scope to be active on the labour market. Employee-orientated flexible working time models therefore also benefit employers.’
Family friendliness makes job offers more attractive
Employers can score particularly well with the topic of family friendliness in times of a shortage of skilled labour. Both men and women (35.6 to 42.4 per cent) are very happy with the employer’s financial support for childcare and childcare facilities near the workplace.
Reliability counts in shift work – with childcare and regular working hours
Reconciling family and work responsibilities is a particular challenge for employees working shifts. At 46.7 per cent, significantly more shift workers attach great importance to regular working hours; the desire for flexible working hours plays only a minor role here.
Additional information:
The study is the first part of a series of publications from the project ‘Reconciliation: Online survey on the division of gainful employment and care work in the couple context’, which was conducted by the Institute for Work and Qualification at the University of Duisburg-Essen on behalf of the Bertelsmann Stiftung. The data is based on an online survey of 2,523 women and men of working age (18-65 years). The survey was conducted between 19.12.2023 and 19.1.2024 by the Bonn Survey Centre and an online access panel with incentives from bilendi. It was conducted within the framework of the ESOMAR guideline, the panel used for the survey is certified according to ISO 20252:2019.
Further information:
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