Can mothers have it all?

A study on Work-Life Balance of employed mothers in France and Germany

Executive Summary

The topic of work-life-balance amongst employed mothers is not a new issue. Higher

education rates and the position of women in the labour market has impacted on their

decision to become mothers; either postponing this until a later date or abandoning the idea

completely. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has

labelled this a ‘work-family conflict’. It could therefore be the case that differences emerge in

France and Germany too.

Are German women therefore more economically active than French women? This question

is not as straightforward as it seems. The number of employed women in Germany is higher

than in France; however the number of employed mothers in France is higher than in

Germany, especially in terms of mothers of children under 2 years.

Furthermore, statistically noticeable was that the mother’s employment is even affected by

only having one child whereas in France it is affected by having 3 children. This study aims

to analyse the possible causes for these differences, exploring the following questions:

• Is the difference in the fertility and employment rates caused by the institutional

structures (child care and maternity leave) or issues the individual has with work-life-

balance?

• Do women in France have better work-life-balance strategies than German mothers?

• How do other people and factors influence the work-life-balance of these women?

Women Employment Rate (2012, OECD)

France 60%

Germany 71.50%

EU-Countries 65.10% Women Employment Rate with

Children(2006, OECD) Children >2 years

Children 2-5 years

France 53.70% 63.80%

Germany 36.10% 54.80% Fertility Rate

(Eurostat, 2012)

France 2,01

Germany 1,38

UK 1,92

Netherlands 1,72

Context

Clarc’s Work/Family Border Theory explores the negotiation process that has to happen to

reconcile the two life spheres of work and family in order to achieve a balance. The life

spaces are surrounded by psychological and physical borders and within these people

organise, interpret and enact their own life experience. People become border-crossers, so

they cross borders of separate psychological work-life domains influencing each other (see

Annex).

• Why is Work/Family Border Theory important for the current study?

Based on the negotiation process of two life domains of young employed mothers in

France and Germany their level of work-life balance could be measured by the

problems they face when negotiating with other persons involved in the life domain of

work and family (partner, superior).

Boundary Theory by Ashforth focusses on the negotiation process of each social role

inside of life spheres, because a specific social behavour is expected from the social group

which constitutes the role and the identity. Two different strategies of work-life-balance

were explained by using ‚The Role Integration and Segmentation Continuum‘. (see Annex)

• Why is this theory important for the current study?

The issue here is to identify organisational patterns of young employed mothers in

France and Germany in order to analyse their level of Work-Life-Balance.

Parental leave and Childrcare in France and Germany

This case study only analyses the structural instruments of family policy such as parental

leave and child care in France and Germany, due to their influence on the employment of

mothers.

Parental Leave

France Germany

• Maternity leave - 16 weeks • Shared parental leave possible,

part-time employment can be continued

• Parental leave - 1st child 6 months, 2nd and subsequent children, max. 3 years

• Family policy reform in 2003 • Basic allowance is independent of

the income • The one-off birth grant - 923, 08

Euro • Then it is possible to choose

between further benefits on offer; either the Additional Aid for Employment or the Additional Aid for Childcare

• Maternity leave - 14 weeks • Shared parental leave possible,

part-time employment can be continued (max 30 h/week)

• Parental leave - 12 months, max. 3 years for every child

• Family policy reform in 2007 • Basic allowance is dependent of

the income, tax-free • The parental allowance varies

between 65-100% of the income, limit of 1800 Euro per month, unemployed parents - 300 Euro per month

Child Care

France

Germany

• High variety of Government-sponsored private and public child care facilities (crèche collective, crèche parentale, crèche familiale, assistantes maternelles agrées, assistantes maternelles partagées)

• The average number of child care hours available is around 10 per day

• Attendance France 29 % • The legal entitlement on offer is a

place in a childcare facility for children at the age of 3 years.

• The so-called école maternelle is an all-day school, which according to OECD provides places for all children aged between 3 and 6 years

• Enlargement of child care facilities in 2013

• Shortage of childcare facilities for under 3 years old children still exist

• The usage rate of children attending the childcare facilities, measured in 2003 was just 7% and was clearly behind the EU average of 29%

• Despite the possibility of having their children cared for at nursery 10 hours per day, the German parents opted for a 6 hour placement

Methodology

This case study explored the Work-Life-Balance in Germany and France in depth through:

• A literature review

• Qualitative research with quantitative elements

• In-depth biographical interviews with 10 women. This methodology was chosen to

put the women at ease and to encourage them to explore their personal attitudes

towards the organisation of their life domains

• The following criteria were fundamental requirements: the mother of a child (under 5

years) and employed

• The women selected had similar educational attainment levels and marital statuses

as a constant

• Qualitative content analysis as a systematic methodological analysis designed for

social sciences and humanities was used. The methodology looked to analyse the

information governed by theory and rules as well as to create categories by adapting

them to the research issue.

• The goal of this work was to compare the conditions and beliefs of employed mothers

in France and in Germany and extract the commonalities and differences between

them. This can be done through the formation of comparative categories.

Age, Education

Profession, Working Hours,

Position

Marital Status Children, Age

Germany

Person A: (35) apprenticeship, BA

Financial Controlling, Management position 40h/week

Life partnership with father of the child (management position)

1 child, 10 months

Person B: (32) BA

Ergotherapist 30h/week

Life partnership with father of the child (freelancer)

1 child, 2,5 years old

Person C: (39) PhD

Coach, Mediator, self-employed 30h/week

Married to father of children (management position, lawyer)

2 children, 7 and 5 years old

Person D: (32) MA

Project Coordinator, 20h/week, 4 days à 5h

Life partnership with father of the child (student, freelancer)

2 children, 2 and 5 years old

Person F: (39) MA,

Set and graphic designer, self-employed

Single, support from the father of the 1st child

2 children, 9 and 2 years old

France

Person S. (39) MA

Specialist staff in Public Services,management position, 35h/week

Married to father of children (Teacher)

2 children, 18 months and 5 years old

Person I. (35) MA

Working in export (non Cadre/non management), 35h/week

Life partnership with father of the children (mangement position)

2 children, 7 and 5 years old

Person N. (32) MA

Working in tourism (non cadre/non management), 35h/week

Married to father of children (management position)

2 children, 18 months and 5 years old

Person K. (44) MA

Admin. Assistent to the CEO (non cadre/non management, 35h/week

Single, support fromt he father of the child

1 child, 5 years old

Person V. (29) A Levels (Bac)

Working in telecommunications (non-cadre/non/management) 35h/week

Married to father of children (management position)

1 child, 10 months and is awaiting the 2nd child

Key Findings

I. Work-life balance according to the type of child care organisation attended and the motherÊs role:

France

• Greater willingness to have children cared for outside of the family environement

• Child care facilities as a logical necessity of t motherhood

! Thus leading to an easier psychological mother-child-separation following the

parental leave.

• Private child care facilities (such as a child minder) too expensive, insecure and

uncontrolled

• Collective child care facilities (nursery, preschool) effective, less expensive, secure

and controlled by the Government

• Less strong identification of French mothers with the mother’s role due to greater

trust in the Government’s interventions and measures put in place in the child’s

education

! A consequence of this was that the French mothers could more easily

differentiate psychologically between the work-family life spheres. The French

mothers therefore seemed to have a slightly better work-life-balance than

their German counterparts.

Germany

• Greater willingness to have children cared inside of the family environment, but too

expensive.

! Feelings of guilt, anxiety and desperation were evident. The questions they

asked themselves were: are the education methods of the preschool teachers

similar to mine? Will the child have difficulty forming relationships as an adult?

A more difficult mother-child-separation was evident following parental leave

• If child care was inavoidable, then seen as an extension of the family home and

requirements were in line with this

! German mothers identifed themselves stronger with the mother role than the

French women did because they found it difficult to differentiate

psychologicaly between the mother‘s role and the employee‘s role.

II. Motivation returning to work after the parental leave. Focus on employeeÊs role

Germany

France

Financial

security

Financial

independence

On an equal footing

with the partner

Social life

Not a ‘Supermum’

Work as a place

of refuge

Utilisation of

professional skills

Professional success or

‘Inbetween two worlds’

No absolute equilibrium in work-life-balance was noted, because German women from the

sample were in constant internal conflict around their duties as a mother and their belief in

gender equality. Whereas the French interviewed women were more motivated by financial

contribution and social life at work, which they have missed most from their job.

Commonalities in the French and German women were that the women from both countries

talked about: work as a place of refuge, not a Supermom and social Life.

! Interviewed women from Germany and France both showed a strong

identification with employee’s role.

III. Work-Life-Balance-Strategies. Integration vs. Segmentation of life domains.

Integration

• German mothers tended to integrate work and life. (to work after their

child wasin bed etc.)

! Stronger identification with mother’s and employee’s roles at the same time.

The imbalanced role allocation had a negative effect on their work-life-

balance.

! The border-crossers sometimes felt disturbed by the blurring of roles. Each

role has a definite life sphere and corresponding behaviour. When this order

is disrupted by spontanious sessions of working from home in the evenings

for example, work-life-balance breaks down.

Segmentation

• French mothers preferred to segment the two life domains and keep

them seprarate.

! Particularly this organisational pattern shows that segmentation as a strategy

has a good influence on work-life-balance

! The high segmentation requires rites of passage by marking the cross-over

into another role and life domain. If there is no room or time for such a rite of

passage and the border-crossing happens immediately, the border-crossers

tend to feel stressed resulting in poorer work-life balance

Conclusion

A slightly better work-life balance was evident in the employed French mothers who took

part in this study than the mothers from Germany which could be related to a better

psychological differentiation between the domains of work and family. Notably the

governmental provision, such as child care facilities, greatly affected the mother’s choice to

return to their employment as quickly as possible. The French women primarily identified

with the domain of work and consequently, energy was left for the other domain of life. In

contrast, the German mothers, besides having more difficulty with the transitions between

the life domains, seemed to show a greater identification with both life roles. They received

less support from the State which does not come to the aid of mothers in its provision of

financial support as is the case in France.

Furthermore, with regards to gender equality within the household, both countries seem to

have the gender stereotypical notion of the„male breadwinner“, however German mothers

who were interviewed constantly battle with this notion in the household. Kurz-Scherf

suggests that women’s situation in Germany is the permanent search for newer

arrangements between work and family, to resolve the old problem: „One is too little, both

is too much!“ (cf. Kurz-Scherf 2004: 37).

Border creation in France and Germany with a focus on superior (HR manager, line manager):

• Dependent on sector of work

• Dependent on gender of the superior

• Dependent on staff composition

Border creation in France and Germany with the focus on partner:

• Dependent on income and/or status at work

• Dependent on psychological primary identification with the domains of work and

family

Recommendations

Employed mothers:

• Choose a work-life-balance strategy that suits their individual psychological comfort

• Ask the male partner to share the responsibilities of child care equally, notably in France

• Confidently raise the issue of child care with male and female superiors notably in Germany

• A shift in mind-set for the German mothers to stop considering their choices regarding work

as an illustration of whether they are a good or bad mother (Übermutter/Rabenmutter)

• Expansion of child care facilities and their diversification in Germany

Partners:

• Shared parental leave is one of the most progressive family models, awareness needs to be

raised with male partners in Germany about the benefits

• The dominance of the “Male Breadwinner” family model in Germany and France needs to

challenged

Superiors:

• Not only female superiors, but also male superiors need to recognise the value of working

women with children more; most notably in Germany

• More flexibility with working hours needs to be on offer