Employment, Estonia, EU – Baltic States, Forum, Legislation, Markets and Companies
International Internet Magazine. Baltic States news & analytics
Friday, 29.03.2024, 08:32
EU ministers discuss measures of work-life balance in Tallinn
On Wednesday, the discussions focused on finding solutions that could give
people better opportunities for starting a family and taking care of relatives
while also being active in the labor market. On Friday, the ministers will
discuss men's role in care responsibilities.
"On the one hand, people expect to receive flexible solutions in order
to organise their time between work and family. On the other hand, of course,
employers are mostly interested in earning a profit," said Estonia's
Minister for Health and Labor Jevgeni
Ossinovski.
"People usually prefer to work for an employer who offers them better
solutions for reconciling work, family, and private life. In addition, this
will make the employer more attractive to people looking for a job as
well," he said.
The ministers exchanged views and best practices and explained the
different measures taken in order to face the challenges that come with the new
forms of living and working. Modern work-life balance measures require a
harmony between the needs of the employees and the capacity of the employers.
"Our current work-life balance measures mainly address classical
family types and working models, and usually women are the ones to carry the
care burden. We need men to take a bigger role in domestic and family
related responsibilities if we wish to not let the potential of our highly
educated women go to waste," Minister for Social Protection Kaia Iva said. "Europe has a lot
to gain – financially and in terms of people's well-being – from a more equal
sharing of care responsibilities."
A more equal sharing of the care burden would give women better
opportunities to work. In addition, this would help to minimize the gender gap
in employment, pay, and pension. The economic loss due to the gender
employment gap amounts to 370 billion euros per year.
Furthermore, Estonia, and the two next presidencies, Bulgaria and Austria,
signed a trio declaration on Wednesday which outlines how these three member
states will promote gender equality in Europe for the next 18 months.