abstract: 'Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore how individual and

  macro-level factors shape the work-life balance of young men and women

  across European countries. Design/methodology/approach The paper

  combines macro-level data from the official statistics with

  individual-level data from the Work, Family and Wellbeing (2010/2011)

  module of the European Social Survey. The study uses multilevel

  modelling to explore the factors which shape the work-life balance of

  men and women aged 15-34 across 24 European countries. Findings The

  findings show both differences and similarities between young men and

  women in how education shapes work-life balance. Higher education

  increases the likelihood of considering work-life balance as important

  in work selection for men, while lower education decreases the odds of

  considering this balance for women. More education is associated with

  lower acceptance of the traditional norm, for both men and women, and

  less time spent on housework. Higher share of family benefits decreases

  the importance of work-life balance, more so for men than for women.

  Work-life balance is more important for men living in conservative,

  Mediterranean and post-socialist welfare regimes compared to those from

  social-democratic regimes. Social implications - The policy implications

  are to more closely consider education in the transformation of

  gender-sensitive norms during earlier stages of child socialization and

  to design more holistic policy measures which address the multitude of

  barriers individuals from poor families and ethnic/migrant background

  face. Originality/value The study contributes to existing literature by

  applying the capability approach to the empirical investigation of

  work-life balance. The analytical model contains three dimensions -

  norms about paid/unpaid work, considering work-life balance in the

  choice of employment and time spent on unpaid work. Through this

  approach, we are able to uncover the agency inequality of young people

  taking into account individual level characteristics, including gender,

  education, ethnicity and macro-level factors.'
affiliation: 'Ilieva-Trichkova, P (Corresponding Author), Bulgarian Acad Sci, Inst
  Philosophy \& Sociol, Sofia, Bulgaria.

  Stoilova, Rumiana; Ilieva-Trichkova, Petya, Bulgarian Acad Sci, Inst Philosophy
  \& Sociol, Sofia, Bulgaria.

  Bieri, Franziska, Univ Maryland, Global Campus, Adelphi, MD USA.'
author: Stoilova, Rumiana and Ilieva-Trichkova, Petya and Bieri, Franziska
author-email: 'rumiana.stoilova@gmail.com

  petya.ilievat@gmail.com

  FXBieri01@indianatech.edu'
author_list:
- family: Stoilova
  given: Rumiana
- family: Ilieva-Trichkova
  given: Petya
- family: Bieri
  given: Franziska
da: '2023-09-28'
doi: 10.1108/IJSSP-08-2019-0152
earlyaccessdate: MAR 2020
eissn: 1758-6720
files: []
issn: 0144-333X
journal: INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY AND SOCIAL POLICY
keywords: Work-life balance; Young people; Gender inequalities; Individual agency
keywords-plus: 'JOB QUALITY; GENDER; COUNTRIES; CAPABILITIES; PERSPECTIVE; INEQUALITY;

  EMPLOYMENT; DIVISION; POLICIES; ACHIEVE'
language: English
month: MAR 23
number: 3-4
number-of-cited-references: '45'
orcid-numbers: 'Ilieva-Trichkova, Petya/0000-0002-2889-0047

  Stoilova, Rumiana/0000-0003-3615-5111'
pages: 366-381
papis_id: 649353f667eabb2316b7d43bb3709eac
ref: Stoilova2020worklifebalance
times-cited: '10'
title: 'Work-life balance in Europe: institutional contexts and individual factors'
type: Article
unique-id: WOS:000517335200001
usage-count-last-180-days: '5'
usage-count-since-2013: '37'
volume: '40'
web-of-science-categories: Sociology
year: '2020'