European Parliament: How should we help balance family and career?

(EP Press release)

Equal opportunities for men and women, equal pay for equal work, freedom from unfair discrimination: these are fundamental European values. But how far should we go to achieve them?

How far should we go to ensure that people don't have to choose between career and family? How much do we invest in making these things happen? There are practical choices to be made, laws to be enacted and action to be taken. The choices are yours, when you cast your vote in the June 2009 elections.

Times have changed. Many may recall times when women were expected to bring men their...slippers and a woman's role in life was to have and raise children and obey their husbands. Maybe times haven't changed as much as we think.

More women than ever are managers or involved in politics. In 2006, the number of female managers in the EU was 32.6% and the number of women MEPs rose from 16.3% in 1979 to 31% in 2009.

But women in Europe still earn on average 17% less than their male counterparts and one person in 10 has suffered at one point in his/her life from some form of bullying, harassment or violence at work.

According to the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions, a woman working full-time works 40 hours a week, while men work on average 43 hours. But can we say that men work more than women, given the unpaid hours that many women put in caring for children, sick or elderly relatives and doing household chores?

And in a world where people live longer and have fewer children, is work-life balance really an option or more like an obligation for the legislator? And are men being given the choices they deserve?

In any case, the MEPs you choose will be the ones to decide on what more (if anything) needs to done in Europe on many issues that could affect your work-life balance, such as job sharing, teleworking, flexitime and compressed working (where full-time is compressed into fewer days), maternity leave as well as part-time and temporary work. What else would you like them to do? Make your choice clear with your vote on 4-7 June!