The more people work, the less time they have to spend on other activities, such as time with others, leisure activities, eating or sleeping. The amount and quality of leisure time is important for people's overall well-being, and can bring additional physical and mental health benefits. In Denmark, full-time workers devote 66% of their day on average, or 15.9 hours, to personal care (eating, sleeping, etc.) and leisure (socialising with friends and family, hobbies, games, computer and television use, etc.) – more than the OECD average of 15 hours.

An important aspect of work-life balance is the amount of time a person spends at work. Evidence suggests that long work hours may impair personal health, jeopardise safety and increase stress. In Denmark, about 2% of employees work very long hours , much less than the OECD average of 11%.

Finding a suitable balance between work and life is a challenge for all workers, especially working parents. The ability to successfully combine work, family commitments and personal life is important for the well-being of all members in a household. Governments can help to address the issue by encouraging supportive and flexible working practices, making it easier for parents to strike a better balance between work and home life.

Better Policies for Better Lives

Flexible jobs

Danish Flexjobs were introduced to accommodate employees that work at a different pace or need shorter hours. Under these agreements employers pay their workers based on the effective work done. Depending on their wage level workers may also qualify for an additional supplement. Flexjob agreements are granted for a period of five years and then eligibility is reassessed. At this point municipalities sometimes grant workers over 40 years old with a permanent place in a Flexjob.

The Aalborg University Hospital uses Flexjob agreements to lessen the workload of older workers. Employees over the age of 58 can reduce their hours while receiving the same pension contributions from their employer. They can also request special job appraisals, fixed hours, and apply to be relieved of weekend and extra holiday work. Older workers with chronic diseases can request lighter duty. The hospital has also set up a welfare team to improve physical and mental conditions at work, prevent absenteeism due to sickness or exclusion, and avoid occupational injuries.

A continuum of supports for families with children

Policy in Denmark provides extensive financial support to families with young children: public spending on family benefits amounts to just over 4% of GDP, compared to 2.6% on average across the OECD, and close to 60% of such spending is on family services including childcare. Furthermore, Danish policy aims to provide a continuum of supports to families with young children: around childbirth there is 18 weeks of paid maternity leave and 2 weeks of paid paternity leave, followed by 32 weeks of paid parental leave. There is an entitlement to a formal childcare place as from when the child is 6 months old; at 67% participation in formal childcare by children not yet 3 years of age is highest in the OECD. There is pre-school support from age 3 onwards, and upon entering primary school, out-of-school-hours care becomes widely available and such facilities are attended by almost 90% of Danish children aged 6 to 8.

This extensive system of supports for families with children as well as family-friendly workplace practices – e.g. the standard working week is relatively short at 37 hours, gives many Danes the feeling that work and family life are compatible, and the Total Fertility Rate (TFR) has held up around 1.7-1.8 children per women in recent years, with female employment rates among prime-age workers (78% for those 25-54) among the highest in the OECD. Widespread employment participation contributes to low child poverty rates (at 2.7%) and indicators on life satisfaction, not surprisingly suggest that Danes are quite happy with their lot.

Denmark is also doing well in terms of gender equality in labour market outcomes: gender employment gaps and gender pay gaps are among the lowest in the OECD. However, despite policy discussions Denmark has not yet introduced reform that stimulates a more equal sharing of the parental leave entitlement, which is currently usually used by mothers. Iceland has a father quota in parental leave which reserves three months of paid parental leave for fathers on a "use it or lose it" basis, or the use of bonus moths as in Germany can help increase take-up among fathers, and perhaps in future generate an even more equal gender distribution of paid and unpaid work in Denmark.

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