Only a quarter of Germans want jobs with fixed working hours. Women in particular want flexible hourly models – and a way out of the part-time trap.
According to a survey, only a minority in Germany prefers a job with fixed working hours. Flexible working hours, on the other hand, are particularly in demand, according to a representative survey of around 2,500 men and women commissioned by the Bertelsmann Foundation.
According to the study, only about 25 percent of women and 29 percent of men would choose a job with rigid working hours. For the survey, men and women aged 18 to 65 were asked to rate the attractiveness of fictitious job advertisements.
Women want choice between full-time and part-time
At first glance, women are well integrated into the labor market with an employment rate of almost 78 percent. However, almost half (48 percent) work part-time. The survey revealed, however, that around half of women prefer jobs that they can do either full-time or part-time.
Traditional part-time jobs are not attractive to many: only 38 percent of women with young children are in favor of part-time work, while for childless women and mothers with older children the figure is just under 30 percent. “Pure part-time work is clearly not a preference, not even for mothers,” the foundation concludes.
Family friendliness and childcare desired
Currently, many mothers can only work part-time when they return to work “due to the stereotypical distribution of tasks in the partnership.” “If they cannot increase their working hours flexibly, they are stuck in the part-time trap. Many stick to a low number of hours, their careers break off, and potential is lost,” complains labor market expert Luisa Kunz.
If there are younger children in the household, only around 38 percent of men say they want to work full-time. This shows that couples today want to divide paid work and care work differently. Working hours should be more flexible and tailored to their needs, warned the foundation. Both men and women were found to be very sympathetic to completely flexible working hours without fixed core times. It was also shown that family-friendliness makes job offers more attractive.
The foundation stresses that securing jobs and skilled workers will be one of the key labor market policy challenges in the coming decades. Greater focus will therefore be placed on integrating women into the labor market, increasing their working hours and creating a family-friendly working time culture.
Source: Stern
