Family policy: How well does Luxembourg protect working parents?

Psychologists and psychotherapists are increasingly emphasising that the number of burnout cases in Luxembourg has risen not only in the professional, but also in the family context. According to them, parents are particularly often affected by chronic stress, among other things, due to (excessively) high demands on themselves and/or due to financial pressure.

In an interview with Marie Valentova, sociologist and research associate in the Living Conditions department at LISER, the current family policy is scrutinised: How (un)progressive is our parental leave policy in international comparison? How could we improve the work-life balance for (young) parents and women in particular – without parental leave leading to career losses?

Lëtzebuerger Journal: From your perspective as a sociologist and co-worker of the Living Conditions department at LISER, do you consider society in Luxembourg to be a high-performance society in which taking breaks is being neglected or even frowned upon?

Marie Valentova: I can only refer to my area of expertise here, which focuses on reconciliation policies such as parental leave, cash for care arrangements and partially childcare. Now, if we understand parental leave as a "break" and if we have a look at Luxembourg’s policy in an international comparison, for example, we see that it stands out as being relatively progressive and generous – compared to parental leave policies in other European countries. This is because parental leave is considered an individual entitlement. The benefits provided offer a high level of income replacement and the terms of use are relatively flexible. In 2014, the European Parliament reported fathers’ utilization of parental leave across 23 member states. In this report, the lowest take-up of parental leave by fathers can be observed in Greece with only 0.02 per cent, while – on the other side of the spectrum – Sweden has a 44 per cent take-up rate. With 24 per cent, Luxembourg is ranked fourth.

Unfortunately, there are hardly any figures to fall back on when it comes to work-life balance in Luxembourg. The number of sick notes due to depression and burnout appears to be increasing. But again, no figures are available. How do you assess these trends?

In order to obtain data and statistics, you first have to ask yourself how to define work-life balance. As a sociologist focusing on reconciliation policies, of course, I understand the topic in this context. It is therefore important to me to analyse whether there are regulations that could lead to a better work-life balance and whether these are applied. And if not, for what reason. I think it’s safe to say that you probably define the topic in a different way (laughs).