ACTA SOCIOLOGICA 2006 Combination Pressure The Paid Work–Family Balance of Men and Women in European Countries

abstract: People today lead busy, hurried lives with competing time claims between the spheres of paid work and the household. The aim of this article is to provide more insight into the way men and women experience the multiple claims on their time and to attempt to understand the differences between European countries in this respect. Are we able to draw a sharp line in the work–family balance experienced in eastern and western Europe? Expectations are formulated at the individual level (work and home-related factors) and at the contextual level (gender culture and family policy). Data were gathered in 2001 within the inter