Time and space flexibility of working time in the countries of the European Union

Based on foreign studies, the article examines the relationship between satisfaction with working time and the balance between work and personal life, describes the main reasons for dissatisfaction with working time, and also elucidates the nuances of working time flexibility and its measurement in EU countries, shows the domestic scientific community the achievements foreign colleagues in the study of these issues and presented their results. Satisfaction with working hours and work-life balance is found to be high in Europe, but there are significant differences between gender, age, social security regimes, and job characteristics. Furthermore, there are still differences in the main causes of dissatisfaction between the sexes and welfare regimes. Thus, the evidence suggests that inequalities in working conditions still exist and that, although one of the EU’s priorities is work­life balance, there are still many aspects of this issue that need to be improved and researched. The author found that temporal and spatial flexibility varies systematically in different countries. Future comparative studies of work-life balance should consider that there are working­time regimes that combine working time and the workplace in some way, either employee-friendly or employer-driven and that specific combinations may be more effective in promoting work-life balance. personal life. It is emphasized that although in foreign practice there are comparative studies of working hours, flexibility, and balance between work and personal life, there is a lack of such studies in Ukraine, all the more so that further studies should provide a more detailed analysis, for example, of temporal and spatial flexibility between different socio­economic groups workers in EU countries. Time­use surveys can be used to examine actual daily work patterns as well as actual spatial flexibility of work. The author emphasizes that comparing different aspects of working time is necessary because they have different effects on work-life balance. Future studies should, to the extent possible, include different measures of flexibility. It is important to understand that work time and place flexibility include many dimensions and that work-life balance is ensured by a particular combination of work time and place flexibility. Therefore, when trying to understand the associations of spatial and temporal flexibility of work and personal life, it is important to grasp a holistic picture of flexibility.