From "collective" to "individual" reductions in working time ?

A survey of working time trends in the countries of the European Union over the past twenty years reveals the diminishing role of general collectively agreed working time reductions. The increasing importance of part-time work is interpreted less as a shift in emphasis from "collective" to "individual" working time reductions than as a concomitant of increasing, female labour market participation which may represent a transition to equal status of men and women in working life. On the basis of the European experiences reported in the other articles contained in this issue, the author discusses possible paths to a revival of collective bargaining and statutory policy in the working time field.