Work Employment Society 2004 Fagnani 551 72

Work, Employment &
Society
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Work and Family Life Balance: The Impact of the 35-Hour laws in France
Jeanne Fagnani and Marie-Thrse Letablier
Work Employment Society 2004 18: 551
DOI: 10.1177/0950017004045550
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045550 Fagnani & Letablier
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Work, employment and society

Copyright 2004
BSA Publications Ltd
Volume 18(3): 551572
[DOI: 10.1177/0950017004045550]
SAGE Publications
London,Thousand Oaks,
New Delhi
Work and family life balance: the impact of

the 35-hour laws in France
Jeanne Fagnani
CNRS/Matisse, Universit de Paris 1, Paris, France
Marie-Thrse Letablier
CNRS/Centre dEtudes de lEmploi, Paris, France
A B S T R AC T
Is it sufficient to reduce working time to improve the work and family balance? This
article attempts to answer this question by analyzing the impact of the French law
reducing the working week to 35 hours on the daily life, as perceived by parents
with a young child under six years old. Six out of ten respondents reported a positive impact of the reduction on their work/family balance. Their judgment is
dependent on the organization of work, whether it is regular and based on standard working hours or irregular schedules. It is also correlated to the negotiation
process in the workplace.
Inequalities between workers are revealed: between those employed in sheltered
economic sectors and family-friendly companies, and those who have to accept
unsocial or flexible hours of work in exchange of a reduction of their working
time. The article concludes that the 35-hours law has widened the gap between
these two groups of workers irrespective of gender and professional status.
K E Y WO R D S
35-hour laws / Time policies / working time / work and family balance
Introduction
n France, the majority of dual-earner couples living with young children

hold full-time jobs and therefore have to cope with problems in combining
paid work with family obligations. In accordance with a long tradition of
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public support to mothers employment, since the eighties, family policy has
dramatically increased the number of publicly subsidized child care places
(Leprince, 2003), provided working parents with generous maternity and
paternity leaves and has extended access to parental leave schemes. More
recently, it was assumed that the 35-hour laws would also contribute to
improve the management of the daily life of working parents. However, is it sufficient to reduce working time to make it easier to balance work and family life,
especially against the background of increasing work flexibility, diversification
of working hours, and high unemployment? This article attempts to answer this
question and to investigate the role of the reorganization of working time, the
patterns of work schedule, the conditions under which the negotiations were
carried out and the working environment in the formation of parents views of
the impact of the legal reduction in working time on their daily family life. Little
has been said on that topic as the main objective of the laws was to create jobs
by sharing work and then to reduce unemployment. And therefore, evaluations
of the impact of the laws reducing working time focused primarily on the highly
controversial question of job creation whereas little attention was paid to other
objectives (Brunhes et al., 2001). In fact, only results from a large survey by the
Ministry of Work and Social Affairs are available to assess the impact of the 35hour laws on working parents everyday life1 (Estrade et al., 2001; Mda and
Orain, 2002). The survey on the reconciliation of work and family life by parents of young children, which we carried out in 2000, enabled additional analysis on the perceptions of working parents with regard to the effects of the
reduction in working time on their daily lives. Although the survey did not
focus on the impact of the 35-hours laws, it included some questions on that
topic. The responses to these specific questions will be analysed here.
In this article we first provide a general overview of the social and economic context in which the laws reducing working time were created and
implemented. Then, in a data section, we give details on the survey from which
the analyses of the impact of the laws on the work and life balance of working
parents are drawn. Results and findings are presented in the following section.
A short analysis of a more qualitative approach follows. Finally and to conclude, a statistical analysis summarizes the results by specifying the individual
characteristics of the two groups of respondents: those who declared to perceive
a positive impact on the reconciliation of work and family life and those who
perceived a negative impact.
Reducing working time in France: setting the economic

and social context
France is the sole country in Europe whose government has used legislation to
impose a collective reduction in working time. Two laws, named after the
Minister who formulated them, Aubry 1 passed in 1998 and Aubry 2 in
2000, imposed a reduction in the legal duration of the working week, lowering
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Working time and family life Fagnani & Letablier
the number of hours from 39 (in place since the beginning of the 1980s) to 352
(in reality this is expressed as an annual figure of 1600 hours). The policy of
reducing working time was part of the Left Coalition Governments legislative
programme and after its return to power in 1997, it was one of the Jospin
Governments four key elements of social policy, along with universal health
cover, the creation of employment for young people and the reform of benefits
for dependent elderly members of the population.
Against a background of high unemployment (roughly 12% when the law
was drafted), the main objective of the redefinition of working time regulations
was to create employment by sharing the available work. However, at a rhetorical level, the French adoption of a 35-hour working week was also part of the
search for a better worklife balance. Improvements in the social dialogue were
also assumed to produce on-going benefits (Dayan, 2002).
Therefore, the slogan of the years 19801990 work less, live better (travailler moins pour vivre mieux) was taken up by the politicians. The French
approach to a collective reduction in working time also had the objective, more
explicit in the second law, of improving equality between men and women.
According to this perspective, collective reduction imposed by law appeared to
be a means of limiting the development of part-time working, which remains a
strongly gender-based form of work-sharing3 and which, in France, never
received the support of the trade unions. By proposing a reduction in working
time, the Government implicitly aimed to promote greater family parity and a
more equal sharing of paid and unpaid work. As a result, the responsibility for
conciliating work and family life ought to be more equitably shared, in line with
new orientations in family policy concentrating on shared parenting and a less
unequal distribution of parental responsibility (Bttner et al., 2002). This concern for restoring a balance within couples also resulted in the establishment in
2002 of a two-week paternity leave period.
However the working time regime of French households differs from that
of several other European countries: dual-earner families are more likely to be
made up of two full-time employees, working shorter hours, with a relatively
small difference in the time worked by men and women (Franco and Winqvist,
2002). This corresponds to the preferences expressed by women in France as
analysed by C. Fagan in a comparative research on working time preferences in
Europe (Fagan et al. 2001). Therefore, while women in the majority of
European countries would like to work less than 30 hours a week, French
women confirm their preference for full-time employment.
The working time regime of households in France is thus closer to that of
Scandinavian countries than to that of their nearer neighbours (Germany,
Netherlands and UK) where differences in working hours between men and
women remain significant due both to part-time working by women and the
longer hours worked by men. Where part-time employment has increased in
France since the 1980s, this has been in the form of under-employment rather
than as a way of reconciling work and family life. Despite the increasing diversity in working hours, full-time working for both men and women is still a
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predominant, respected norm in France, even within couples (Bielenski et al.,

2002) contrary to the case in the United Kingdom, which has experienced a
growing deregulation of working time, and where the notion of protected and
standard hours is under challenge (Fagan, 2000).
Lastly, the reduction in working time was also deemed to be an opportunity for reorganizing working time, as demonstrated by the importance given to
company negotiations as a way of better adjusting employees demands to
firms needs for flexibility. The result was a diversification in working time
regimes as well as a tendency to individualize working times, even within companies, and a trend towards segmenting the workforce (Ulrich and Estrade,
2002).
A comparison of Employment surveys conducted in 1995 and 2001 provides an evaluation of the effects of the first Aubry law (Afsa et al., 2003).
During that period, the weekly working hours for full-time employees working
regular hours4 fell by 1 hour 20 minutes. The decrease in time worked is slightly
greater for men (1 hour 30 minutes) than for women (1 hour 15 minutes). When
the level in the company is taken into consideration, the type of change is different: the working hours of top and middle management and supervisory staff
remained practically unchanged between 1995 and 2001, while it decreased by
1 hour 20 minutes for white-collar and by 2 hours for manual workers5. In
2001, high and middle level management and supervisory staff actually worked
an average of 45 hours a week, while the average for qualified industrial workers was 37 hours 25 minutes and was 37 hours 05 minutes for non-qualified
industrial workers. In general, the findings of the March 2001 Employment survey demonstrate that employees who had changed to a 35-hour regime worked
almost two hours less per week than others, a figure that still remains lower
than foreseen by the Aubry laws. A wide range of patterns of reduction in
working time was observed. For example, manual workers were the largest
group to benefit from a reduction in daily working hours (38%) whereas this
pattern of reduction concerned only 8 percent of employees at management and
supervisory level who were attributed days off or longer annual leaves. Longer
vacation was by far the most widespread option for high educated workers
(62%) who gained on average 13.5 days per year (Afsa et al., 2003).
Problematic and hypotheses

For a better understanding of the impact of this law on the strategies developed
by working parents to combine their jobs and family lives, it is important to
emphasize the trade-offs and compromises between the state and the employers. Firstly it is important to bear in mind that most employers were reluctant
to support this law and strongly opposed the view of the government when it
was passed in 1998. However, they were obliged to come to terms with the
implementation of the law. According to the principle of compensation and in
return for a reduction in working time, they benefited from a cut in social con-
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tributions for low wage earners6. Many collective agreements stipulated that
wages would be frozen for a certain period of time. For a significant proportion
of part-timers and low-paid workers, the outcome was a cut in real wages,
which in turn might impact on the choice of child care arrangements.
The legislation on working hours has also been made more flexible, and
diversity has been the rule in introducing new forms of work organization.
Against the background of unbalanced power relationships between employers
and employees (taking into account a high unemployment rate and a low level
of trade union representation), employees have sometimes been obliged to
accept flexible working schedules and practices to which they traditionally
objected7. Therefore, their perception of the reduction in working time depends
largely on the way work is organized and how new measures are integrated into
their work regime.
In addition, the 35 working hours are calculated on an average annual
basis, which means that employees may sometimes work 42 hours or more a
week for a few months and much less at other periods. A wide range of options
may be developed within the same company, which reinforces the general
movement towards the individualization and fragmentation of working schedules. As far as management is concerned, the units of reference are working
days, which imply that employees may, for example, have a day off every two
weeks (or have a longer holiday period). But, at the same time, they may continue to work for long hours every day, which does not help them to devote
more time to family obligations.
On the other hand, employees may be satisfied from the point of view of
their working life, but feel that the reduction in working time has had a negative effect on their private life; or, conversely, they may appreciate the consequences for their family life, but attack the detrimental impact on their working
conditions due to an intensification of work, especially when the reduction in
working hours has not been accompanied by an increase in employment within
the enterprise (Estrade et al. 2001; Pelisse, 2002). In our survey, the focus is limited to the influence of the law on parents views with respect to the organization of work and family life. In this frame of reference, we selected working
parents subject to heavy family commitments, that is, with at least one child
under six years old.
We have set out to test the validity of the following two hypotheses:
That the impact of the reduction of working hours on the work and family life balance of parents with young children is more positive where the
organization of the working time is regular, with manageable and predictable hours. As a result, there is a risk that the reduction in working time
widens the gap between protected employees with regular, standard hours
and those others who have to accept flexible work scheduling.
That the manner in which the reorganization of working time is negotiated
between employees and employers, rather than the flexibility of working
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per se, determines the judgment vis a vis the impact of the law on the daily
life.
As Alain Supiot stated, working time regulations limits the employers
hold on the workers life (Supiot, 2001: 64). But is it enough to simply reduce
the duration of working time by legal means for the daily lives of parents with
small children to improve? What factors have influenced their opinions? To
what extent does the way in which the working time is organized, in particular
work schedules, influence their views? The time issues involved in the reduction
in working time are not merely issues concerning the duration of working time;
they also include work scheduling and the management of the flexible working
arrangements. One of the aims of the laws was to liberate time for life outside
work. However, other factors come into play when balancing family and social
life, in particular, the management of the reduction and of the work reorganization.
Data set and methodology

The survey was carried out at the beginning of 2000, two years after the first
law on the 35 hour limit was passed, using a sample drawn from the records of
families in receipt of Family Allowance from six Caisses dAllocations
Familiales (CAF: Local Family Allowance Fund): Montpellier, Bziers, Bourges,
Cambrai, Essonne and Seine-Saint-Denis. These CAF were selected for reasons
of social and economic diversity, the number of places available in collective
child care facilities for young children (crches and nursery schools), and their
geographic location.
The primary aim of the survey was to investigate how working parents
combine a job with a family life, taking into account their work schedules, their
professional constraints and their child care arrangements. From the data available in the CAF records, it was also possible to get information on their individual characteristics: level of income, level of education, professional status
From each of these six CAF, a representative sample of recipient families
having at least one child under six years old was constituted by random selection (from 1000 to 2000, depending on the number of recipient families in each
CAF). In total 8624 questionnaires containing 77 questions were sent out by
post, and 3216 replies were obtained, representing a response rate of 38 percent after the elimination of families who had moved. From the data available
in the CAF records, it was possible to test the representativeness of the sample
at national level on several indicators (employment rate, family size, level of
income, level of education) and to conclude that only large families are slightly
under-represented.
Among the respondents, 98 percent of men and 87 percent of women lived
with a partner: only 68 women were lone mothers. As far as the couple families were concerned, the questionnaire could be completed by either the father
or the mother.
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In the survey, a question was asked in order to identify parents, fathers or

mothers, already affected by the implementation of the first 35-hour law. A
total of 658 respondents (499 women and 159 men) answered positively. They
constitute the sub sample on which the analysis of the impact of the law is
based. This sub-sample could not be representative of the wage-earners, having
at least one child aged under 6 and benefiting of a reduction in their working
time. However, the value of this survey is that it does allow the judgment of parents to be compared according to a range of workplace and household characteristics. In a following question, these parents were asked: Do you feel that the
law on the 35 hour has made it easier for you to combine your family life with
your working life? and then they were also asked to briefly comment their
response (open question). A brief qualitative analysis of the responses is provided in this article.
Results and findings

Among the respondents who had their working hours reduced due to the implementation of the law, 58 percent responded YES to the question Do you feel
that the law on the 35 hour has made it easier for you to combine your family
life with your working life? The figures were respectively 59.5 percent among
women and 55.2 percent among men. This proportion is found to be very similar to that given in another survey carried out by the Ministry of Work and
Employment at the same time and focusing on parents with children under 12
years old (Mda and Orain, 2002). Some other public opinion surveys on the
same topic provide similar figures8.
The views of employees: less affected by individual circumstances than by

conditions of work
When responses to the question on the impact of the reduction in working time
on the reconciliation of work/family life is related to individual characteristics
of working parents, it appears that these characteristics barely differentiate the
responses. This is supported by statistical tests (Chi-square test). As a matter of
fact, variables such as the level of educational qualifications (Table 1), salary,
employee status and the sector of activity (Table 2) have little discriminating
effect. Moreover, gender differences are not statistically significant. The proportion of mothers was only just higher than the proportion of fathers who
stated that the reduction in working time had improved the conditions under
which they organized their family and working life (respectively 59.5% and
55.2%).
Likewise, employment status had relatively little influence on the respondents views. The number of employees on a permanent contract who feel a positive impact on their family life is slightly higher (55.2%) than those on a
fixed-term contract (50%). Neither, the sector of activity made little difference,
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Table 1 Parents statement according to the level of education
Level of education
Low level (no diploma)
Collge, BEPC (equivalent to GCSE)
CAP/BEP/BAC (equivalent to GCE
AS/A Level)
University level
Yes (has made

it easier)
No (has not
made it easier)
Total
60.0
69.6
54.2
40.0
30.4
45.8
100.0 (n = 40)
100.0 (n = 23)
100.0 (n = 332)
61.2
38.8
100.0 (n = 263)
Source:
Enqute conciliation vie familiale et vie professionnelle, CNAF, 2000.
(Survey on Reconciliation of Family and Working Life, CNAF, 2000).
Chi-square = 0.222 (N.S.)
Table 2 Parents statement according to the sector of activity (public or private)
Sector of activity
Yes (has made

it easier)
No (has not
made it easier)
State employees
67.7
32.3
Employees in public or nationalized

companies
Employees in the private sector
57.0
43.0
55.2
44.8
Total
100.0
(n = 62)
100.0
(n = 107)
100.0
(n = 459)
Source:
although State employees expressed a positive opinion more frequently than

others (Table 2).
The socio-professional category had also only a small influence on parents
views (Table 3). For top and middle management and supervisory staff, and
also for manual workers, certain factors linked to working conditions (such as
having to put in long working hours to do the same amount of work as before)
could decrease the advantages of the reduction in working time.
The effect of the methods used to fix working hours

With respect to the Robien9 agreements, Doisneau (2000) has already shown
that the way in which work is organized is more determining than the personal
characteristics of employees in the formation of their views about the effect of
the reduction in working time. Our results confirm these observations. They
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Table 3 Parents statement according to the socio-professional category
Yes (has made
it easier)
No (has not
made it easier)
Top and middle management

and supervisory staff in private
companies
Top and middle management
and supervisory staff in Public
Sector
Medium level health employees
56.5
43.5
100.0
(n = 122)
59.5
40.5
100.0
(n = 126)
60.5
39.5
White collar workers
59.2
40.8
Manual workers
52.6
47.4
100.0
(n = 81)
100.0
(n = 240)
100.0
(n = 76)
(n = 13)
Socio-professional category
Others
Total
Source:
highlight the effect of the climate prevalent in the company on the views of
employees, depending on whether the employer is more or less family-friendly,
that is, receptive to employees non-work obligations.
Almost half of the respondents had their working hours imposed on them,
while the others were able to negotiate, either through their trade unions or by
choosing the hours themselves. Parents viewed the effect of the reduction in
working time on their family life to be positive where it had been possible to
negotiate the working hours. However they were more frequently discontented
when their working hours had been imposed (Table 4). This confirms one of our
hypotheses and shows the determining influence of the conditions under which
the negotiations were carried out, and also whether there was a possibility of
choosing working hours, on the opinion of working parents concerning the
effect of the reduction of the working time on their work and life balance.
The effect of the working hours patterns and the length

of period of advance notice of work schedule
Although the same pattern of working hours each week remain the most prevalent work pattern, non-standard working hours affect a significant proportion
of employees. In fact, one in ten of the active population experiences nonstandard work patterns, such as work in the evening or at night (Boisard and
Fermanian, 1999). Thus, the segmentation of hours and patterns of work, and
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Table 4 Parents statement according to whether working hours were imposed, chosen or
negotiated
Imposed
YES, has made
it easier
NO, has not made
it easier
TOTAL
(100.0%)
Chosen by yourself
Negotiated
Other
50.6
62.5
66.2
67.5
49.4
37.5
33.8
32.5
100.0%
(49.6)
100.0%
(11.7)
100.0%
(32.8)
100.0%
(5.8)
Source:
p < 0.005 (significant at 0.5%)
the lack of synchronization between working hours and the opening hours of
facilities for young children, complicates the management of daily life for parents, which forces them to organize complex modes of child care. Even when
parents rely on a registered childminder (the most frequently publicly subsidized child care arrangement for children under three years old) whose working hours are supposed to be more flexible than those of crches, the
childminder often refuses to look after the child outside certain times (Fagnani
and Letablier, 2003).
In their research on the effect of the intensification of work for male and
female employees, Fagan and Burchell (2002) provided clear evidence that
unsociable hours (and long hours) have significant negative effects on the
worklife balance: the greater the level of non-standard hours, the greater the
dissatisfaction. Our research also shows that the views of parents with young
children with respect to the reduction in working time varies greatly according
Table 5 Parents statement according to whether or not they work non-standard hours*
YES
(has made it
easier)
NO
(has not made
it easier)
Employees with non-standard working hours
50.4
49.6
Employees with standard working hours
64.1
35.9
TOTAL
100%
(n = 274)
100%
(n = 340)
Source:
*The question was: For those who work outside the home: do you work regularly or occasionally outside normal working
hours? (after 6.00pm in the evening, at the end of the week, before 8.00am in the morning or during the night)
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Table 6 Parents statement according to whether or not the notice period for work schedules is
respected by employers
YES
(has made it
easier)
NO
(has not made
it easier)
TOTAL
Employer respects notice period
64.3%
35.7%
Employer does not respect notice period
37.3%
62.7%
100%
(n = 367)
100%
(n = 67)
Source:
Field: Employees concerned by period of advance notice for working hours
to whether or not they had unsociable working hours (i.e. after 6.00 pm in the
evening, at the end of the week, before 8.00 am in the morning or during the
night). More than six in ten of parents who had fixed and standard working
hours felt that the reduction in working time had improved their daily lives,
against 50 percent of those who worked non-standard hours (Table 5).
In order to organize family activities and manage child care arrangements,
adequate advance notice of the work schedule is vital. The importance of this
issue is reflected in the views of parents: when their employer respects the notice
period (as it is the case for 85% of employees concerned): more than six in ten
expressed a positive opinion on the impact of the reduction in working time,
against only 37 percent where this was not the case (Table 6). In the retail and
service sectors, for example, advance warning had been reduced from two
weeks to one week.
The impact of the duration of working time

The real duration of working time also influenced employees perceptions. The
rate of positive answers was higher when the duration was close to the legal
norm. Thus, 65 percent of those who work on average between 35 and 38
hours a week (that is, approximately half) answered yes against only 50 percent of those who work 39 hours or more (Table 7). Employees who work well
outside the norm are therefore over-represented among those who consider the
impact of the reduction in working time to be negative on their family life: they
made up 51 percent of the latter while they represent only 31 percent of the
sample. As a matter of fact, some employees can work normally during the
week the same amount of hours than before (i.e. 39 hours or more) but have
longer vacation because working hours are calculated on a yearly basis.
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Table 7 Parents statement according to the average weekly working hours

YES (has made
it easier)
NO (has not
made it easier)
34 hours or less
60.2
39.8
Between 35 and 38 hours
64.5
35.5
39 hours or more
49.5
50.5
TOTAL
100.0
(n = 141)
100.0
(n = 307)
100.0
(n = 203)
Source:
Provisions for the reduction in working time are governed by several different parameters. When a working parent is given extra days off, he, or she,
may appreciate this new freedom, without however experiencing any benefit in
the management of his/her daily life. The calculation of working hours on an
annual basis which takes different forms may be seen in a positive light by
parents if it enables them to solve the often difficult problem of school holidays
and to spend more time with their children at these times. Nevertheless the
sharp rise in the periods of working long hours and the irregular nature of work
schedules can increase the difficulty of organizing their working and family lives
for the rest of the year. Of the measures introduced under the reduction in
working time, the cut in weekly working hours was granted with the highest
Table 8 Parents statement according to patterns of working time reduction.

Yes (has made
it easier)
No (has not
made it easier)
Working time calculated

on annual basis*
Reduction of hours worked per day*
52.7
47.3
52.2
47.8
Reduction of hours worked per week**
71.0
29.0
Increase in days off*
59.5
40.5
TOTAL
Total
100.0 (16.2%)
(n = 110)
100.0 (20.7%)
(n = 136)
100.0 (22.0%)
(n = 145)
100.0 (37.5%)
(n = 247)
(100%)
Source:
* (N.S.)
** p < 0.001 (significant at 0.1%)
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rate of positive opinions from parents of young children with respect to their
daily lives (Table 8).
Parents opinions closely correlated with perceptions of

the employer and the working environment
The survey tried to catch the opinions of working parents towards the familyfriendliness of their employer. In the questionnaire, parents were asked to score
their employer according to his (or her) attitude towards the family obligations
of employees with young children. The results show that the proportion of parents who stated that the reduction in working time had improved their daily life
rises at the same rate as the increase in the score given to the employer (Figure
1). More than eight in ten parents who awarded their employer the highest
score expressed a positive opinion vis a vis the impact of the 35-hour law on
their work/family life balance, against only four in ten of those who marked
their employer more harshly.
These results suggest that positive opinion about the effects of the reduction in working time on family life are expressed by employees in protected
Figure 1 Distribution of positive and negative opinions in relation to score given by employee to
employer*
e Each Spot represents the proportion of respondents who gave the corresponding mark to their employer (Scale on the
right of the graph). Ex: 19.2% of correspondents gave mark 1 to their employer.
Source: Enqute conciliation vie familiale et vie professionnelle, CNAF, 2000.
* The question was: In your view, have your employer, your line manager or the managers of your companys
consideration of the fact that you have to look after one or more children been very, or not at all, good? Could
you award a score corresponding to your evaluation (Score 1 for not at all to 5 for very good)
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sectors who benefited, even before the law was passed, of good conditions
linked to their situation of working parents.
Reasons given by parents to justify their opinion

An analysis of responses to the open question which asked parents to comment
their opinion confirms the primordial influence of working conditions and organization of work schedules on the balance between work and family life10.
Those (fathers or mothers) who express a negative opinion (42% of those
who accepted to comment their opinion) stated that their working conditions
had not changed (for example, they still work on Saturdays or Sundays), or that
their employer does not respect commitments (with respect to time or days off
for the reduction in working time), or that the organization and scheduling of
work do not allow them to enjoy time with their children more often. The justifications given to their response attest of the impact of work organization and
conditions under which the reduction in working time has been implemented.
In addition, several respondents indicated that their workload had not been
reduced with the working time reduction, and that, as a result, their mental
availability for their children had been affected. Most of them hold high qualified jobs, often in management. They complained about the increase in their
workload: work had become more intensive, so they have to do the same
amount of work in a shorter time span than previously and they feel more
stressed than before, mostly because they themselves have to do some of the
tasks formerly performed by their colleagues or subordinates, in particular in
companies where no recruitment has been done.
Moreover, employees had to come to terms with flexible scheduling of their
working time, which did not fit in with the operating hours of nursery schools
or crches (Fagnani and Letablier, 2003). The aftermath of these changes in
working conditions was that they often had to rely on complementary child
care arrangements, particularly if the working hours of parents overlapped, and
had to use baby-sitters, grandparents or relatives, thus complicating the management of their daily lives, increasing the mothers stress and perhaps entailing
a rise in child care costs. Even when they had a day off (for example, once every
two weeks), they could not use this opportunity to devote more time to their
child because they usually had to work from home; a situation often related by
professionals, men and women (Bouffartigue and Bouteiller, 2000). This phenomenon also blurred the distinction between work and family life.
Employees who experienced a worsening in the conditions of their daily
lives consider that the duration of their working time had not changed. They
also attacked the inconsistency of work schedules from one week to the next,
and the decrease in the period of advance notice, both of which complicated the
organization of child care. Splitting up the hours for the reduction in working
time rather than allocating whole or half days also contributed to the deteriorating quality of life outside working hours. In addition, the intensification of
work in companies which had not taken on more staff, and the ensuing fatigue,
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reduced their availability for family life. Sometimes the new work schedules
turned out to be less compatible with childrens timetables, and the desynchronization of family routines becomes the rule. Furthermore, the reorganization
of work has sometimes been accompanied by more rigidity (where each hour
was counted), ending amicable arrangements between employees and employers. Lastly, the more frequent fragmentation of work schedules increases the
time spent travelling, as reported by respondents working in the trade sector,
the retail and distribution industry, the care sector, transport, clothing manufacture or industrial chemical manufacturing.
On the other hand, parents who give a positive opinion put forward arguments common to both fathers and mothers, and common to a broad spectrum
of professions. Availability is the key word that occurred repeatedly in the
majority of responses: fathers and mothers stated that they could devote more
time to their children than before. This availability was defined as: Saturdays
off; a whole or half day off on Wednesday; more flexible daily working
hours enabling parents to take their children to school in the morning or collect them in the evening; and more time with children during school holidays.
Some mention that they feel less tired and stressed than before, and so can be
more available for their family. Others refer to greater flexibility in managing
days off, or said that they make savings on child care costs, an important issue
for low-income families. Still others cite new opportunities for parents to
arrange to take turns in looking after children. In addition, being able to negotiate a Wednesday or half a day off a week offered more flexibility in dealing
with the constraints of the educational system11.
Almost all the men who stated a positive impact of the 35-hour week on
their family lives emphasized the fact that they spent more time with their children, even when they live separately from the mother. Those fathers or mothers
who voiced a positive opinion on the impact of the reduction in working time
on their daily lives are more likely to have modest or average income, while
those who said they took more days off with their children are higher educated
holding jobs at managerial or supervisory level. A recent study of the measures
used to reduce working time according to different occupations provides same
outcomes (Afsa et al., 2003).
Positive and negative opinions: a statistical analysis

A multivariate analysis (multiple correspondence analyses) was used to provide
a summary of the overall findings of the survey. The analysis concerns the 658
respondents who are affected by the 35-hour law and who have answered YES
or NO to the question: Do you feel that the law on the 35-hour week has made
it easier for you to combine your family life with your working life?. The two
groups YES and NO have been analysed in respect with the following key variables (characterizing variables):
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Level of education (four levels: 1No qualification/did not know,

2Education up to GCSE equivalent, 3Education up to GCE AS/A level
equivalent, 4University level).
Profession (six clusters: 1Top and middle management and supervisory
staff; 2Middle level in public/administrative/scientific/arts/commercial
professions; 3Middle level health employees; 4 White-collar employees;
5Manual workers; 6Others).
Length of working week
Non-standard working hours or not
Time arrive home after work
Factors in allocation of work schedule
Table 9 Variables that best describe the two groups of parents who had answered yes or no
to the following question *: Do you feel that the law on the 35-hour week has made it easier for
you to combine your family life with your working life?
YES (has made it

easier)
NO (has not made

it easier)
Variables
Test-value p
Score given to employer: 5 (Very good)
4.71
p < 0.001
Measures used to apply the reduction in working

time: reduction of hours worked per week
Employee has standard working hours
Works, on average, between 35 and 38 hours
per week
Working hours negotiated with employer
Score given to employer: 4 (Good)
No work organized outside norms
Employee has a Works Council which assists
with child care
3.58
p < 0.001
3.23
3.12
0.001
0.001
2.98
2.98
2.80
1.97
0.001
0.001
0.003
0.024
Score given to employer: 1 (Not at all)
3.68
p < 0.001
Measures used to apply the reduction in working

time: no reduction in hours worked per week
Working hours imposed by employer
Employee has working hours outside norms
Score given to employer: 2 (A little)
Organization of working time outside norms
Works, on average, between 39 and 40 hours
per week
3.58
p < 0.001
3.49
3.23
3.03
2.80
2.20
p < 0.001
0.001
0.001
0.003
0.014
Source:
* The key variables have been put in order of priority with the help of the value-test using SPAD software
(Version 3) (A. Morineau, 1984, Notes sur la caractrisation statistique dune classe et les variables-tests, Bulletins
techniques, Centre Statistique Informatique Appliques,Vol. 2, no12, pp. 2027)
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Work schedules imposed, chosen, or negotiated

Net average monthly salary
Assistance from Works Council for looking after or leisure activities for
children
Score given to employer by employee
The ranking of variables that impacts on individuals opinion is given in

Table 912. The interest of the method is to analyse a specific variable (in this
case: work and family life balance) by exploring all the links it has with all the
other variables. Modalities of characterizing variables are classified using a statistical criterion: the test-value. Items are ranked by importance order. When the
value-test is positive it means that the variable well characterizes the group, and
conversely when the value-test is negative. Whatever the variables, the valuetest is a statistical criteria similar to a normal distribution with mean 0 and
standard deviation 113.
Table 9 collates the results and attests of the dramatic role played by working conditions, by working time schedules, and by the way of introducing the
reduction in working time, in the formation of respondents opinions about the
effect of the 35-hour week on family life. Positive impact of the 35-hour law
appears to be closely linked to a perception of the employer as being familyfriendly. On the other hand, those who feel a negative effect of the law express
negative views of their company, in particular with regard to working conditions and employers attitude towards employees family obligations.
Discussion and conclusion

The results of the survey presented in this article confirm our hypotheses
according to which it is not sufficient to reduce working time for working parents feeling more comfortable with their work and familylife balance. Other
conditions are required such as an organization of working time compatible
with family needs and child care arrangements, good conditions under which
the reduction of working time is introduced in companies and negotiated. Also,
the methods used to implement the law have a large influence on the views of
parents with young children. Those working in protected and family-friendly
sectors that benefited, even before the law was passed, from preferential conditions linked to their situation of working parents, declared more frequently
than the others that the reduction of working time has made it easier for them
to combine their family life with their job.
Although a majority of parents assessed a positive opinion about the extra
time off they have got, a not negligible proportion was therefore disappointed
and considered that no significant change affected their family life, or even that
the impact was negative. In fact, parents of very young children perceived the
impact of the reduction in working time on their daily lives according to the
specific constraints they faced in organizing their family and working life.
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Divergences between employees were to be seen whatever their profession and

sector of activity is between those who can take full advantage of the reduction in working time within the framework of standard, predictable, and manageable working hours, and those who are unable to benefit from it as they are
subject to working time calculated on a yearly basis (which implied periods
with long working hours) or to unsociable work schedules badly synchronized
with the daily routine of young children.
Therefore, this research suggests that, taking into account the extreme heterogeneity of workplaces, it is not sufficient to mechanically reduce working
time for there to be an improvement in the daily lives of working parents living with young children. Assessing the impact of the law on the organization
of work and family life requires a qualified approach, given the disparities
between the organization of work and the heterogeneity of family circumstances. However, at an earlier stage in the procedure, the conditions under
which the negotiations were carried out go back to the question of the balance
of power between employers, trade unions and employees within a company
and to the quality of the social dialogue and their repercussions direct or
indirect on the well-being of families, an issue of prime importance for family policy.
This survey was a preliminary attempt to assess the impact of the 35-hour
law on the work and family balance of parents with young children. At the time
the survey was carried out, little information on the impact of the law on family life was available, mainly because it was not its main objective. However,
although the survey provides interesting outcomes, it has also limitations. These
limitations are due to the period during which it was carried out. The results
would have been more convincing if the survey had been carried out later after
the new regulations of working time were implemented in all companies. By
2000, the law did not apply then to small enterprizes (with less than 20 employees)14. Moreover, the response rate looks rather low. However, it is rather similar to other surveys performed by CNAF or using the same data base, i.e.
recipients of family allowances (CNAF, 2000). People might be reluctant to
answer such surveys because they fear controls over their rights or because they
are not confident in the anonymity.
The new government, in place since June 2002, has already made amendments to the law in order to attenuate its rigidity and there is currently more
flexibility in the implementation. In particular, all companies now can calculate
working time on an annual basis (law of 17 January 2003). This reform might
have some perverse impact on the everyday life of working parents if the
changes in working schedules have not been negotiated in good conditions.
Moreover, the number of overtime hours per year that are permitted for each
employee has been progressively increasing. This means that employers are no
more encouraged to hire new staff to compensate for the reduction in the working time, and consequently that the challenge of the Aubry laws is no longer on
the political and economic agenda.
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Notes
1 Enqute RTT et modes de vie (Study on Reduction of Working Time and
Lifestyle), DARES, Ministre de lemploi et de la Solidarit, Paris.
2 The Aubry 1 law, dating from 13 June 1998, abrogates the measures set out
in the Robien law of 1996. These measures instituted compensations to companies that reduced the working time of their employees in order to encourage
the creation of new jobs. Aubry 1 went further, setting the legal duration of
working hours at 35 per week from 1 January 2000 for companies with more
than 20 employees, and from 1st January 2002 for all others. Aubry 1
included a new clause on aid encouraging companies to negotiate a reduction
in working time before the date at which the decree in the legal limit came into
force. These measures for aid were subject to the signature of a convention with
the State, following an agreement between social partners. Companies which
linked the reduction of working time to an increase in the size of the workforce
also benefited from a cut in social contributions (6% for a reduction in working time of 10%, and 9% for a reduction of 15%). Relief was also given to
companies facing economic difficulties who kept staff on instead of laying them
off. The Aubry 2 Law (19 January 2000) extended the application of the 35hour week to small companies. The second law contains amendments to the
first law, covering the overtime regime, the working time regime for managerial
employees and the modulation of working time. In particular, the second law
puts forward a broader range of options for reducing hours, including specific
measures for top and middle management and supervisory staff. It implements
new reductions in employers contributions and establishes a system guaranteeing the income of employees paid at the level of the SMIC (statutory minimum wage). The two laws define two phases in the implementation of the
working time reduction: the first one was incitative and the second one was
imperative.
3 Eighty-five percent of part-time jobs are held by women (Source: Employment
Survey, INSEE, 2002).
4 Defined as working the same hours every week. This was the case for about
three quarters of full-time employees, excluding teachers, in 1995 and 2001.
5 It should be remembered that this data takes into account only the measures
applied by the first Aubry law, therefore before its full extension to the public
sector and small companies with less than 20 employees.
6 Employers did not have to pay for the social security contributions of their low
paid employees.
7 It is illustrative that sometimes they do not even take up the recently established
paternity leave which is statutory for the employer: only 40 percent of fathers
took two weeks off within the four months following the birth of their child
during the second semester of 2002.
8 A CSA/Liaisons Sociales telephone survey of 765 employees representative of
the French population aged over 15 years carried out in March 2001 reached a
very similar conclusion. When asked the question In your opinion, has the
change to the 35-hour week enabled a better reconciliation of family and working life?, 64 percent of those questioned responded positively (68% in the
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public and 63% in the private sector), 25 percent responded negatively (20%
in the public, and 28% in the private sector) and 11 percent were undecided.
Previous to the Aubry laws, the Robien law, dated 11 June 1996, instituted a
system of help to companies that set up a reduction in working time to encourage or safeguard employment. This measure was abrogated when the first
Aubry law came into force.
A total of 365 responses to the open question were analysed.
In France, children attending nursery school (cole maternelle) or primary
school (until they are 11 years old) do not have school classes on Wednesday.
So, parents have to find solutions for their children to be cared for.
The Values-tests method was used to interpret the classes. According to this
method, is considered to be significant, for a given class, any variable for which
the variable mean within the class deviates significantly (statistically) (+ or )
from the mean of the variable on the whole sample (Morineau, 1984). The risk
of error has been fixed at 5 percent.
A probability P is associated to the value-test. So, if the value-test is >1.96 (full
value), the deviation is significant at 5 percent (bilateral test). At 10 percent the
value-test is 1.64. To get the corresponding probability, multiply by 2.
See note 2.
References
Afsa, C., Biscourp, P. and Pollet, P. (2003) La baisse de la dure du travail entre
1995 et 2001, INSEE Premire 881.
Bielenski, H., Bosch, G. and Wagner, A. (2002) Working Time Preferences in
Sixteen European Countries, Report for the European Foundation for the
Improvement of Living and Working Conditions.
Boisard, P. and Fermanian, J.D. (1999) Les rythmes de travail hors normes,
Economie et Statistique 3212: 11131.
Bouffartigue, P. and Bouteiller, J. (2000) Rduire le temps sans rduire la charge?
Les cadres et les 35 heures, Travail et emploi 82: 3752.
Brunhes, B., Clerc, D., Mda, D. and Perret, B. (2001) 35 heures: lheure du bilan.
Paris: Descle de Brouwer.
Bttner, O., Letablier, M- T. and Pennec, S. (2002) Laction publique face aux transformations de la famille en France, Rapport de recherche 02, Centre dtudes
de lemploi, Paris.
CNAF (2000) Prestations familiales 2000, Statistiques nationales. CNAF:
Direction des Statistiques, des Etudes et de la Recherche, Paris.
Dayan, J-L. (2002) Trente cinq heures: des ambitions aux ralits. Paris: la
Dcouverte.
Doisneau, L. (2000) Les accords Robien un an aprs: lexprience des salaris,
Travail et Emploi 83: 6678.
Estrade, M-A., Mda, D. and Orain, R. (2001) Les effets de la rduction du temps
de travail sur les modes de vie. Quen pensent les salaris un an aprs?,
Premires Synthses, Dares 21.1.
Fagan, C. and Burchell, B. (2002) Gender, Jobs and Working Conditions in Europe.
Luxembourg: Office for Official publications of the European Communities.
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Fagan, C. (with T. Warren and I. McAllister) (2001) Gender, Employment and
working-time preferences in Europe. Luxembourg: Office for Official
Publications for the European Communities.
Fagan, C. (2000) Working Time Preferences and European Employment Policy,
Paper presented at the International Working Party on Labour Market
Segmentation, UMIST, UK, July.
Fagnani, J. and Letablier, M.T. (2003) Qui soccupe des enfants pendant que les
parents travaillent?, Recherches et Prvisions 72: 2135.
Franco, A. and Winqvist, K. (2002) Les hommes et les femmes concilient travail et
vie familiale, Statistiques en bref, Eurostat, Thme 3, 9/2002.
Leprince, F. (2003) Laccueil des jeunes enfants en France: tat des lieux et pistes
damlioration. Rapport pour le Haut Conseil de la population et de la famille,
Paris, La Documentation franaise, 192 p. (URL) www.ladocumentationfrancaise.fr/brp/notices/034000070/shtml.
Mda, D. and Delteil, V. (2003) Les cadres face la rduction du temps de travail:
toujours loin des 35 heures, mais plus satisfaits en termes de temps dgag,
Travail et Emploi (to be published).
Mda, D. and Orain, R. (2002) Transformations du travail et du hors travail: le
jugement des salaris, Travail et Emploi 90: 2338.
Morineau, A. (1984) Notes sur la caractrisation statistique dune classe et les variables-tests, Bulletins techniques, Centre Statistique Informatique Appliques
2:12.
Pelisse, J. (2002) A la recherche du temps gagn. Les 35 heures entre perceptions,
rgulations et intgrations professionnelles, Travail et Emploi 90: 722.
Supiot, A. (2001) Beyond Employment. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Ulrich, V. and Estrade, M-A. (2002) La rorganisation des temps travaills avec le
passage aux 35 heures: un facteur de segmentation de la main-duvre, Travail
et Emploi 92: 7194.
Jeanne Fagnani
Jeanne Fagnani is Research Director at the Centre National de la Recherche
Scientifique (CNRS) (MATISSE, University of Paris 1). From 1990 to 1994, she was
responsible for the research programme funded by the National Family Allowance Fund
(CNAF). As an Expert Member of the European Observatory on National Family
Policies (19941997), she had, among other things, to analyse systems of transfers
(income tax and family benefits) as far as families were concerned. At the CNRS she has
conducted many comparative research projects, funded by the European Commission,
in collaboration with European colleagues. In these projects she has investigated, in particular, the interactions between family policy, female employment and labour markets.
She has recently made a comparative analysis of family policies in Germany and France
and highlighted their impact on their respective fertility rates and mothers employment
patterns. She is currently the French partner of the European team Transitions (funded
by the European Commission) which is conducting a three-year cross-national
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comparative research: the overall objective is to examine how young men and women
negotiate motherhood and fatherhood and work-family boundaries in the context of
different national welfare states regimes. She recently published, in collaboration with
Fine-Davis, M., Giovannini, D., Hojgaard, L., and Clarke, H., Fathers and mothers. Dilemmas
of the work-life balance, A Comparative Study in Four European Countries. Dordrecht,
Boston and London: Kluwer, 2004.
Address: 39 rue dEstienne dOrves 92260 Fontenay Aux Roses, France.
E-mail: fagnani@univ-paris1.fr
Marie-Thrse Letablier
Marie-Thrse Letablier is Research Director at the Centre National de la
Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) in Sociology (Centre dEtudes de lEmploi) in Paris
(France). Her main research interests include work, family and gender issues from a
European and comparative perspective. She has been involved in several European
Research Networks, on social and family policies, on womens employment and on
work and family balance. Her publications include Families and Family Policies in Europe
(with Linda Hantrais, Longman, 1996), Familles et travail: contraintes et arbitrages (with
Jeanne Fagnani, Paris: la Documentation Franaise, 2001) and a chapter on Work and
Family Balance: a new Challenge for Politics in France in J. Z. Giele and H. Holst edited
book Changing Life Patterns in Western Industrial Societies (Elsevier, 2003).
Address: Le Descartes I 29, promenade Michel Simon 93166 Noisy le Grand, Cdex,
France.
E-mail: letablie@mail.enpc.fr

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045550 Fagnani & Letablier

Work, employment and society

Work and family life balance: the impact of

n France, the majority of dual-earner couples living with young children

045550 Fagnani & Letablier

Work, employment and society Volume 18

Reducing working time in France: setting the economic

045550 Fagnani & Letablier

Working time and family life Fagnani & Letablier

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Work, employment and society Volume 18

predominant, respected norm in France, even within couples (Bielenski et al.,

Problematic and hypotheses

045550 Fagnani & Letablier

Working time and family life Fagnani & Letablier

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Work, employment and society Volume 18

Data set and methodology

045550 Fagnani & Letablier

Working time and family life Fagnani & Letablier

In the survey, a question was asked in order to identify parents, fathers or

Results and findings

The views of employees: less affected by individual circumstances than by

045550 Fagnani & Letablier

Work, employment and society Volume 18

Table 1 Parents statement according to the level of education

Yes (has made

Table 2 Parents statement according to the sector of activity (public or private)

Yes (has made

Employees in public or nationalized

although State employees expressed a positive opinion more frequently than

The effect of the methods used to fix working hours

045550 Fagnani & Letablier

Working time and family life Fagnani & Letablier

Top and middle management

White collar workers

The effect of the working hours patterns and the length

045550 Fagnani & Letablier

Work, employment and society Volume 18

Employees with non-standard working hours

Employees with standard working hours

045550 Fagnani & Letablier

Working time and family life Fagnani & Letablier

Employer respects notice period

Employer does not respect notice period

The impact of the duration of working time

045550 Fagnani & Letablier

Work, employment and society Volume 18

Table 7 Parents statement according to the average weekly working hours

Between 35 and 38 hours

Table 8 Parents statement according to patterns of working time reduction.

Working time calculated

Reduction of hours worked per week**

Increase in days off*

045550 Fagnani & Letablier

Working time and family life Fagnani & Letablier

Parents opinions closely correlated with perceptions of

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Work, employment and society Volume 18

Reasons given by parents to justify their opinion

045550 Fagnani & Letablier