Variations in adoption of workplace work–family arrangements in Europe: the influence of welfare-state regime and organizational characteristics

Abstract

Using a unique data set of more than 2800 organizations in 19 countries, this article investigated the variations in adoption of workplace work–family arrangements and whether this variation can be explained either by differences in welfare-state contexts or by organization-related factors. Although the welfare-state context contributed significantly to the explanation of workplace work–family arrangements, the adoption of workplace arrangements was more strongly related to organizational conditions and characteristics. However, the results also show that when the development of work–family arrangements is mainly left to the market, as in the liberal context, employers do not fully make up for the absence of public provisions. The findings support the institutional argument that public provisions help to create a normative climate that gives rise to new social expectations and ‘a sense of entitlement’ regarding work–family support. The study supports the rational choice perspective where both employers' institutional environments and organizational factors are viewed as resources and constraints influencing employers' decision to adopt work–family arrangements.

Keywords:

• business case
• Europe
• institutional pressure
• welfare-state regimes
• work–family policies

Acknowledgements

We thank the partners of the CRANET network for providing the data and Cranfield University, School of Management for coordinating the network.

Notes

1. The CRANET survey used the European standard of NACE sector codes which is also used by EUROSTAT.