Österreich 2025: Arbeitszeitverteilung in Österreich - Analyse und Optionen aus Sicht der Arbeitnehmerinnen und Arbeitnehmer

Die empirische Evidenz zur Verteilung der Arbeitszeit unselbstständig Beschäftigter in Österreich zeigt eine hohe Heterogenität, insbesondere zwischen Frauen und Männern (Gender-Time-Gap). Während Frauen durchschnittlich mehr Zeit pro Woche für unbezahlte Tätigkeiten aufwenden als Männer, sind Männer im Durchschnitt einen Vollzeit-Tag pro Woche (8,2 Stunden) länger in bezahlter Beschäftigung als Frauen. Der beträchtliche Unterschied in der durchschnittlichen Wochenerwerbsarbeitszeit (Männer 39,8 und Frauen 31,6 Stunden) geht primär darauf zurück, dass fast die Hälfte der Frauen (49,4%) teilzeitbeschäftigt ist und viele Männer Überstunden leisten. Grund dafür sind traditionelle Rollenbilder sowie die ungleiche Verteilung der Hausarbeit und der Betreuung von Kindern und Pflegebedürftigen. So dominiert in Paarhaushalten mit Kindern unter 15 Jahren das Zuverdienst-Modell: Der Mann ist in Vollzeit erwerbstätig, die Frau in Teilzeit. Gleichzeitig entspricht bei rund einem Viertel der unselbstständig Beschäftigten die tatsächlich geleistete Wochenerwerbsarbeitszeit nicht dem gewünschten Ausmaß: Frauen würden durchschnittlich gerne mehr Stunden pro Woche berufstätig sein, Männer weniger. Mit zunehmendem Alter wird der Abstand zwischen gewünschter und realisierter Arbeitszeit größer. Die Studie zeigt arbeitszeitbezogene Ansatzpunkte zur Förderung einer ausgeglichenen Verteilung der Erwerbsarbeitszeit von Frauen und Männern über ihr Erwerbsleben ebenso wie Maßnahmen für spezifische Lebensphasen, die eine Anpassung der individuellen Erwerbsarbeitszeit zur Vereinbarkeit von Beruf und außerberuflichen Verpflichtungen bzw. Interessen ermöglichen.The empirical evidence for the distribution of the working hours of dependent workers in Austria shows a high heterogeneity, especially between women and men (gender time gap). While women spend an average more time per week on unpaid activities than men, men are on average a full-time day per week (8.2 hours) longer in paid employment than women. The significant difference in average weekly working hours (men 39.8 and women 31.6 hours) is primarily due to the fact that almost half of women (49.4%) work part-time and many men work overtime. The reason for this is traditional gender roles, as well as the uneven distribution of domestic work and the care of children and dependent persons. For example, in couples with children under the age of 15, the modified breadwinner model dominates: the man is full-time working, the woman part-time. At the same time, about a quarter of the employed is unsatisfied with their actual weekly working hours: on average women prefer working more hours a week, men less. With increasing age, the distance between preferred and realized weekly working hours increases. The study shows working-time approaches to promote a balanced distribution of the working time of women and men over their working lives, as well as measures for specific life stages, which allow an adaptation of the individual working time to reconcile work and non-work commitments or interests

Savings from an Increase in the Retirement Age and the Employment Potential of Older Workers

If the retirement age is raised the financial burden on public households is lowered in two ways: through a reduction in pension payments and through the increase in income tax revenues and social security contributions. Two effects diminish the savings potential, however: first, some of those who enter into early retirement would otherwise draw unemployment benefits; second, for some employees, a longer working life results in higher pension benefits. If in 1994 the proposed increase of two years in the minimum age for early retirement had been implemented, some 29,000 persons would have had to postpone their retirement. Assuming there is no change in any other legal regulations, the direct fiscal effects amount to savings of Sch 4.962 billion in the first year and of Sch 3.118 billion in the second year. Higher pension benefits for the remaining lifetime result in higher costs. The overall value of discounted savings for 1994 totals Sch 3.254 billion. The results depend to a large extent on the proportion of employees who would be unemployed if the retirement age were raised. This share was put at 40 percent and is equal to the proportion of persons entering into early retirement in 1993 who had been unemployed before retirement. A decrease in the proportion of unemployed to 30 percent would increase total savings to Sch 4.975 billion, an increase to 50 percent would depress total savings to Sch 1.527 billion. This study clearly shows that the fiscal effects of an increase in the retirement age depend to a large measure on how well older workers can be integrated into the labor market.Fiskalwirkungen einer Anhebung des Mindestalters für eine vorzeitige Alterspension. Am Beispiel der Pensionszugangskohorte 1994; Savings from an Increase in the Retirement Age and the Employment Potential of Older Workers

Company Integration Subsidy as a Tool to Integrate Older Unemployed

Within the scope of efforts to raise the retirement age, increasingly greater importance has been awarded in recent years to schemes aimed at reintegrating older unemployed workers in the employment system. For the coming years, no relief can be expected in the employment situation for older people, which translates into a particular challenge for labour market policy. One tool to achieve reintegration is the company integration subsidy granted by the Public Employment Service. The granting of an integration subsidy allows a company to determine at low cost whether or not an applicant eligible for the subsidy is suitable for the job. The positive experience gained by companies from integration subsidies might serve as a signal for others that have so far shied away from employing people who fall under the subsidy scheme. The integration subsidy is an effective labour market policy instrument to achieve integration, particularly for older unemployed where the employment effect is greater than for the young. Nevertheless up to 1999, the subsidy did not adequately take into account the problems of older persons. This group may be hampered by a shortage of information on the subsidy on the one hand, and by inexperience in looking for work and lack of knowledge of the range of employment opportunities on the other hand. Added to this are the restrictions facing older people when it comes to their actual job opportunities: the strict internal separation of labour market segments and health problems close them off from access to a large range of activities. Against this background, the subsidy is utilised, especially for older unemployed, by sectors where labour demand is declining and unemployment is high. There is hardly any refocus on low-unemployment sectors. The current use of the integration subsidy should thus be viewed primarily as a tool to help make structural change more socially compatible.Betriebliche Eingliederungsbeihilfen als Instrument der Integration von älteren Arbeitslosen; Company Integration Subsidy as a Tool to Integrate Older Unemployed

European Social Fund and Labor Market Policy

When Austria joined the European Union it became a recipient of moneys from the European Social Fund (ESF) dedicated to labor market promotion activities. This means that a proportion of Austrian payments to the EU is returned to Austria earmarked for this particular purpose. The ESF aims to foster structural change actively by promoting human capital. As the European Union handles its financial involvement in the labor market policies of its member states solely through the ESF, it can thus exercise more influence on national strategies through the ESF than within the scope of other Community activities in the field of employment, social and labor market policies. Altogether, about ATS 7 billion from the ESF are available for spending in Austria in 1995 to 1999. By the end of 1997, 55 percent of scheduled ESF aid had already been expended (Federal Ministry of Labor, Health and Social Affairs). Thanks to the ESF, the means available for active labor market policies have been substantially increased. Between 1994 and 1997, Public Employment Service spending on labor market promotion rose by 48 percent to ATS 6.931 billion (including ESF moneys in 1997). Nevertheless, the ESF has also changed requirements to be met by labor market promotion measures. Because of the ESF, employees affected by structural change have become a specific target group of labor market policy. Similarly, assistance for the unemployed is no longer the exclusive responsibility of the Public Employment Service: the Federal Offices for Social Affairs and the Disabled have been given co-responsibility for supporting disabled unemployed who benefit from the Employment of Disabled Persons Act. In spite of the Commission's stipulations and long-term program planning, there is sufficient flexibility to respond quickly to changing conditions. The ESF does not limit the national scope for labor market policies and neither does it counteract the principle of a decentralized Public Employment Service. Set against this background, the contribution to the WIFO Monthly looks at the ESF and its place within the labor market and employment strategy pursued by the European Union. Interventions by the ESF are based on the concept of employability, which is to be boosted by measures to improve qualifications, employment subsidies and the provision of support structures. ESF measures thus are effective when the employed and unemployed have qualifications that do not match the requirements of the jobs on offer. But when demand for labor is inadequate (i.e. a shortage of jobs), other tools are required. The ESF is thus only one of the pillars of a European employment and labor market strategy. In its employment strategy, the European Commission concentrates chiefly on supply-side tools. In its view, a major cause of the high unemployment rate in Europe is the fact that over the past decades labor markets have been subject to a deep-going process of transformation, while co-ordination mechanisms (and thus the institutional framework) still think in 1950's categories. This view also explains the high priority awarded by the Commission to reviewing the effectiveness and efficiency of institutions and regulations.Europäischer Sozialfonds und Arbeitsmarktpolitik; European Social Fund and Labor Market Policy

Employment Opportunities and Social Security: An Outline

The need for a pension reform is usually argued by reference to the demographic aging process. Even so, it is essential not to lose sight of an equally serious problem in this context: in order to safeguard the financial soundness of the social security system, the greatest number of persons possible needs to be integrated into economic activity. An increase in employment raises the public sector's revenues and lowers the volume of transfer payments. The challenges facing the social security system during the last decades were posed not only by the expansion of benefits, but also by the worsening of employment opportunities for the population of working age. Since the beginning of the 1970s, the demographic dependency ratio (older persons and children in relation to the working-age population) has declined. At the peak in 1970, this ratio was one fourth higher than in 1996. Nonetheless, the effective dependency ratio (persons without employment relative to those employed) has barely decreased because of the worsening of the labor market situation and the concomitant rise in the share of working-age persons without a job: in 1970 there were 100 persons employed for every 143 persons without a job; in 1996 this ratio was 100 : 136. At the same time, more and more working-age persons without a job became dependent on transfer payments. For example, in 1977 there were 7 persons of working-age who received transfer payments per 100 persons in employment; in 1996 there were 20. The rising number of persons in early retirement constitutes just one, if essential, element in this development. Older members of the workforce face particularly great difficulties in the labor market. There is a number of contributing factors: the competition by younger workers, lower productivity on account of wearing down of workers' physical condition and on account of technologically induced changes in work tasks and work organization, the dominance of the seniority principle in the remuneration especially for white-collar workers, the formation of internal labor markets in many areas and corresponding changes in the demand for labor in enterprises. As a result, older unemployed persons are at a disadvantage if vacancies are scarce. Thus, persons aged 50 and over face the highest unemployment rates of all age groups. In 1996, 46 percent of unemployed persons aged 50 to 54 had been out of work at least half a year – one fourth, longer than a year. Moreover, during the last few years the characteristics of many jobs have changed. Atypical employment relations have gained in importance. The greater the number of persons who, because of atypical employment relations, are insufficiently covered by the social security system or who are permanently excluded from the labor market, the greater the burden imposed on the social system. The developments observed over the last few decades may suggest appropriate policy responses. Within the framework of coordinated employment and social policies, measures need to be designed which not only further the integration of persons at the margin into working life but help to weave a tighter social net as well.Beschäftigungschancen und soziale Sicherheit. Ein Problemaufriß; Employment Opportunities and Social Security: An Outline

European Social Fund and Labor Market Policy

Since 1995, moneys from the European Social Fund (ESF) have been used in Austria to support labor market policy measures. The ESF's brief is to foster structural change by promoting employment and developing human resources. As the European Union handles its financial involvement in the labor market policies of its member states solely through the ESF, it can thus exercise more influence on national strategies through the ESF than within the scope of other Community activities in the field of employment, social and labor market policies. Interventions by the ESF are underpinned by the concept of individual employability, an approach that nevertheless makes up just one of the pillars of the European employment and labor market strategy.European Social Fund and Labor Market Policy

Institutional Changes and their Impact on Employment Figures

The official statistical figures for the dependently employed in Austria are based on data provided by the Main Association of Austrian Security Institutions which specify the number of employment relationships that exceed the marginal earnings threshold. This method has several advantages such as its monthly periodicity, currency (figures are updated immediately following the end of each month) and its design as a full census. The definition for "employment" is derived from actuarial aspects reflecting the responsibilities of the Main Association of Austrian Security Institutions. As a result, non-actively employed persons are included in the statistics as being "employed". If such groups undergo a dimensional change due to institutional changes, the result is a distorted depiction of actual demand for labour.Beschäftigungsstatistik Österreich institutionelle Einflüsse

Child Care Benefit – Impact on the Labour Market Participation of Women

The intention underlying the introduction of the child care benefit was to offer parents greater freedom of choice in matters regarding child care and their participation in the labour market. However, according to the findings presented here, the new regime – so far – has led to a longer withdrawal of women from the labour market, without resulting in a stronger involvement of fathers in the care for young children.Kinderbetreuungsgeld; Karenzgeld; Frauen; Österreich

Loss of Earnings Suffered by Women with Children

Women in Austria suffer a substantial loss of earnings once they have children. By the time the youngest child has grown up, the loss accumulates to between € 103,000 (one child) and € 136,000 (three or more children), provided that the woman returns to gainful employment. If, however, the woman stops working after giving birth to her first child, her loss will rise to over € 200,000. The likelihood of such a loss will be the lower the fewer children a woman has and the higher her earning capacity is in the labour market.Indirekte Kinderkosten; Verdienstentgang; Frauen; Österreich, Indirekte Kinderkosten; Verdienstentgang; Frauen; Österreich

Does Labour Market Promotion Work in Austria? Main Evaluation Findings on Active Labour Market Policy Programmes in Austria

WIFO analysed key tools of labour market promotion programmes, using microeconometric methods, for their effects on the subsequent working life of beneficiaries. All measures thus analysed were found to have a positive effect on the labour force participation rate. Nevertheless, methods are not always sure to positively influence integration in the employment system: while participation in activation and qualification measures generally increases subsequent employment spells among women aged 25–44, older women and men hardly show any significant positive effects. Employment measures, on the other hand, impact positively on the (non-subsidised) employment of older unemployed.Arbeitsmarktförderung Evaluierung aktive Arbeitsmarktpolitik