title: A balancing act? Work-life balance, health and well-being in European welfare states.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Recent analyses have shown that adverse psychosocial working conditions, such as job strain and effort-reward imbalance, vary by country and welfare state regimes. Another work-related factor with potential impact on health is a poor work-life balance. The aims of this study are to determine the association between a poor work-life balance and poor health across a variety of European countries and to explore the variation of work-life balance between European countries.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data from the 2010 European Working Conditions Survey were used with 24,096 employees in 27 European countries. Work-life balance is measured with a question on the fit between working hours and family or social commitments. The WHO-5 well-being index and self-rated general health are used as health indicators. Logistic multilevel models were calculated to assess the association between work-life balance and health indicators and to explore the between-country variation of a poor work-life balance.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Employees reporting a poor work-life balance reported more health problems (Poor well-being: OR = 2.06, 95% CI = 1.83-2.31; Poor self-rated health: OR = 2.00, 95% CI = 1.84-2.17). The associations were very similar for men and women. A considerable part of the between-country variation of work-life balance is explained by working hours, working time regulations and welfare state regimes. The best overall work-life balance is reported by Scandinavian men and women.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study provides some evidence on the public health impact of a poor work-life balance and that working time regulations and welfare state characteristics can influence the work-life balance of employees.
authors.affiliation: 1 Institute for Medical Sociology, Medical Faculty, University of Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany thorsten.lunau@uni-duesseldorf.de.
authors.forename: Thorsten
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Lunau
authors.affiliation: 2 Department of Geography and Wolfson Research Institute for Health and Wellbeing, Durham University, Durham, UK.
authors.forename: Clare
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bambra
authors.affiliation: 3 Department of Sociology and Political Science, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway.
authors.forename: Terje A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Eikemo
authors.affiliation: 4 Faculty of Social Sciences, Oslo and Akershus University College, Norway.
authors.forename: Kjetil A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: van der Wel
authors.affiliation: 1 Institute for Medical Sociology, Medical Faculty, University of Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany.
authors.forename: Nico
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Dragano
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005060:Europe; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D012946:Social Welfare; D012950:Socialism; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014940:Work Schedule Tolerance; D055815:Young Adult