Tensions between Work, Family and Personal Life in Spanish Dual-Income Couples

Abstract

Work – both paid and unpaid – is a fundamental part of people’s lives and the way it is integrated into their lives, as well as the conditions in which it is carried out, strongly affects people’s well-being. Indeed, the concept of ‘work-life balance’ is an integral part of policies aimed at employment and equality in most countries in the European Union, and in the framework of the European Employment Strategy ‘work- life balance’ has been introduced as one of the indicators for measuring quality of employment (CEC, 2001, p. 13). Achieving quality in employment thus encompasses balance between the spheres of work and personal life. This approach introduces new criteria of job quality, a concept which has traditionally focused only on features intrinsic to the job. The inclusion of work-1 ife balance implies the broadening of the concept of work by also taking into consideration the unpaid work that takes place in the home.