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<p>Societal shifts, digitalization, and flexibilization at the workplace have led to blurred boundaries between life and work, yet the overall development of work-life balance (WLB) over the past decade in the German population remains largely unexplored. This study leverages longitudinal quantitative data from the PASS panel, collected via telephone surveys by the Institute for Labor Market and Occupational Research (IAB) in Germany. Using Latent Growth Modeling, we analyzed the WLB trajectories of 1,806 German employees over a decade (2013–2022). Thus, unlike many cross-sectional studies, this research captures the long-term evolution of WLB, illuminating how it has responded to significant societal and workplace changes. Despite these changes, our findings indicate that WLB has remained generally stable over the past ten years. By incorporating person- and job-related factors (gender, parental status, career stage, job category, income group), we were also able to examine individual differences in WLB and its progression. Blue-collar workers and participants with children showed significantly lower WLB. White-collar workers were the only subgroup to show a slight decrease in WLB. These results highlight the importance of targeted interventions at both organizational and policy levels to address disparities in WLB and promote sustainable work environments.</p>

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Stable yet unequal: a decade of work-life balance in Germany

  • 期刊论文

  • 出版模式：

    开放获取

  • 发表日期：

    2026年1月19日

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  • Anna Aumüller,
  • Andreas Winklbauer,
  • Barbara Stiglbauer,
  • Bernad Batinic

摘要

Societal shifts, digitalization, and flexibilization at the workplace have led to blurred boundaries between life and work, yet the overall development of work-life balance (WLB) over the past decade in the German population remains largely unexplored. This study leverages longitudinal quantitative data from the PASS panel, collected via telephone surveys by the Institute for Labor Market and Occupational Research (IAB) in Germany. Using Latent Growth Modeling, we analyzed the WLB trajectories of 1,806 German employees over a decade (2013–2022). Thus, unlike many cross-sectional studies, this research captures the long-term evolution of WLB, illuminating how it has responded to significant societal and workplace changes. Despite these changes, our findings indicate that WLB has remained generally stable over the past ten years. By incorporating person- and job-related factors (gender, parental status, career stage, job category, income group), we were also able to examine individual differences in WLB and its progression. Blue-collar workers and participants with children showed significantly lower WLB. White-collar workers were the only subgroup to show a slight decrease in WLB. These results highlight the importance of targeted interventions at both organizational and policy levels to address disparities in WLB and promote sustainable work environments.