Invisible Burdens, Visible Gains: How Managing Leisure and Caregiving Impacts Women's Socioeconomic Status
Martin Černek, Michal Fridrich
Keywords:
Gender disparities, Leisure activities, Caregiving responsibilities, Labour market conditions, European Union
Abstract:
This study investigates how women’s engagement in leisure activities, domestic responsibilities, and structural labour market conditions jointly shape their socioeconomic outcomes in the European Union. Using a hierarchical regression framework based on panel data from 27 E.U. countries (2010–2021), indexed by the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE), we analyse three outcome domains: health, knowledge, and labour market participation. The results reveal that women’s frequent participation in out-of-home leisure activities and access to flexible working arrangements significantly enhance health, educational, and employment outcomes. Intensive caregiving responsibilities have a strong negative impact on both health and employment, while routine household tasks exhibit negligible effects. Structural employment factors further moderate these relationships: employment in education, health, and social work sectors improves outcomes across all domains, whereas a longer working life tends to weaken women’s health and knowledge-related results, suggesting potential trade-offs between sustained career engagement and well-being. The findings highlight that women’s socioeconomic advancement depends on the balance between personal autonomy, caregiving obligations, and structural work conditions. The study underscores the importance of policies that expand workplace flexibility, strengthen support for caregiving, and promote women’s participation in socially oriented sectors, thereby advancing gender equality and economic sustainability across the European Union.
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 Invisible Burdens, Visible Gains: How Managing Leisure and Caregiving Impacts Women's Socioeconomic Status [PDF file] [Filesize: 965.59 KB]
 10.7441/joc.2026.01.07
Černek, M. and Fridrich, M. (2026). Invisible Burdens, Visible Gains: How Managing Leisure and Caregiving Impacts Women's Socioeconomic Status. Journal of Comptitiveness (18)1, 134-160. https://doi.org/10.7441/joc.2026.01.07
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