ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses the main developments in work-family balance policies in Spain over recent decades, trying to highlight their flaws and pointing to possible ways for future improvement. It outlines recent trends and particularities of female employment. The chapter reviews the main policy measures adopted in work-family balance policies in Spain since the 1980s. The unprecedented growth of employment that the Spanish economy experienced from the mid-1990s until the crisis that erupted in 2008 was largely driven by the surge of female employment. Moreover, female employment seems to be weathering the recent crisis much more successfully than male employment. The Lisbon Agenda, and its update by Agenda 2020, made female employment a touchstone for economic growth and the sustainability of European welfare states, moving it to the top of the political agenda. As numerous studies have shown, female employment is highly sensitive to the implementation of labour market and family policies, which favour different arrangements to deal with the dilemma.
