Leadership Resources

Leadership Resources from the Carlson Executive MBA Program

OECD Better Life Index

This article from OECD provides research results of the Better Life Index based on 11 topics, and Work-Life Balance is one of them. The research contains results evaluated between 40 developed countries. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is an international organization that works to build better policies for better lives.

Link to Article OECD Better Life Index-Work Life Balance

  • The United States seems to perform well compared to other countries in the overall Better Life Index, specifically on housing, jobs, income, health, and other measures, but ranks below average on the work-life balance, ranking 29 out of the 40 developed countries.
  • Two indicators affecting the overall well-being of Americans are employees tend to have long working hours and less time devoted to leisure and personal care. 
  • This article highlights some of the factors that help to increase the work-life balance, followed by other successful countries like reducing poverty among working families by providing paid parental leave, early investment in child care and family support, tax breaks, and credits.
  • Changes need to be implemented at a national level to increase the overall work-life balance of Americans.