What is life-work balance & why is it important in 2025?
We reject the traditional term “work-life balance” because we believe it to be backwards, literally and philosophically. Our preferred phrasing, life-work balance, emphasises that life comes first, and work should exist in service of enriching, not overshadowing it. Life-work balance is not simply a measure of how much time an individual spends at work or how many hours are left for personal pursuits. It’s more nuanced than that. That’s why our study seeks to paint a holistic view of what it truly means to live and work well in different parts of the world. But of course, we also acknowledge that life-work balance doesn’t have a universal definition — it will mean something different to every individual and in every culture. Our aim is not to generalise, but to present the core statutory benefits and workplace systems in place across the world to help bolster a culture of strong life-work balance. Across the globe, life-work balance remains fundamental to our physical and emotional wellbeing. We should all have the time and freedom to engage meaningfully with our lives outside of work.
“By promoting life-work balance, we acknowledge that work is a means to support life and not its defining purpose. At Remote, our Global Life-Work Balance study is more than just a comparative table. It’s a reflection of our core belief that people perform their best when they’re trusted to live fully outside of work, not just within it. We advocate for life-work balance because flexibility and wellbeing are more than just perks. Our mission is to build a future where global talent thrives not just professionally, but personally too.” — Barbara Matthews, Chief People Officer
Why life-work balance remains more critical than ever
For the first time, life-work balance is now considered the number-one motivator for employees all over the world, with workplace flexibility outranking pay in importance in a recent survey of thousands of international workers.
But why is life-work balance becoming non-negotiable in the modern working landscape?
Employees demand flexibility. In our recent Remote Workforce Report, 73% of hiring leaders said they’ve lost employees to companies offering greater flexibility.
The boundaries are blurred. The widespread adoption of hybrid and remote work has many positives, but it can be harder for employees to ‘disconnect.’
We live in an always-on culture. Technology has broadened our horizons, but expectations for 24/7 responsiveness have increased.
Economic uncertainty is widespread. Amid rising costs of living worldwide, many employees are overworking to stay relevant and secure in their roles.
Parental demands are taking a toll. Almost three-quarters of the global workforce have some kind of caregiving responsibility to juggle with a career.
AI has introduced additional stress. While AI can help us work smarter, it also fuels fears of redundancy and a need for continual skill development.
As our study shows, countries such as New Zealand and many in Europe are helping their employees navigate the balance between life and work with employee-first policies, but nations like the United States risk walking into a burnout epidemic with a culture that continues to prioritise long hours and limited paid leave.
Without decisive action, this approach will drain the talent pool and compromise the future resilience of the workforce.
Life-Work Balance Index survey methodology
As leaders in global HR and employment, we conducted our index data analysis of the world’s top 60 GDP countries to discover which global player offers employees the best life-work balance. The top 60 GDP countries were selected as a global sample. The study reviewed the following indicators:
Statutory annual leave (total days of paid leave, including public holidays)*
Minimum statutory sick pay (percent of wage, or a flat amount)*
Statutory maternity leave (weeks paid)*
Statutory maternity leave payment rate (percent of wage)*
Minimum wage (USD per hour)*
Healthcare status
Happiness index score (1-10, 10 being highest)
Average hours per week per employed person
LGBTQ+ Inclusivity (0-100, 100 being highest to reflect the Legal Index scores the legal rights and freedoms LGBTQ+ people have, while the Public Opinion Index scores how the general public feels in each region)
Safety: Global Peace Index (1-4, lower is better)
The goal was to accurately represent each country’s life-work balance, reframing the familiar concept of “work-life balance” to showcase how businesses in each country are looking after the lives of their employees and putting life before work.
The metrics were adjusted with index weights to reflect their relative importance, giving each country an overall score out of 100. All data points are ranked highest to lowest, apart from the healthcare rating, which is ranked out of five (with one being the best), and average hours worked per week and the safety score, which are both ranked from lowest to best.
