Chancellor Friedrich Merz has renewed criticism of what he and parts of his CDU see as an excessive focus on work-life balance, arguing in January that policies such as a four-day week would threaten Germany’s prosperity. His comments, which included claims that Germans take too much sick leave and lack a sufficient work ethic, came despite OECD data indicating Germans have been working as much or more than in previous years.
The business-oriented wing of the CDU, the Mittelstands- und Wirtschaftsunion (MIT), has adopted the phrase “lifestyle part-time” to describe people it says reduce hours primarily to increase leisure. MIT spokeswoman Juliane Berndt told DW the term excludes those who cut hours to care for children or relatives or to study, and instead targets “people who just want more free time.” The MIT is urging changes to labor law and argues taxpayers should not subsidize part-time lifestyles for social-benefit recipients.
Germany’s part-time workforce has grown for decades, driven largely by economic necessity—many households need two incomes—and by technological and labor-market shifts that leave part-time work preferable to unemployment for some. The MIT cited figures from the federal statistics agency DeStatis showing that in 2022, 27% of part-time workers said they “wanted” part-time work. But labor law specialist Dr. Claudia Hahn challenges the MIT portrayal.
“In 24 years of practicing part-time law, mostly for employees, I have never had a case of someone simply wanting more free time,” Hahn told DW. She said reduced-hours arrangements usually reflect negotiation between employer and employee and that many people do not state their true motives when requesting a contract change. Hahn also disputed the suggestion that employers lack legal leeway to refuse part-time requests: firms can deny applications on grounds such as disproportionate costs or operational disruption. While employees can sue after refusal, few choose to take legal action.
How part-time requests work under German law
Under current rules, employees at companies with 15 or more staff may request part-time contracts with at least three months’ notice. Employers may reject requests if granting them would cause undue costs or impair normal operations; they also have the final say if an employee later wants to return to full-time work. German and EU law prohibit discrimination against part-time workers, ensuring proportional pay, sick leave, training access and vacation.
At the Davos World Economic Forum, Merz blamed Germany’s economic troubles in part on Germans working less than peers, saying Germans were accustomed to working roughly 200 fewer hours a year than Swiss workers. Available data dispute that comparison: Switzerland, the Netherlands and Austria all have higher shares of part-time workers than Germany.
A familiar refrain
Accusations that people shun work for leisure are far from new. Commentators note parallels from ancient times to debates during the Weimar Republic, when critics cast widespread unemployment as moral failure. Many observers view the MIT’s “lifestyle part-time” label as a modern variant of the recurring claim that “no one wants to work anymore.”
Women’s and labor groups have pushed back. The National Council of German Women’s Organizations called the phrase an affront to the many mothers who work part-time for family reasons and warned that the skilled-labor shortage won’t be solved by coercion but by improving conditions—better childcare and more flexible scheduling. Green parliamentary co-leader Katharina Dröge called the term degrading and accused the MIT of trying to roll back rights. SPD figures, the junior coalition partner, have also rejected the idea that part-time is primarily a leisure choice; ahead of state elections they have emphasized reconnecting with working-class voters. Rhineland-Palatinate premier Alexander Schweitzer said he knows “no one who is working less to spend more time on the golf course,” and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania premier Manuela Schwesig warned against letting government decide acceptable motives for reduced hours.
Policy alternatives: taxes, hours, flexibility
Some economists argue tax reform, not stricter part-time rules, would better incentivize fuller-time work. Citing OECD research, media outlets have pointed to progressive tax burdens that can discourage additional work: someone earning €2,000 a month pays about 4.4 euro cents per euro in tax, while a €4,000-earner pays about 13.1 cents per euro, which can affect take-home pay calculations for added hours.
Others in government have proposed different approaches than stigmatizing part-time work. Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) and some SPD figures favor rethinking the rigid eight-hour day and creating more flexible scheduling options. SPD Labor Minister Bärbel Bas has reportedly drafted a revision of the Working Hours Act that would allow full-time hours to be distributed across weeks or months instead of strictly by day, to accommodate seasonal and project-based needs.
The debate pits concerns about productivity and public spending against calls to respect diverse needs in a changing labor market. Critics of the “lifestyle-part-time” label warn that it risks stigmatizing caregivers and others who rely on reduced hours, while supporters say the state should not reward leisure disguised as work-limiting choices.
Edited by Rina Goldenberg