Content and Objectives

The term “the rush hour of life” has become established in Germany to describe the situation and the challenges of young parents. The Federal government’s Seventh Family Report popularised the term not only in academia but also in the media and politics. However, the scientific definition has been inconsistent and has been used in part for different phenomena.

In the project, the rush hour of life is precisely defined and empirically analysed. Two variants of the rush hour can be identified, which affect different groups, life phases and stress mechanisms. Therefore, we propose a differentiation between two phenomena:

1. Rush hour of life decisions mainly affect university graduates. Within a short period of 5 to 7 years, decisions are often taken at the same time on career entry and establishment as on shared households, marriage and family formation.
2. The rush hour in the phase when people are raising young children describes the intense burden of work and family on fathers and mothers. This is exhibited quantitatively in the occupational, domestic and family working hours as well as in resulting conflicts to do justice to all these areas of life.

Both variants of the rush hour of life can lead to excessive stress and lasting negative consequences. The project therefore also analyses possible policy measures that can help to rectify the rush hour of life.