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Most Slovenians balance work and family without any problems, a fifth often work from home
Last year, 80 percent of working people in Slovenia had no problems balancing work and family. Among working men, a tenth reported that they had to adjust their work to care for children or adults, while among women it was a quarter, the National Statistics Office announced this week.
According to statistics, about 30 percent of adults between the ages of 18 and 74 cared for children under the age of 15. More than a fifth took care of their own or their partner’s children, and eight percent regularly took care of their grandchildren.
At least one child was cared for by 35 percent or 352,000 working people. Among the inactive, about a fifth or around 100,000 people. In this group, a little more than three quarters were grandparents who took care of their grandchildren, and a little less than a quarter were inactive ones who took care of their own or their partner’s children. The majority of inactive residents are pensioners, followed by schoolchildren and students.
According to statistics, a tenth of women reported that the biggest obstacle was long working hours or demanding and tiring work. There were five percent of men. For approximately eight percent of all working people, the biggest obstacles to balancing work and family were an unpredictable schedule or a long commute.
Regarding the adjustments needed to facilitate the reconciliation of professional and family life, a tenth of working men reported that they had to adjust their work to take care of children and adults. Among women, this share was about a quarter. Most of them adjusted their work with an adjusted schedule and part-time working hours or made other adjustments, for example with more remote work.
About a fifth of the employed worked from home often or occasionally last year. Among caregivers of younger children, the proportions were about the same as the average among all working people, while those who cared for older children or adult relatives worked slightly more from home. In total, 22 percent of them often or sometimes worked, about a quarter of women, and slightly less than a fifth of men.
At any time so far, slightly less than half of people between the ages of 18 and 54 have been absent from work due to child care. All long absences from work related to child care or childcare, including maternity, paternity or parental leave, were taken into account. 60 percent of them were absent for up to one year.
The structure of the 444,000 residents who were absent from work at any time due to child care was unbalanced by gender last year. The proportion of women was 61 percent, and of these there were 249,000 or 92 percent absent from work due to child care from six months to three years inclusive. On the other hand, 169,000 were absent from work for six months or less. 98 percent men.
