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ABSTRACT
This paper presents the findings of the 2015–2016 research project ‘Fathers and Employers in Action’ conducted to find out how employment situations influence fathering in Slovenia. We examine fathers’ reconciliation of paid work and childcare responsibilities, the impact of various factors on fathers’ practices, as well as managers’ views of work-life balance in their companies and their personal experience. The empirical material was obtained through an on-line survey of 383 employed fathers and interviews with 11 managers, all with a child under 18. Apart from descriptive analysis, we conducted a multivariate analysis with time used for childcare as a dependent variable. Slovenian fathers reported that their employers offered very few measures aimed at facilitating reconciliation of work and family and did not understand their need and wish to participate in childcare. Fathers in managerial positions tend to combine uninterrupted careers with ‘weekend fatherhood’. The analysis showed the interaction of factors affecting fathers’ work-life balance. It also pointed to a need for employers to more strongly enhance their male employees’ work-life balance, both by supporting the use of available statutory provisions, such as paternity and parental leaves, and by implementing measures at the organizational level.
RÉSUMÉ
Cet article présente les conclusions du projet de recherche 2015–2016 intitulé ‘Pères et employeurs en action’ qui avait pour objectif d’examiner l’impact des conditions liées à l’emploi sur la paternité en Slovénie. Nous examinons comment les pères concilient le travail rémunéré et les responsabilités en matière de soins aux enfants, l’impact de divers facteurs sur les pratiques des pères, ainsi que le point de vue des managers sur l’équilibre travail-vie personnelle dans leur entreprise ainsi que leur expérience personnelle. Les données empiriques ont été obtenues au moyen d’une enquête en ligne auprès de 383 pères en emploi et d’entretiens avec 11 managers, tous avec un enfant de moins de 18 ans. Outre l’analyse descriptive, nous avons réalisé une analyse multivariée avec comme variable dépendante le temps destiné aux enfants. Les pères slovènes déclarent que leurs employeurs proposent très peu de mesures visant à faciliter la conciliation travail-famille et comprennent mal leur besoins et désir de se consacrer davantage aux enfants. Les pères occupant des postes de direction tendent à associer une carrière ininterrompue à une ‘paternité de fin de semaine’. L’analyse révèle l’interaction de différents facteurs relatifs à la conciliation travail-vie personnelle des pères. Elle met également en évidence la nécessité pour les employeurs d’améliorer plus fortement l’équilibre entre vie professionnelle et vie privée de leurs employés masculins, à la fois en soutenant le recours aux dispositions légales disponibles, telles que congé de paternité et congé parental, et en mettant en œuvre des mesures au niveau organisationnel.
Acknowledgement
The authors gratefully acknowledge the input by their colleagues during the lifetime of the project, which largely helped derive the results presented in this paper. The authors would also like to thank Linda Haas and the anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments and suggestions to improve the quality of the paper.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Notes on contributors
Nada Stropnik holds a Ph.D. in economics and is Senior Researcher at the Institute for Economic Research, Ljubljana, Slovenia. Her main research areas are family policy, social policy, work-life balance, poverty and social inclusion. A full bibliography is available at: http://splet02.izum.si/cobiss/bibliography?code=07813.
Živa Humer holds a Ph.D. in sociology and is Research Fellow at the Peace Institute, Institute for Contemporary Social and Political Studies, Ljubljana, Slovenia. Her research areas cover topics related to gender, care, families, fatherhood, and gender-equality policies. A full bibliography is available at: http://splet02.izum.si/cobiss/bibliography?code=28994.
Aleksandra Kanjuo Mrčela is Professor of the Sociology of Work and Economic Sociology at the University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Social Sciences. An important part of her research is devoted to the analysis of gender equality in the economy. A full bibliography is available at: http://splet02.izum.si/cobiss/bibliography?code=10976.
Janez Štebe is Assistant Professor at the University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Social Sciences. His research interest includes gender roles, employee commitment, and social and political attitudes from comparative perspective. A full bibliography is available at: http://splet02.izum.si/cobiss/bibliography?code=10661.
Notes
1. The project on ‘Fathers and Employers in Action’ (2015–2016) was carried out by The Peace Institute (lead partner), University of Ljubljana – Faculty of Social Sciences, The Association of Free Trade Unions of Slovenia, Nicha d.o.o., and Reform – Resource Centre for Men from Norway. Three co-authors of this paper participated in this project: one of them was project coordinator and interviewer of managers, while the other two were involved in the analysis and interpretation of the on-line survey results; all three conducted literature review and were involved in designing the on-line survey.
2. There were two reasons for change: 1) EU Directive requesting at least one non-transferable month of parental leave for each of the parents, and 2) low take-up rate of non-paid paternity leave.
3. A considerable number of fathers made use of additional paid days (five days in 2016, ten in 2017 and fifteen in 2018).
4. The measures cover eight areas: working time, work organization, workplace quality and flexibility, information and communication policy, leadership, human resources development, wages and in-work benefits, and family services (Ekvilib Inštitut, Citation2012).
5. The project team has complied with the Slovenian-, European Union- and other international regulation regarding the protection of personal data. In the processes of data collection, analysis and storage, it has been committed to abide by the principle of the protection of rights and freedom of individuals and other key principles for ethical research. The interviewees were informed about the project’s contents and purpose.
6. To evaluate the extent to which the sample is biased, we compared it with the sample of the 2010 Labor Force Survey (LFS; over 50 thousand respondents) that has the characteristics of a micro census. For this purpose, the comparable population of the LFS respondents was taken into consideration: fathers who live in the same household with children younger than 18 years. There is a minimum deviation of our sample from the LFS one regarding age (the share of fathers younger than 40 years is somewhat lower while the share of those aged 40–44 years is somewhat higher). The share of highly educated fathers is considerably higher (71%, compared to 23% in the LFS), and the share of fathers with permanent employment is higher by 10 percentage points.
7. Since participation was voluntary, we presume our sample to be biased towards managers who are aware of the importance of work-life balance.
8. Using a five-point scale (1 meaning ‘not important at all’ and 5 meaning ‘very important’), fathers declared how important it is for them to: daily provide for children’s needs (like food, clothes and cleaning), play with children (including sports activities and hobbies), help with children’s duties (related to pre-school childcare, school, afterschool activities, etc.), and devote as much time to children as possible.
9. Numbers indicate the respondent’s age and number of children.
10. The authors are aware of the limitations of their quantitative- and qualitative analyses due to a non-representative sample of fathers and a small sample of managers, respectively.