Work-life balance on a farm with young children in Slovenia

Abstract

The challenges of work-life balance, gender equality in work and family life, and changing social norms‒responsible parenthood and safe and healthy working conditions‒have been widely discussed and addressed in literature, policy documents, and the media for decades. Since the early days of rural studies, the family farm has been widely recognized as a special unit of production, consumption, and lifestyle. However, the lifestyle of family farms, including work-life balance, has received little attention or consideration in policy and academic debates, particularly in Europe. Based on these observations, this paper discusses the results of two consecutive studies on working conditions on farms in Slovenia, with a focus on work-life balance in the case of maternity/parental leave on farms. The first study is based on structured interviews with 60 adult members of family farms of both genders conducted in 2018/2019, and the second study is based on semi-structured interviews with 23 farmers of both genders from different parts of the country, conducted in 2021/2022. The stories of the two groups of research participants are assessed and discussed against the background of the current scholarly debate on work-life balance in farming context and the recently adopted institutional framework for work-life balance in the European Union.