Fathers in Slovenia

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Statistical definition of fathers at population censuses

Even though most of the data on fathers in Slovenia are collected with population censuses and these data are relatively scarce, they are very interesting. Some facts about fathers can be inferred from the data on births and acknowledgement of paternity and divorces.

According to the statistical definition, at censuses fathers in Slovenia are only those men who live in families with children, irrespective of whether they live together with children and a wife, a partner or alone. Statistically speaking, at population censuses biological fathers not living with their children are not considered to be fathers.

In almost 61% of families with children live also fathers 

According to 2002 Census data, 338,621 fathers lived with children in Slovenia; that means that 42% of men aged 15+ were fathers.

At that time 60.9% of families in Slovenia were unions of mothers and fathers with children and 21.2% of them had children under 6 years of age.

Of the 105,683 children under 6 years of age who lived in families at the 2002 Census, 83.2% lived in families with fathers. Of the 548,720 children under 25 who lived in families at the 2002 Census, 85.9% lived in families with fathers.

Average size of single-father families is 2.3 members

At the 2002 Census the average size of families with children was 3.4 members. Families of single fathers with children are still rare in our country: at the 1981 Census the share was around 2.3%, ten years later it was 3.1% and in 2002 3.4%. At the last census these families had on average 2.3 members.

Most fathers live with a wife or a partner and children

At the last census most fathers in Slovenia (95.7%) lived in families with wives (87.0%) or with partners (8.7%) and children; 4.3% of fathers lived alone with children. Compared to the national average, higher shares of families of fathers, wives and children were observed in 103 municipalities, the same in 3 municipalities and lower in 86 municipalities.

83% of children live in families with both parents

At the last census, 17.2% of two-parent families in Slovenia had no children under 25 and 82.8% had at least one child of that age (459,733 children). Among two-parent families 41.5% had one child, 47.9% had two children, 8.8% had three children, 1.3% had four children and 0.4% had five or more children aged 25 or less. The other 88,987 children younger than 25 living in families lived in single-parent families, 13.2% of them in single-father families.

60% of families with fathers and children have children under 25

Among 14,609 single-father families at the 2002 Census, in 60.0% fathers were living with children under 25: in most cases (70.5%) with only one child, in 25.4% with two children, in 3.4% with three children and in 0.7% with four or more children. Every 40^th child under 25 years of age thus lived with the father alone and every seventh child under 25 lived in a family without a father.

At the 2002 Census a father in Slovenia was on average 46.4 years old

As regards the mean age of fathers, unmarried fathers living with partners and children were the youngest at 38.5 years. Fathers living in families with wives and children were about 9 years older (46.9 years), while fathers living alone with children were the oldest (on average more than 53). However, one has to take into account that at the census these types of families included families of old parents and unmarried children (children who had not yet created their own families) living with them. This is the result of the fact that frequently children who do not create their own families continue to live with their parents and take care of them. A fifth of fathers in single-parent families was namely 65 or more years old and almost 60% of fathers in these families were 50 or more years old.

Most fathers have upper secondary education

At the 2002 Census two thirds of fathers finished one of the upper secondary schools; slightly less than 15% of fathers finished elementary school and 16% finished tertiary education. Of the latter, 0.8% were masters of science/arts and 0.5% were doctors of science.

Around 60% of fathers were employed, 10% were self-employed, around 20% were retired and 7% were unemployed. At the 2002 Census 180 fathers declared that they were homemakers.

Half of fathers living alone with children are employed in the place of residence

There are considerable differences among fathers living in families with children regarding the type of family and the place of work.

As regards fathers living in two-parent families with children, at the last census 43% worked in the place of residence, 19% worked in another place within the same municipality, 28% worked in another municipality within the same statistical region, 8% worked in another statistical region and 2% worked in another country.

As regards single fathers living with children, almost a half worked in the place of residence, 16% worked in another place in the same municipality, 24% worked in another municipality within the same statistical region, 8% worked in another statistical region and almost 3% worked in another country.

As regards fathers living with partners and children in consensual unions, 40% worked in the place of residence, 17% worked in another place within the same municipality, 32% worked in another municipality within the same statistical region, 9% worked in another statistical region and 2% worked in another country.

The mean age of both mothers and fathers at birth of children is growing

As in most European countries, parents of newborns are getting older. While in 1985 fathers at childbirth were on average 29.0 years old (mothers 25.5), ten years later fathers were two years older (31.0) and mothers were 27.2 years old. In 2005 the mean age of fathers at childbirth was 33.0 and of mothers 29.4. On average, fathers at childbirth are 3.5 years older than mothers. This is also shown by the fact that two thirds of fathers of children born in 2005 were between 30 and 40 years old and very few fathers were younger than 25 (7.0%). In 2006 the mean age of fathers at childbirth was 32.7 years.

Most children born to unmarried mothers are recognised by their fathers

Acknowledgement of paternity is a procedure in which a man in accordance with the valid legal regulations acknowledges a child to be his own. It is only valid if the child’s mother agrees with the acknowledgment. Because every year more children in Slovenia are born outside marriage (in Slovenia marriage and cohabitation have been legally equal since 1976), the number of acknowledgements of paternity is on the rise.

In mid-1970s 10% of children were born outside marriage, in 1987 more than 20%, and in 2002 more than 40%; according to the latest available data, in 2006 47.2% of mothers gave birth outside marriage, which is half a percent more than a year before.

The number of acknowledgements of paternity has been growing accordingly; in the past ten years 95% of children born outside marriage were acknowledged by their fathers before they were one year old. Every year more and more fathers recognise their children before they are one month old, especially in order to settle the documents (birth certificate, health insurance, etc.). In 1960 1,460 children born outside marriage were recognised by their fathers, in 1990 6,150 and in 2005 8,175.

Less than 10% of children from divorced marriages given to fathers

After 2000 the share of divorced families with dependent children continues to fall. In 1985 the share was 74%, in 1995 67%, in 2000 63% and in 2006 56%. In most cases the children were given to mothers; however, in the past five years the share of children given to both parents has been increasing. The share of children given to fathers alone is modest but a slight upward trend can be observed: from 5.6% of all children in 1985, to 7.2% in 1995, to 8.5% in 2006.

Present-day fathers more active in taking care of their children than their fathers were

Fathers in Slovenia take care of their children on average 12 minutes per day. In terms of time spent with their children they are ranked in the bottom half of EU member states. Even less time than in Slovenia is spent with their children by fathers from France (9 minutes), while more time is spent by fathers from Belgium (19 minutes), Norway (17 minutes) and Sweden (16 minutes).

Nowadays when fathers are more involved in taking care of their children than their fathers were as usually the only breadwinners in the family, the caretaking role of modern fathers is being emphasised. Parental leave is still used by a very modest number of fathers, but paid paternity leave, which lasts 15 days, is used by 74.5% of fathers.

According to data from the Ministry of Labour, Family and Social Affairs, 10,971 or 63.0% of fathers used paternity leave in 2003. In 2004, paternity leave with the paternity benefit was used by 12,667 or 70.5% of fathers in Slovenia, while around 9% of fathers used paternity leave without the paternity benefit. In 2005, paternity leave with the paternity benefit was used by 11,308 fathers, in 2006 by 14,098 fathers and in 2007 by 15,289 fathers. In 2006, fathers using paternity leave with the paternity benefit represented 74.5% of all fathers.