Slovenia

The major problem mothers in the Republic of Slovenia are facing today is how to harmonize their growing motherhood/household and professional duties. Despite the fact that the requirements related to the transition from traditional motherhood to mothering have increased, internal family relations have remained unchanged. In the socialist era, the state tried to facilitate the harmony between both worlds by opening accessible childcare institutes and limiting working hours for mothers. Women continue to perform the majority of unpaid domestic work and take incomparably more sick leave than men to care for family members; today, women account for 49 percent of the entire labor force with over 90 percent employed full time. Although a strong presence of women in measurable work is already a traditional Slovenian trait, the transition to modern work that was characteristic of the 20th century generated a series of gender-specific problems. Inequality of mothers compared to other employees is also reflected in their professional (im)mobility. Women have, on average, a higher level of education than men, but their salaries are nevertheless 7 to 30 percent lower than those of men in comparable groups.

The 20th century was marked by two demographic transitions. The first drop in the birth rate occurred at the beginning of the century: from 35 to 25 percent; the second came about in the 1980s, when fertility no longer sufficed for simple population replacement. Today, Slovenia has low birth (9.8 percent) and fertility (1.2 percent) rates. The decrease in fertility rates has been facilitated by the use of contraceptives, the spreading of which had been socially limited up to the socialist era (194590); it was not until the 1960s that the state started promoting their use. Up to the socialist era, abortion had been criminalized, despite women's publicly expressed demands for its legalization in the 1920s and the 1930s. From the 1970s onward, Slovenian legislation was the most liberal in socialist Yugoslavia, for it enabled free contraception and abortion also on the basis of social indications. Today the right to both is established in Slovenia as one of the basic human rights.

The rights under the basic social and health care insurance deriving from work and/or citizenship guarantee a high level of security. The establishment of health advisory centers and home care service in the mid-1970s enabled regular monitoring of pregnant women and women who had recently given birth; 99 percent of all deliveries now take place in maternity hospitals. Consequently, Slovenia has very low prenatal, neonatal, and infant mortality rates. Stillborn rates are growing in parallel with the increasing age of women giving birth, the average [Page 1131]age of whom is 29 years. The state provides various forms of aid for mothers, children, and families; mothers are entitled to 365 days of maternity leave with full compensation. These rights are also transferable to other individuals assuming responsibility for the newborn child. Moreover, the state also encourages fathers by giving them the right to a 90-day paternity leave (since 2003).

As many as 45 percent of all children are born to unmarried mothers; since the 1970s, the rights of children born out of wedlock have been equal to those of children born within it, and nonmarital partnerships have been treated as marriage. On average, every third marriage ends in divorce. Two-thirds of divorces also involve children, and in 80 percent of all cases, child custody is awarded to mothers. The divorced partner not living with the child is obligated to pay child support in the amount set by the court. In order to protect this children's rights, the state has established a maintenance fund granting any child the right to receive compensation for unpaid maintenance. According to the estimates of nongovernmental organizations, there are currently 20,000 children not receiving maintenance.

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