Why the Czech Republic May Not Be the Best Place to Raise a Family

Much has been made about the family-friendliness of life in the Czech Republic with a number of surveys suggesting that its affordability, education, healthcare, and quality of life makes the nation an idyll for family-oriented incomers.

But a new study from the Research Institute for Labor and Social Affairs suggests that in reality, Czech families and in particular Czech women, spend less and less time with their families as part-time jobs and flexible work opportunities are increasingly difficult to come by.

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Job trends like unlimited vacation and shortened workweeks have been implemented by some employers. Česká spořitelna offers the possibility of shorter working hours and parental leave for fathers to hundreds of their employees.

“We started the shortened workloads about five years ago,” Olga Zápecová, manager of the Otis elevator company, told the daily Metro.

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The well-documented wage gap and other factors such as carrying the burden of household chores make it even more difficult for women to carve out family time while the country’s maternity leave policies have long been criticized by watch groups as effectively keeping Czech women out of the workforce.

Commenting on the study to iDnes, Czech psychologist Jeroným Klimeš called Czech society “antipopulative,” or in opposition to the kind of family development that supports emotional stability. 

Czech Republic #1 For Work, #3 For Families

Yet another recent study offers more data that doesn’t reflect well on the Czech work-life balance: according to Eurostat data, which combines full and part-time employment hours, the Czech working week is one of the longest in the EU, with Czechs spending 40.3 hours on the job per week.