Innovative work-life balance after COVID-19

Małgorzata Marzec; Agnieszka Szczudlińska-Kanoś; Bożena Freund; Astrida Miceikienė

doi:10.2478/ijcm-2022-0017

Figures & Tables

Framework for the WLB survey of working parentsSource: own study.

Work involvement during the pandemic as assessed by working parents during the pandemic (data in %)Source: own study based on research results.

Satisfaction with working life (by gender)Note: Satisfaction with working life scale from 1 to 5, where “1” means that you are very dissatisfied, and “5” means that you are very pleased.Source: own study based on research results.

Work satisfaction according to form of employment (average grade on the scale)Note: Work life satisfaction scale from 1 to 5, where “1” means that you are very dissatisfied, and “5” means that you are very pleased.Source: own study based on research results.

Work satisfaction according to employment sector (average score on the scale)Note: Work life satisfaction scale from 1 to 5, where “1” means that you are very dissatisfied, and “5” means that you are very pleased.Source: own study based on research results.

Comparing the time spent working with job satisfactionNote: Work life satisfaction scale from 1 to 5, where “1” means that you are very dissatisfied, and “5” means that you are very pleased.The scale of time spent on work is from 1 to 5, where “1” means that the time spent on work is much shorter, and “5” means that the time spent on work is much longer compared to the time before the pandemic.Source: own study based on research results.

Assessment of changes in work involvement in comparison with the system of performed workSource: own study based on research results.

Change in childcare involvement during the pandemic compared to pre-pandemic (average score).Note: on the scale from 1 to 5, “1” means that the time spent on work is much shorter, and “5” means that the time spent on work is much longer compared to the time before the pandemic.Source: own study based on research results.

Commitment to household chores before and since the onset of the pandemic (by gender)Note: 3 levels of commitment level, i.e., smaller (I dealt with a smaller part of these duties), medium (I dealt with the greater part of these duties), high (only I performed these duties); comparison of pre-pandemic time to pandemic time.Source: own study based on research results.

Assessment of family time spent on caring for children (by gender; cumulative values; N=6688)Source: own study based on research results.

Assessment of the contribution of time devoted to caring for children in the family in the opinion of women (by gender; cumulative values; N=6045)Source: own study based on research results.

Assessment of the contribution of time devoted to caring for children in the family in the opinion of men (by gender; cumulative values; N=643)Source: own study based on research results.

Assessment of the possibility of separating work and private time (by gender)Source: own study based on research results.

Those reporting “very satisfied” with professional life's level of need to adapt their work to taking care of childrenSource: own study based on research results.

Assessment of the degree of satisfaction with professional life in relation to responses to the need to adapt work to childcare (average on the scale)Note: the scale of satisfaction with professional life goes from 1 to 5, where 1 means very dissatisfied and 5 very satisfied.Source: own study based on research results.

Assessment of the importance of the possibility of reconciling work and private life when choosing a workplace (gender and age)

	Gender			Age
	Total	Female	Male	Up to 30 years	31-40 years	41-50 years	Over 50 years
Decisive or very important	65.6%	66.6%	55.4%	64.2%	69.0%	63.1%	52.0%
Important	25.6%	25.2%	30.1%	15.3%	23.9%	27.4%	31.3%
Insignificant / hard to judge	8.8%	8.2%	14.5%	20.5%	7.1%	9.5%	16.7%
Overall	7800	7063	737	176	3645	3733	246
Pearson’s chi-square tests
	Gender	Age
Chi-square	49.267	94.798
df (degrees of freedom)	2	6
Relevance	.000*	.000*

Advantages and disadvantages of work-life balance in corner planes

	Disadvantages of out of balance	The benefits of a balanced approach
Organization	Absence from work	Increase in the productivity and competitiveness of entities
	Increase in fluctuation in employment	Increase in employee motivation
	Less commitment to work	Increase in employee loyalty and their identification with the workplace
	Increased stress among employees	Acquiring and retaining better qualified employees
	Less concentration and productivity of employees	Reducing stress among employees
	Worse relationships at work and with clients	Reduction of costs resulting from employee rotation
	Less creativity and innovation of employees	Building a positive image of the entity: socially responsible and family-friendly
	Loss of investment in human capital	Increase in the quality of work Increase in the value of the entity over the long term
Employee (his family)	Stress for employees and their families	Increased self-esteem of employees and motivation to work
	Deterioration of health, including mental health	Reduced stress and disease
	Conflicts in the family	Reducing the feeling of guilt due to the lack of time to be with children (family) and/ or to perform professional duties
	Worse childcare
	Divorces/one-parent families	Greater satisfaction with the ability to reconcile various components of life (work, family, personal life) Increasing job satisfaction Identification of employees with the workplace
	Alcoholism and the increase of addiction
	Increase in civilization diseases
	Lack of sense of security in family and professional life

Assessment of combining work with parental obligations (according to education and place of residence)

	Education				Place of living
	Less than secondary	Secondary	Higher vocational education	Higher education	Village	City up to 50.000	City 50.000-500.000	City over 500.000
1	9.7%	4.2%	3.1%	3.0%	3.4%	3.5%	4.0%	3.1%
2	8.3%	4.7%	6.1%	5.8%	5.4%	5.9%	5.7%	5.9%
3	20.5%	20.2%	19.7%	17.6%	19.4%	21.4%	18.7%	15.7%
4	24.1%	26.4%	27.7%	33.1%	29.8%	28.2%	32.1%	33.3%
5	37.4%	44.5%	43.4%	40.5%	42.0%	41.0%	39.5%	42.1%
Overall	278	1200	740	5582	1986	1425	1713	2676
Pearson’s chi-square tests
	Education	Place of living
Chi-square	75.603	33.205
df (degrees of freedom)	12	12
Relevance	.000*	.001*

Comparison of the degree of satisfaction with working life versus commitment to household chores before the pandemic (assessment of job life satisfaction on a scale*, commitment score on a scale**)

Satisfaction with working life	Commitment to household chores before the pandemic
Satisfaction with working life	Total	Smaller	Medium	Big
1	10.2%	9.3%	9.1%	12.3%
2	19.2%	17.9%	19.2%	20.5%
3	33.6%	31.7%	35.3%	33.4%
4	26.0%	27.6%	26.1%	24.2%
5	11.1%	13.5%	10.3%	9.5%
Overall	7800	2388	2987	2425
Pearson’s chi-square tests
	Commitment to household chores before the pandemic
Chi-square	49.610
df (degrees of freedom)	8
Relevance	.000*

Assessment of the adaptation of work to childcare in relation to commitment to work

Commitment to work:	Adapting work to childcare
Commitment to work:	Overall	Definitely yes	Probably yes	Probably not	Definitely not	Hard to say
It has definitely increased	12.1%	12.0%	12.2%	11.0%	15.4%	11.5%
It has increased	13.4%	11.7%	15.3%	14.0%	10.8%	10.9%
It is the same	42.4%	33.7%	43.5%	52.3%	50.4%	42.1%
It has decreased	15.3%	17.9%	16.5%	11.6%	8.0%	12.0%
It has definitely decreased	11.0%	19.2%	7.3%	5.2%	9.6%	10.4%
Hard to say	5.8%	5.5%	5.2%	5.9%	5.9%	13.1%
Total	7800	2447	3070	1353	564	366
Pearson’s chi-square tests
	Adapting work to childcare
Chi-square	424.569
df (degrees of freedom)	20
Relevance	.000*

Assessment of combining work with parental responsibilities (according to the number of children in upbringing)

	Children upbringing
	Overall	One	Two	Three	Four or more
1	3.4%	4.5%	3.0%	2.2%	6.8%
2	5.7%	6.5%	5.3%	5.7%	5.9%
3	18.3%	19.3%	18.0%	18.1%	14.8%
4	31.2%	30.7%	32.3%	28.6%	27.8%
5	41.3%	38.9%	41.4%	45.5%	44.7%
Overall	7800	2339	4201	1023	237
Pearson’s chi-square tests
	Children upbringing
Chi-square	43.704
df (degrees of freedom)	12
Relevance	.000*

Comparison of the degree of satisfaction with work life versus commitment to household chores since the beginning of the pandemic (work life satisfaction rating on a scale*, commitment rating on a scale**)

Satisfaction with working life	Commitment to household chores since the start of the pandemic
Satisfaction with working life	Total	Smaller	Medium	Big
1	10.2%	8.2%	8.4%	13.5%
2	19.2%	16.6%	18.7%	21.8%
3	33.6%	31.4%	35.3%	33.5%
4	26.0%	29.7%	26.5%	22.5%
5	11.1%	14.1%	11.1%	8.6%
Overall	7800	2198	2851	2751
Pearson’s chi-square tests
	Commitment to household chores since the start of the pandemic
Chi-square	127.932
df (degrees of freedom)	8
Relevance	.000*

Assessment of combining work with childcare (age, gender)

	Gender			Age
	Total	Female	Male	Up to 30 years	31-40 years	41-50 years	Over 50 years
Yes, ALL the time I work while caring for a child / children	24.1%	24.8%	17.4%	18.8%	25.8%	22.7%	24.8%
Yes, I combine MOST of my working time with childcare	28.3%	28.3%	28.1%	21.6%	29.0%	28.3%	21.5%
Yes, but I combine a SMALL amount of working time with childcare	22.4%	21.9%	27.8%	22.7%	21.1%	23.8%	21.1%
I DO NOT COMBINE working with looking after a child / children	21.4%	21.1%	23.7%	30.7%	19.7%	21.9%	30.5%
Hard to say	3.8%	3.9%	3.0%	6.2%	4.4%	3.2%	2.0%
Overall	7800	7063	737	176	3645	3733	246
Pearson’s chi-square tests
	Gender	Age
Chi-square	29.369	56.297
df (degrees of freedom)	4	12
Relevance	.000*	.000*

Assessment of combining work with parental responsibilities (by gender and age)

	Gender				Age
	Total	Female	Male	Up to 30 years	31-40 years	41-50 years	Over 50 years
1	3.4%	3.1%	6.8%	9.1%	2.0%	4.4%	6.9%
2	5.7%	5.2%	10.4%	5.7%	4.5%	6.8%	8.5%
3	18.3%	17.8%	23.2%	16.5%	16.2%	20.2%	22.4%
4	31.2%	31.4%	29.3%	19.9%	31.4%	31.8%	28.0%
5	41.3%	42.5%	30.3%	48.9%	45.9%	36.9%	34.1%
Overall	7800	7063	737	176	3645	3733	246
Pearson’s chi-square tests
	Gender	Age
Chi-square	93.684	144.594
df (degrees of freedom)	4	12
Relevance	.000*	.000*

Assessment of the change in work involvement in the work system statement

Commitment assessment	Work system
Commitment assessment	Total	Only in the remote work system	Remote work dominates	Remote work and stationary work at the company’s premises	Stationary work at the company’s headquarters is dominant	Only stationary work at the company’s premises	Another form
It has definitely increased	12.1%	16.3%	16.6%	11.3%	10.8%	9.2%	11.0%
It has increased	13.4%	19.4%	18.2%	15.4%	14.6%	8.2%	10.5%
It is the same	42.4%	33.9%	37.1%	43.9%	39.3%	49.6%	29.5%
Rather, it has decreased	15.3%	16.0%	15.3%	17.4%	20.0%	13.3%	12.0%
It has definitely decreased	11.0%	11.0%	9.5%	8.4%	9.6%	11.6%	25.0%
Hard to say	5.8%	3.4%	3.3%	3.5%	5.6%	8.1%	12.0%
Overall	7800	1551	1168	735	915	3231	200
Pearson’s chi-square tests
	Work system
Chi-square	433.546
df (degrees of freedom)	25
Relevance	.000*

Assessment of the importance of the possibility of reconciling work and private life when choosing a workplace (number of children during upbringing)

	Children upbringing
	Overall	One	Two	Three	Four or more
Decisive or very important	65.6%	64.0%	65.8%	70.1%	56.5%
Important	25.6%	26.5%	25.9%	23.3%	22.4%
Insignificant / hard to judge	8.8%	9.5%	8.3%	6.6%	21.1%
Overall	7800	2339	4201	1023	237
Pearson’s chi-square tests
	Children upbringing
Chi-square	59967
df (degrees of freedom)	6
Relevance	.000*

Time spent at work during the pandemic compared to the time before the pandemic (number of children upbringing)

	Children upbringing
	Overall	One	Two	Three	Four or more
1	4.8%	4.3%	4.7%	5.6%	8.0%
2	9.0%	8.6%	8.8%	10.7%	10.5%
3	38.8%	38.6%	39.0%	39.1%	35.4%
4	21.3%	20.8%	21.4%	22.5%	18.1%
5	26.2%	27.8%	26.1%	22.2%	27.8%
Overall	7800	2339	4201	1023	237
Pearson’s chi-square tests
	Children upbringing
Chi-square	23.983
df (degrees of freedom)	12
Relevance	.020*

Satisfaction with working life (gender, age)

	Gender			Age
	Total	Female	Male	Up to 30 years	31-40 years	41-50 years	Over 50 years
1	10.2%	10.1%	10.3%	16.5%	11.0%	9.2%	8.5%
2	19.2%	19.1%	19.9%	21.0%	19.0%	19.1%	22.4%
3	33.6%	34.3%	26.9%	21.0%	33.6%	34.3%	31.3%
4	26.0%	25.8%	27.7%	19.3%	26.0%	26.4%	23.6%
5	11.1%	10.6%	15.2%	22.2%	10.4%	10.9%	14.2%
Overall	7800	7063	737	176	3645	3733	246
Pearson’s chi-square tests
	Gender	Age
Chi-square	24.753	51.639
df (degrees of freedom)	4	12
Relevance	.000*	.000*

Assessment of work adaptation to childcare (education and place of living)

	Education				Place of living
	Less than secondary	Secondary	Higher vocational education	Higher education	Village	City up to 50.000	City 50.000-500.000	City over 500.000
Definitely yes	27.3%	32.2%	31.9%	31.3%	30.3%	28.1%	29.1%	35.4%
Rather yes	33.5%	31.7%	38.5%	41.4%	37.3%	38.2%	37.5%	42.7%
Rather no	17.6%	18.0%	17.6%	17.2%	19.2%	21.0%	19.0%	13.0%
Definitely not	11.2%	10.8%	9.3%	6.0%	7.9%	7.8%	9.1%	5.3%
Hard to say	10.4%	7.3%	2.7%	4.1%	5.4%	4.9%	5.3%	3.7%
Overall	278	1200	740	5582	1986	1425	1713	2676
Pearson’s chi-square tests
		Education	Place of living
Chi-square		119.250	113.991
df (degrees of freedom)		12	12
Relevance		.000*	.000*

Assessment of childcare conditions in relation to the work performed (assessment according to indications on the list of prepared sentences; education and place of residence)

	Education				Place of living
	Less than secondary	Secondary	Higher vocational education	Higher education	Village	City up to 50.000	City 50.000-500.000	City over 500.000
I adapt childcare to working conditions	20.9%	22.1%	27.0%	28.4%	26.5%	26.8%	26.5%	27.8%
I adapt my work to taking care of children	33.1%	34.4%	36.2%	38.2%	34.3%	32.8%	34.0%	43.9%
Working time - adjusting to the current conditions of functioning of schools and other care and educational institutions	28.8%	31.7%	39.6%	43.0%	36.5%	37.3%	37.5%	46.9%
I adjust the working time to the working time of other people who look after children	21.2%	18.8%	17.6%	16.5%	18.4%	18.7%	15.9%	16.2%
Neither sentence fits my situation	34.2%	30.2%	22.4%	19.0%	24.4%	23.4%	24.3%	16.9%
Overall	278	1200	740	5582	1986	1425	1713	2676

Assessment of the degree of satisfaction with professional life in relation to the need to adapt work to childcare

Satisfaction with working life	The need to adapt work to childcare
Satisfaction with working life	Total	Definitely yes	Rather yes	Rather no	Definitely not	Hard to say
1	10.2%	15.5%	5.9%	6.2%	15.2%	16.7%
2	19.2%	21.9%	19.5%	17.4%	14.0%	13.7%
3	33.6%	30.1%	35.5%	35.2%	32.4%	36.3%
4	26.0%	21.0%	29.0%	29.3%	24.6%	24.3%
5	11.1%	11.5%	10.0%	12.0%	13.7%	9.0%
Overall	7800	2447	3070	1353	564	366
Pearson’s chi-square tests
	The need to adapt work to childcare
Chi-square	262.083
df (degrees of freedom)	16
Relevance	.000*

Assessment of the adaptation of work to childcare (number of children in upbringing)

	Children upbringing
	Overall	One	Two	Three	Four or more
Definitely yes	31.4%	30.3%	30.8%	36.3%	30.4%
Rather yes	39.4%	39.0%	40.2%	38.5%	31.6%
Rather no	17.3%	17.0%	18.3%	14.2%	16.9%
Definitely not	7.2%	8.2%	6.7%	6.1%	12.2%
Hard to say	4.7%	5.5%	4.0%	5.0%	8.9%
Overall	7800	2339	4201	1023	237
Pearson’s chi-square tests
	Children upbringing
Chi-square	54.019
df (degrees of freedom)	12
Relevance	.000*

Assessment of combining work with childcare (education, place of living)

	Education				Place of living
	Less than secondary	Secondary	Higher vocational education	Higher education	Village	City up to 50.000	City 50.000-500.000	City over 500.000
Yes, ALL the time I work with caring for a child / children	21.9%	22.7%	22.7%	24.7%	22.4%	21.5%	23.6%	27.1%
Yes, I combine MOST of my working time with childcare	18.0%	17.4%	26.2%	31.4%	25.5%	24.5%	25.9%	34.0%
Yes, but I combine a SMALL amount of working time with childcare	14.0%	19.8%	22.6%	23.4%	22.3%	22.5%	22.5%	22.5%
I DO NOT COMBINE working with looking after a child / children	33.5%	33.0%	26.2%	17.6%	25.3%	26.7%	23.8%	14.1%
Hard to say	12.6%	7.2%	2.3%	2.8%	4.6%	4.8%	4.3%	2.4%
Overall	278	1200	740	5582	1986	1425	1713	2676
Pearson’s chi-square tests
	Education	Place of living
Chi-square	348.449	188.593
df (degrees of freedom)	12	12
Relevance	.000*	.000*

Change in childcare involvement during the pandemic compared to pre-pandemic (gender and age)

	Gender			Age
	Total	Female	Male	Up to 30 years	31-40 years	41-50 years	Over 50 years
1	3.4%	3.4%	3.4%	8.0%	3.7%	2.9%	3.3%
2	8.0%	8.0%	7.9%	9.1%	8.4%	7.6%	6.9%
3	26.7%	26.4%	30.3%	30.1%	26.4%	26.7%	29.3%
4	29.5%	29.1%	33.9%	22.7%	29.0%	30.2%	31.7%
5	32.4%	33.2%	24.6%	30.1%	32.6%	32.6%	28.9%
Overall	7800	7063	737	176	3645	3733	246
Pearson’s chi-square tests
	Gender		Age
Chi-square	24.526		23.808
df (degrees of freedom)	4		12
Relevance	.000*		.022*

Assessment of the possibility of separating work and private time (according to the number of children in upbringing)

	Children upbringing
	Overall	One	Two	Three	Four or more
Definitely yes	16.5%	18.6%	15.8%	15.0%	16.9%
Rather yes	38.2%	37.7%	38.8%	38.2%	32.5%
Rather no	24.4%	22.9%	25.1%	24.7%	24.5%
Definitely not	16.4%	16.2%	16.2%	17.0%	21.1%
Hard to say	4.4%	4.7%	4.1%	5.1%	5.1%
Overall	7800	2339	4201	1023	237
Pearson’s chi-square tests
	Children upbringing
Chi-square	20.700
df (degrees of freedom)	12
Relevance	.055

Assessment of the importance of the possibility of reconciling work and private life when choosing a place of work (education and place of living)

	Education				Place of living
	Less than secondary	Secondary	Higher vocational education	Higher education	Village	City up to 50.000	City 50.000-500.000	City over 500.000
Decisive or very important	38.1%	55.9%	63.4%	69.3%	63.6%	64.1%	59.7%	71.5%
Important	36.7%	31.1%	26.2%	23.8%	26.5%	26.0%	30.1%	21.9%
Insignificant / hard to judge	25.2%	13.0%	10.4%	6.9%	9.9%	9.8%	10.2%	6.6%
Overall	278	1200	740	5582	1986	1425	1713	2676
Pearson’s chi-square tests
	Education	Place of living
Chi-square	229.242	76.138
df (degrees of freedom)	6	6
Relevance	.000*	.000*

Assessment of the importance in choosing a workplace, the possibility of reconciling work and private life in comparison with adapting work to childcare

Possibility to combine work with childcare	Adapting work to childcare
Possibility to combine work with childcare	Total	Definitely yes	Rather yes	Rather no	Definitely not	Hard to say
The decider / dominant	32.9%	49.3%	28.2%	20.2%	22.2%	26.0%
Very important, but not conclusive	32.7%	27.6%	37.3%	34.7%	27.3%	28.4%
Important	25.6%	18.3%	27.5%	32.2%	29.3%	29.2%
Not so important	2.1%	1.5%	1.7%	3.4%	5.0%	1.4%
Irrelevant	1.0%	0.4%	0.7%	1.5%	3.7%	0.8%
It’s hard to judge	4.1%	2.2%	3.7%	5.5%	6.9%	10.7%
I do not care about this	1.6%	0.8%	0.8%	2.5%	5.7%	3.6%
Overall	7800	2447	3070	1353	564	366
Pearson’s chi-square tests
	Adapting work to child-care
Chi-square	717.559
df (degrees of freedom)	24
Relevance	.000*

Time spent in work during the pandemic compared to pre-pandemic time (age of children - non-cumulative categories)

	Children’s age
	Overall	0-3 years	4-5 years	6-8 years	9-14 years	15-18 years	Over 18 years	No data
1	4.8%	4.9%	6.3%	5.6%	4.6%	5.5%	4.5%	10.0%
2	9.0%	10.8%	11.2%	10.7%	8.6%	7.1%	7.4%	0.0%
3	38.8%	38.7%	35.4%	36.8%	39.6%	41.4%	39.2%	50.0%
4	21.3%	21.9%	20.7%	21.2%	21.8%	20.7%	19.1%	20.0%
5	26.2%	23.6%	26.4%	25.8%	25.4%	25.3%	29.8%	20.0%
Overall	7800	775	1167	3356	5644	1378	650	10

Change in childcare involvement during the pandemic compared to before the pandemic (number of children upbringing)

	Children upbringing
	Total	One	Two	Three	Four or more
1	3.4%	3.3%	3.4%	2.4%	8.4%
2	8.0%	7.4%	8.2%	7.9%	9.7%
3	26.7%	28.1%	26.5%	24.1%	27.8%
4	29.5%	28.6%	29.7%	32.4%	24.1%
5	32.4%	32.7%	32.2%	33.1%	30.0%
Overall	7800	2339	4201	1023	237
Pearson’s chi-square tests
	Children upbringing
Chi-square	34.074
df (degrees of freedom)	12
Relevance	.001*

Assessment of combining work with childcare (number of children in upbringing)

	Children upbringing
	Overall	One	Two	Three	Four or more
Yes, ALL the time I work with caring for a child / children	24.1%	24.5%	23.4%	25.6%	27.0%
Yes, I combine MOST of my working time with childcare	28.3%	26.9%	29.5%	27.5%	24.1%
Yes, but I combine a SMALL amount of working time with childcare	22.4%	21.3%	23.4%	22.7%	15.6%
I DO NOT COMBINE working with looking after a child / children	21.4%	23.9%	20.0%	20.3%	24.9%
Hard to say	3.8%	3.4%	3.7%	3.9%	8.4%
Overall	7800	2339	4201	1023	237
Pearson’s chi-square tests
	Children upbringing
Chi-square	43.749
df (degrees of freedom)	12
Relevance	.000*

Assessment of the possibility of separating work and private time (by gender and age)

	Gender			Age
	Total	Female	Male	Up to 30 years	31-40 years	41-50 years	Over 50 years
Definitely yes	16.5%	15.9%	22.1%	19.9%	16.1%	16.5%	19.9%
Rather yes	38.2%	38.4%	37.0%	33.0%	38.6%	38.4%	34.6%
Rather no	24.4%	24.5%	22.9%	21.6%	23.9%	24.9%	24.4%
Definitely not	16.4%	16.7%	13.7%	15.9%	16.7%	16.3%	15.9%
Hard to say	4.4%	4.5%	4.2%	9.7%	4.7%	3.9%	5.3%
Overall	7800	7063	737	176	3645	3733	246
Pearson’s chi-square tests
	Gender		Age
Chi-square	20.181		21.619
df (degrees of freedom)	4		12
Relevance	.000*		.042*

_Time spent at work during a pandemic compared to pre-pandemic time (age, gender)

	Gender			Age
	Total	Female	Male	Up to 30 years	31-40 years	41-50 years	Over 50 years
1	4.8%	4.7%	5.6%	8.5%	5.3%	4.2%	3.3%
2	9.0%	8.6%	12.5%	11.4%	9.5%	8.6%	6.1%
3	38.8%	38.4%	42.3%	36.9%	39.9%	38.1%	33.7%
4	21.3%	21.4%	20.1%	21.0%	20.7%	21.8%	22.0%
5	26.2%	26.8%	19.5%	22.2%	24.6%	27.3%	35.0%
Overall	7800	7063	737	176	3645	3733	246
Pearson’s chi-square tests
	Gender	Age
Chi-square	28.778	33.403
df (degrees of freedom)	4	12
Relevance	.000*	.001*

Assessment of the adaptation of work to childcare (gender and age)

	Gender				Age
	Total	Female	Male	Up to 30 years	31-40 years	41-50 years	Over 50 years
Definitely yes	31.4%	31.5%	30.3%	30.7%	35.3%	28.0%	25.6%
Rather yes	39.4%	39.4%	38.9%	34.7%	39.3%	39.6%	39.0%
Rather no	17.3%	17.2%	19.1%	13.6%	14.7%	19.9%	20.7%
Definitely not	7.2%	7.2%	7.6%	10.8%	6.1%	8.0%	11.0%
Hard to say	4.7%	4.8%	4.1%	10.2%	4.7%	4.5%	3.7%
Overall	7800	7063	737	176	3645	3733	246
Pearson’s chi-square tests
	Gender		Age
Chi-square	2.676		97.722
df (degrees of freedom)	4		12
Relevance	.613		.000*

Assessment of the adaptation of work to childcare in comparison with the simultaneous performance of caring and professional duties

Adaptation of work to care	Combining work with simultaneous (at the same time) performance of duties related to caring for the child / children
Adaptation of work to care	Overall	Yes, ALL the time I work with caring for a child / children	Yes, I combine MOST of my working time with child / child care	Yes, but I combine SMALL working time with child / child care	I DO NOT COMBINE working with looking after a child / children	Hard to say
Definitely yes	31.4%	53.4%	33.8%	18.4%	18.4%	23.2%
Rather yes	39.4%	31.7%	50.3%	48.4%	25.2%	33.0%
Rather no	17.3%	7.8%	10.7%	24.3%	29.8%	16.2%
Definitely not	7.2%	4.0%	1.8%	4.5%	21.2%	5.4%
Hard to say	4.7%	3.1%	3.3%	4.4%	5.5%	22.2%
Total	7800	1879	2207	1750	1667	297
Pearson’s chi-square tests
	Combining work with simultaneous (at the same time) performance of duties related to caring for the child / children
Chi-square	1860.465
df (degrees of freedom)	16
Relevance	.000*

Assessment of the possibility of separating work and private time (according to education, place of living)

	Education				Place of living
	Less than secondary	Secondary	Higher vocational education	Higher education	Village	City up to 50.000	City 50.000-500.000	City over 500.000
Definitely yes	25.9%	24.5%	18.4%	14.1%	18.4%	17.8%	17.1%	14.1%
Rather yes	40.6%	37.8%	38.0%	38.2%	40.2%	39.8%	39.2%	35.3%
Rather no	14.4%	19.3%	23.8%	26.0%	23.2%	22.9%	22.9%	26.9%
Definitely not	10.4%	12.8%	14.3%	17.8%	14.2%	14.2%	15.4%	19.9%
Hard to say	8.6%	5.6%	5.5%	3.9%	4.0%	5.2%	5.3%	3.8%
Overall	278	1200	740	5582	1986	1425	1713	2676
Pearson’s chi-square tests
	Education		Place of living
Chi-square	157.719		73.545
df (degrees of freedom)	12		12
Relevance	.000*		.000*

Assessment of childcare conditions in relation to the work performed (assessment according to indications on the list of prepared sentences; gender and age)

	Gender				Age
	Total	Female	Male	Up to 30	31-40 years	41-50 years	Over 50 years
I adapt childcare to working conditions	27.0%	27.0%	26.7%	29.5%	26.5%	27.5%	26.0%
I adapt my work to taking care of children	37.3%	36.8%	41.7%	38.1%	40.6%	34.6%	26.8%
Working time - adjusting to the current conditions of functioning of schools and other care and educational institutions	40.4%	40.3%	41.9%	40.3%	44.8%	36.9%	27.6%
I adjust the working time to the working time of other people who look after children	17.1%	16.4%	24.0%	27.8%	19.3%	14.7%	15.4%
Neither sentence fits my situation	21.6%	21.6%	22.0%	17.6%	18.3%	24.5%	30.1%
Overall	7800	7063	737	176	3645	3733	246

Change in childcare involvement during the pandemic compared to pre-pandemic time (education and place of living)

	Education				Place of living
	less than secondary	secondary education	higher vocational education	higher education	village	city up to 50.000	city 50.000 -500.000	city over 500.000
1	6.8%	3.6%	3.0%	3.2%	3.8%	3.4%	3.6%	2.9%
2	6.1%	6.7%	8.6%	8.2%	7.4%	8.0%	8.1%	8.3%
3	30.2%	27.8%	26.2%	26.4%	26.3%	29.0%	27.1%	25.6%
4	22.3%	27.7%	28.6%	30.4%	27.7%	27.8%	29.1%	32.1%
5	34.5%	34.3%	33.5%	31.7%	34.7%	31.8%	32.2%	31.1%
Overall	278	1200	740	5582	1986	1425	1713	2676
Pearson’s chi-square tests
		Education	Place of living
Chi-square		28.425	23.424
df (degrees of freedom)		12	12
Relevance		.005*	.024*

Innovative work-life balance after COVID-19

Figures & Tables

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Figure 3

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Figure 8

Figure 9

Figure 10

Figure 11

Figure 12

Figure 13

Figure 14

Figure 15

Assessment of the importance of the possibility of reconciling work and private life when choosing a workplace (gender and age)

Advantages and disadvantages of work-life balance in corner planes

Assessment of combining work with parental obligations (according to education and place of residence)

Comparison of the degree of satisfaction with working life versus commitment to household chores before the pandemic (assessment of job life satisfaction on a scale*, commitment score on a scale**)

Assessment of the adaptation of work to childcare in relation to commitment to work

Assessment of combining work with parental responsibilities (according to the number of children in upbringing)

Comparison of the degree of satisfaction with work life versus commitment to household chores since the beginning of the pandemic (work life satisfaction rating on a scale*, commitment rating on a scale**)

Assessment of combining work with childcare (age, gender)

Assessment of combining work with parental responsibilities (by gender and age)

Assessment of the change in work involvement in the work system statement

Assessment of the importance of the possibility of reconciling work and private life when choosing a workplace (number of children during upbringing)

Time spent at work during the pandemic compared to the time before the pandemic (number of children upbringing)

Satisfaction with working life (gender, age)

Assessment of work adaptation to childcare (education and place of living)

Assessment of childcare conditions in relation to the work performed (assessment according to indications on the list of prepared sentences; education and place of residence)

Assessment of the degree of satisfaction with professional life in relation to the need to adapt work to childcare

Assessment of the adaptation of work to childcare (number of children in upbringing)

Assessment of combining work with childcare (education, place of living)

Change in childcare involvement during the pandemic compared to pre-pandemic (gender and age)

Assessment of the possibility of separating work and private time (according to the number of children in upbringing)

Assessment of the importance of the possibility of reconciling work and private life when choosing a place of work (education and place of living)

Assessment of the importance in choosing a workplace, the possibility of reconciling work and private life in comparison with adapting work to childcare

Time spent in work during the pandemic compared to pre-pandemic time (age of children - non-cumulative categories)

Change in childcare involvement during the pandemic compared to before the pandemic (number of children upbringing)

Assessment of combining work with childcare (number of children in upbringing)

Assessment of the possibility of separating work and private time (by gender and age)

_Time spent at work during a pandemic compared to pre-pandemic time (age, gender)

Assessment of the adaptation of work to childcare (gender and age)

Assessment of the adaptation of work to childcare in comparison with the simultaneous performance of caring and professional duties

Assessment of the possibility of separating work and private time (according to education, place of living)

Assessment of childcare conditions in relation to the work performed (assessment according to indications on the list of prepared sentences; gender and age)

Change in childcare involvement during the pandemic compared to pre-pandemic time (education and place of living)