Many women fear that they won't find a proper balance between work and family, which may be one of the reasons why women in Slovakia engage in their own business activities less often than men, deputy chair of the Slovak Women's Platform Jaroslava Lukacovicova said on Tuesday during a panel discussion within a business seminar entitled 'Why Women Matter in Business'.
The event, which took place in Bratislava, was organised by the Representation of the European Commission in Slovakia, U.S. Embassy to Slovakia, and the American Chamber of Commerce in Slovakia in co-operation with the Foreign and European Affairs Ministry and the Slovak Women's Platform. Lukacovicova went on to argue that the current legislation isn't set in a way so as to encourage women with children to work. “A woman on maternity leave lacks any opportunity to make some extra money,” cautioned the deputy. Also speaking at the event, sociologist of the Public Affairs Institute (IVO) Olga Gyarfasova stated that she doesn't think that Slovak women lack the motivation to work. “Most women and men in Slovakia aren't concerned with the question as to whether they want family and children, or a job, but whether these two parts of life can be complementary,” said the expert, adding that society shouldn't view these as mutually exclusive and should enable women to be engaged on both these fronts.
