Personal and Work-Life Balance survey 2021

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has published the second of three publications on the results of the Personal and Work-Life Balance Survey which was carried out in Quarter 3, 2021. The detail in this publication is a subset of the broader data collected. The first publication “Personal and Work-Life Balance Survey 2021 – Main Results” was published on 05 April 2022 and the third and final publication “Personal and Work-Life Balance Survey 2021 – Remote Working” will be published on 26 April 2022. This publication on “Job and Life Satisfaction and Barriers to Work” covers life satisfaction and the type of support networks available from family, friends, and community, and job satisfaction and the factors that impact on satisfaction in the workplace. While the survey focussed primarily on persons in employment, it also looked at barriers to work for persons not currently in employment.

Some of the key findings are as follows

• The majority of persons (89%) aged 18 years and over are satisfied with their life and there is a similar (89%) job satisfaction rating amongst employees
• Of those dissatisfied with their job, work pressures such as having to work long hours or more than their contracted hours, and lack of promotional opportunities impacted job satisfaction
• Employees most likely to leave their job within the next six months are those who are temporary or part-time or are only with their current employer for a short period
• Of those dissatisfied with life, nearly six in ten (58%) found it hard to make ends meet, while almost one in seven (15%) were in poor health
• For persons currently not in employment, the main barrier to return to work was long-standing health problems (28%), followed by caring for dependent family or friends (13%) and childcare issues (11%)
• There were no barriers preventing return to work for over one in five (21%) of those currently not working

To view full results see Job and Life Satisfaction and Barriers to Work