One in Four Families in Slovakia Is a Single-Parent Household. Nearly Half Face the Risk of Poverty
There are 156,386 single-parent households in Slovakia, meaning that a single parent heads one in four families with children. In the Košice and Banská Bystrica regions, this share exceeds 30%. Despite this, single-parent families continue to face insufficient systemic support, housing insecurity, limited opportunities in the labour market, and a high risk of poverty.
These findings come from the research project When One Parent Has to Be Enough: Strategies and Challenges of Single-Parent Families (Resilience, agency and well-being of single-parent families in Slovakia, APVV-23-0102), conducted by the Institute for Research in Social Communication SAS and the Department of Economic and Social Geography, Demography and Social Development at the Faculty of Natural Sciences, Comenius University.
According to EU SILC 2023 data, as many as 46% of single-parent families are at risk of poverty. Employment itself does not guarantee stability, with up to 27% of working single parents living below the poverty line. Housing is also a major issue: 23% of single-parent households spend more than 40% of their income on housing, and many families rely on commercial rentals or shared housing. As many as 66% of single-parent families led by mothers live in shared households, most often with relatives.
"Single-parent families in Slovakia are not a marginal phenomenon. They represent a significant share of families with children and require systematic and interdisciplinary attention. They are not a homogeneous group, but on the contrary, highly diverse," emphasises Miroslav Popper from the Institute for Research in Social Communication SAS.
The research also highlights that single parents often accept lower-paid, less favourable jobs to balance working hours with childcare. Flexible work is therefore not a benefit, but a necessity. In addition to economic pressure, single parents also face a high psychological burden, as the entire responsibility for childcare, household management, and finances rests on one person. The findings suggest that single-parent families particularly need access to affordable rental housing, flexible forms of employment, and free psychological and legal counselling.
According to Eva Marková, Director of the non-profit organisation JEDEN RODIČ, "the results of the SAS research very accurately reflect reality. Behind every number is a specific parent and a specific child, which is why these findings must be translated into concrete measures."
An important outcome of the press conference held on Thursday, March 19, 2026, was also the need for a clear official definition of a single parent, which is currently missing in the Slovak system. Its absence complicates targeted support, the design of systemic measures, and the collection of relevant data. A proposed definition prepared by the organisation JEDEN RODIČ, n.o., was presented at the meeting by Martina Mesárová, the organisation's legal expert.
Source: Press release of the Institute for Research in Social Communication SAS
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