Irish people are among the best in the European Union at juggling work and home commitments, a survey found today.
The Eurobarometer research revealed that after the Finns and the Dutch, citizens in Ireland find it easiest to maintain a work-life balance.
At the other end of the scale, only one in five Hungarians find it easy to combine office and household duties.
The findings are based on a survey conducted on behalf of the European Commission, which interviewed 27,000 people across 27 EU member states.
Just over 1,000 Irish citizens were interviewed by telephone by Gallup UK in early September.
The findings said that in most Irish households, one parent works full-time while the other has a part-time job.
Both parents work full-time in 13 per cent of all cases - a model which is more popular in other EU states.
The survey also shows that the three main difficulties faced by Irish families are the high costs of housing and raising children and the burden of caring for ageing parents or relatives.
After the Luxembourg and the Denmark, the Irish are among the most satisfied with Government support for families with children and for people caring for dependent older relatives.
A total of 84 per cent of Irish people said they would like to see the Government prioritising longer paid parental leave although this is less of a priority for the Dutch, the Danes and the Swedes.
The majority are also in favour of incentives for fathers to take parental leave but this is less important for Austrians, Hungarians and Romanians.
PA