Ljubljana - Slovenian households enjoyed a more comfortable life money-wise last year with official statistics showing the percentage of those who can make ends meet with ease rising by nine percentage points to 29%. Eight out of ten (81%) could afford a week-long holiday away from home, which could largely be attributed to tourism vouchers.

According to a report released by the Statistics Office, the percentage of households that had it hard to make ends meet decreased by seven percentage points to 13% and 26% of the households surveyed said they had some difficulty getting through the month, which compares to 31% in 2020. A further 32% of households said they did so fairly easily.

More than seven out of ten (73%) said they could settle unexpected expenses of up to EUR 700 with their share increasing by seven percentage points compared with 2020.

Eight out of ten households (81%) estimated that their homes were in good condition, up three percentage points from 2020; 98% said their homes were suitably warm and 85% said they were cold enough in summer and 37% had air-conditioning at home.

The rate of severe material and social deprivation also fell, by one point to 1.6%, meaning that about 33,000 people lived in households that could not afford at least seven of the thirteen items used to measure a state of deprivation.

The reasons for the decline in the rate include a larger number of households where all members could afford a holiday, a factor helped by tourism vouchers.

More households could also afford unexpected expenses, which the statisticians say could be attributed to them making more savings as a result of shops being closed due to Covid.

Housing costs were a heavy burden on 21% of households in 2021, six points fewer than the year before. The percentage of households for which housing costs were not a burden at all increased from 14% to 19%.

In the 12 months before being surveyed, 8% of households were late at least once with their utility bills, possibly rent or mortgage, or other consumer loans, which again is two points fewer than in 2020 and 12 points from the peak figure in 2014.

Asked about the impact of the Covid-19 crisis on their mental health, 53% of those aged 16 or more said it had no such impact and 43% said it had a negative effect with 4% saying it reflected positively on their mental health.

Children from 91% also had the necessary technical equipment and internet for remote classes during school closures, while 2% reported not having a suitable internet link and as many not having enough computers or mobile devices with the rest 5% reporting other issues.