The bar chart compares survey results from 2000, 2005 and 2010 on the reasons for absence at work in a European country. Among the five major reasons are illness, stress, personal needs, family respinsibilities and unexpected problems.
Overall, illness was the the most common factor provided by people explaining their absence, while stress was the least reported reason. Notably, sick-leave and family commitments as reasons for skipping work were pointed by increasingly fewer people, but the figures increased for the other three reasons from survey to survey.
45% of absence were attributed to illness in 2000, which dropped by 5% each time a new survey was conducted. Consequently, 35% of absenteesim were linked to illnesses in 2010. Family responsibilities were the second most common reason at below 30% in 2000, but this also dropped to under 25% in 2005 remainig at this level in the survey conducted in 2010, as well.
The other motives increased in frequency, however. For instance, the surveys in 2005 and 2010 show about 17% of absence from work related to unpredicted issues, such as problems with transport or unfavourable weather conditions. This was 7% up from the survey carried out in 2000.
Appointments and other personal needs were reported as the reason behind not being at work by 15% of the participants compared to 20% in 2010. A similar rise was registered in people who could not be present at work due to stress from 6% in 2000 to about 14% in 2010.