The bar chart illustrates the primary causes of work absenteeism in a European country across three different years: 2000, 2005 and 2010.
Overall, illness was consistently the leading cause of absence, although its prevalence declined over the years. In contrast, stress and personal needs became increasingly common reasons, both showing upward trends. Notably, family responsibilities, ranked the second most popular reason, remained relatively stable, while unexpected problems experienced minor fluctuations.
Looking at the most common reason for work absence, illness stood at approximately 44% in 2000, then decreasing slightly to around 40% in 2005 before dropping with the same amount to roughly 35% in the final year. Despite experiencing a downward trend, this reason maintained its position as the dominant factor. Family responsibilites, the second most cited reason, remained remarkably stable, fluctuating marginally from 27% to 26% over a decade.
In contrast, stress and personal needs exhibited clear upward trends. The proportion of workers taking time off due to personal needs rose steadily from 14% in 2000 to roughly 23%. Stress, though initially the least common reason at 6%, more than doubled in 2010, reaching about 13%. Lastly, unexpected problems such as transport and weather remains a minor cause throughout the period, peaking at 14% in 2005 before falling slightly to 13% in 2010.