Abstract
Population ageing is a typical feature of population development in the majority of countries in the world. In each population, this process is specific –whether in terms of the timing of its onset or the factors that modify the process of population ageing. The main aim of this article is to identify the processes of population ageing in the districts of Slovakia. A regional analysis of this process focused on population ageing in Slovak districts in the years 2011 and 2021 using cluster analysis. The results of the cluster analysis of population ageing identified northern and eastern Slovakia as districts whose populations have a younger age structure. The western and southwestern districts of Slovakia have populations with an old age structure. In 2021, this age polarity began to change the territory of Slovakia. The suburbanised region of the capital, Bratislava, is becoming significant, as the population in the districts there is getting younger.

Keywords
population ageing, districts, evaluation of ageing, cluster analysis, Slovakia

Abstract
This study focuses on the factors that are associated with recording multiple causes as the cause of death in Czechia. An XGBoost multiple regression is used in the analysis and its results are interpreted with SHAP values. The most significant factors associated with the number of causes of death, ranked in order of importance, are the place of death, the region, and the underlying cause of death. Age and autopsy also contribute, albeit to a lesser extent. Several important interactions were identified as well.

Keywords
multiple causes of death, death certificate, mortality, Czechia

Abstract
Based on data from a questionnaire survey and in-depth qualitative interviews with parents who have separated, the text describes the dynamics of the negotiations relating to physical custody of a child. When negotiating a custody arrangement, parents develop their strategies in relation to the prevailing model in Czech society of granting mothers sole custody. Most women prefer to maintain this arrangement, while fathers more often seek to move towards an equal division of care. When fathers are granted sole custody it is not usually on the basis of a consensual agreement being reached between parents. Custody arrangements enforced without parental consent are potentially conflictual and unstable.

Keywords
physical custody of a child, preferences, parental conflict, court proceeding, dynamics

Abstract
This study focuses on mode of delivery by maternal characteristics such as age, education, marital status, region, and mode of previous delivery. We use microdata provided by the Ministry of Health and find that the likelihood of a C-section increases with the age of the mother, but a previous natural delivery weakens this association. Women who are married more often give birth by planned C-section. Emergency C-sections occur more often among unmarried women. Women in the Trenčín region more often deliver spontaneously, and women in the Bratislava and Nitra regions more often deliver by C-section. Due to the early onset of fertility, women with primary education more often deliver spontaneously. Women with secondary education under the age of 35 more often deliver by planned C-section than university-educated women. Our results are policy-relevant for further decision-making and planning in obstetrics and gynaecology in Slovakia, especially by pinpointing the different risk categories in terms of maternal education or marital status by mother’s age.

Keywords
mode of delivery, Caesarean section, marital status, age, education, parity

Abstract
Social benefit income is an important source of financial income for households. It is intended to cover the needs of people in certain defined social situations. The aim of this contribution is to characterise how the social benefits that are provided to citizens by individual social systems have changed over time and to point out some key problems, solving which should be a focus of attention in the coming years.

Keywords
social benefit income, pension insurance, sickness insurance, employment policy, state social support, social-legal protection of children, assistance in material need, benefits for the disabled, social services