De no ser por la conciliación laboral, rendiríamos peor.

Here, de + infinitive introduces a condition. In this sentence, de no ser por works like if it were not for or were it not for.

So:

• De no ser por la conciliación laboral...
• = Si no fuera por la conciliación laboral...

This use of de + infinitive is common in fairly formal or compact phrasing:

• De haberlo sabido, no habría venido. = If I had known, I wouldn’t have come.
• De no existir esa ayuda, sería más difícil. = If that help didn’t exist, it would be harder.

So the de is not random: it is part of a real grammatical pattern.

It is an idiomatic expression meaning:

• if it weren’t for
• were it not for
• but for

It introduces something that prevents a worse result.

In this sentence, the idea is that la conciliación laboral is helping, and without it, the result would be worse.

A useful way to think of it is:

• De no ser por X, Y
• = If it weren’t for X, Y would happen

So:

• De no ser por la conciliación laboral, rendiríamos peor
• = If it weren’t for work-life balance, we would perform worse

Because de no ser por is a fixed expression, and Spanish uses ser here.

You should learn ser por in this phrase as part of the whole chunk:

• de no ser por...
• si no fuera por...

You do not normally say de no estar por with this meaning.

More generally, ser is often used in expressions involving cause, identity, or what something amounts to, while estar is more about states or locations. But in this case, the safest answer is: this is simply the standard idiomatic form.

Because Spanish often leaves out subject pronouns when the verb ending already makes the subject clear.

Rendiríamos already means we would perform:

• rendiría = I/he/she/you formal would perform, depending on context
• rendirías = you would perform
• rendiríamos = we would perform

So nosotros is unnecessary unless you want emphasis or contrast:

• Nosotros rendiríamos peor, pero ellos no.

In the original sentence, the subject is clear from the verb ending alone.

Because the sentence is hypothetical.

The structure is essentially:

• If it weren’t for X, we would do Y

In Spanish, that often becomes:

• Si no fuera por X, rendiríamos peor
• or the more compact
• De no ser por X, rendiríamos peor

So the main clause uses the conditional:

• rendiríamos = we would perform

This matches the unreal or hypothetical idea created by de no ser por.

Here, rendir means to perform, to be productive, or to function well.

So rendir peor means:

• to perform worse
• to be less productive
• to do less well

This is a very common use of rendir in Spain, especially when talking about work, study, sleep, exercise, or concentration:

• Con descanso, rindo mejor. = I perform better with rest.
• Sin dormir bien, rendimos peor. = Without sleeping well, we perform worse.

Be careful: rendir has several meanings in Spanish, depending on context. It can also mean things like:

• to yield
• to hand in
• to surrender in rendirse

But in this sentence, it clearly means to perform / be productive.

In Spain, conciliación laboral usually refers to work-life balance, especially the ability to balance work with family or personal life.

It often includes ideas such as:

• flexible hours
• remote work
• parental leave
• reduced hours
• childcare support
• policies that make work compatible with family life

In Spain, you may also hear fuller versions such as:

• conciliación laboral y familiar
• conciliación de la vida laboral y familiar

So conciliación laboral is not just conciliation in the English sense of making peace. It is a specific social and workplace term.

Because peor is the normal comparative form of mal.

Just as:

• bueno → mejor
• malo → peor
• bien → mejor
• mal → peor

Here, peor is modifying the verb rendir, so it works as an adverb:

• rendir peor = to perform worse

Standard Spanish normally uses peor, not más mal, in this kind of sentence.

So:

• rendir peor ✔
• rendir más mal ✘

Yes, absolutely. That is probably the most straightforward alternative.

Compare:

• De no ser por la conciliación laboral, rendiríamos peor.
• Si no fuera por la conciliación laboral, rendiríamos peor.

They mean the same thing.

The difference is mostly one of style:

• si no fuera por... = more direct, very common, neutral
• de no ser por... = a bit more formal, compact, and written-sounding

So as a learner, si no fuera por... is often easier to produce, while de no ser por... is very useful to recognize and understand.

Because the sentence begins with a fronted conditional phrase:

• De no ser por la conciliación laboral, ...

In Spanish, when a conditional or introductory clause comes first, a comma is normally used before the main clause.

So this is the standard punctuation:

• De no ser por la conciliación laboral, rendiríamos peor.

It works much like English:

• If it weren’t for work-life balance, we would perform worse.

The comma helps separate the condition from the result.