Poland
Working Mothers, Working Women
Women's employment, in comparison with that of men, increased steadily after World War II. National statistics indicated that in 1950 women constituted 30.6 percent of the total number of employees. In 1960 the figure was 33.1 percent; in 1970 it was 39.4 percent; in 1980 it was 43.5 percent; in 1990 it was 46.0 percent; and in 1999 it was 48.2 percent (Rocznik Statystyczny 2000). Although women represent a growing percentage of all workers, there are higher numbers of unemployed women than unemployed men (in 2001 unemployed women represented 60 percent of the total number of unemployed). Polish legislation, when applied to working conditions, protects all women, including pregnant women and working mothers, from circumstances interfering with their (present or future) maternal roles. This plan creates a bias among employers who try to avoid hiring women because they are stereotyped as unreliable workers. It is a long tradition in Poland that women's individual needs and interests were secondary to the needs of the family, the nation, and the state. After 1989, such trends intensified. Polish men, dominating the public and political domain, are inefficient in managing the challenges of democracy and the free market (Lobodzińska 2000a). During intense political competition, reproductive rights became a bone of contention, moving the focus away from solutions to political and economic problems associated with women's employment. Under the circumstances of failure, it was easier to shift responsibility for unacceptable changes onto the shoulders of women. This translates into an informally sanctioned lack of occupational retraining programs for women, which escalates their unemployment. There is a silent acceptance of discriminatory hiring practices, limited sources of childcare and kindergartens, and obstruction of regulations aimed at protecting working pregnant women and working mothers taking care of small children. When businesses must reduce the numbers of workers, women are first to go. New and developing plants hire only a limited number of women (Titkow 2000; Malinowska 1995).
Women, in spite of achieving higher educational levels than men, are mainly occupied in lower priority industries: in food and clothing industries, in services, as mid-level clerical and health care personnel, teachers, and selected types of professionals (physicians, teachers in higher education, economists, etc.). Women's salaries on the average are about 30 percent lower then men's wages.
When comparing women's employment in particular age groups, in the same age category, a lower percentage of women are working than are men (see Table 3). Besides unemployment, women's maternal roles interrupt their employment (between 20–24) to take care of small children. They return to work when the children are older. Also, a proportionally lower percentage of women are economically active in older age categories because they cannot find work or must retire early.
Women's organizations try to retrain women to improve their marketable skills to prepare them for occupations that are more in demand and assure higher pay. At present, family policy and social services addressing family needs and securing equal opportunities for working mothers appears at the bottom of the political agenda (Karpiński 1995; Majman 2000).
Bibliography
Bińczak, H. (2001). "Migracje zarobkowe. Mlodzi licza na prace w Unii" (Economic migration. The young ones expect to find work in European Union). Rzeczpospolita 95.
CBOS (Public Opinion Research Centre). (1999). Kobiety o podziale obowi&NA;zków domowych w rodzinie (Women about division of labor in household chores). Bulletin no. 16. Warsaw: Author.
CBOS (Public Opinion Research Centre). (1999). M&NA;odzie&NA; o &NA;yciu seksualnym (Youth about sexual behavior). Bullletin no. 98. Warsaw: Author.
CBOS (Public Opinion Research Centre). (2001). Ch&NA;opiec czy dziewczynka? Polacy o dzieciach (Boy or girl? Poles about children). Bulletin no. 26. Warsaw: Author
Domański, H. (1999). Zadowolony niewolnik idzie do pracy (A satisfied slave goes to work). Warsaw: The Institute of Philosophy and Sociology of The Polish Academy of Sciences.
Dyczewski, L. (1994). Ludzie starzy i staro w spo&NA;eczeństwie i kulturze (Old people and old age in society and culture). Lublin: KUL
"Jobs, please." (2001). The Economist 358(8215):49.
Karpiński, E. C. (1995). "Do Polish Women Need Feminism? Recent Activity of the Parliamentary Women's Group." Canadian Woman Studies 16(1):91–94.
Lobodzińska, B. (1970). Ma&NA;&NA;eństwo w miecie (Marriage in the city). Warsaw: PWN
Lobodzińska, B., ed. (1995). Family, Women and Employment in Central-Eastern Europe. Contributions in Sociology No. 112. Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Group.
Lobodzińska, B. (1997). "Family, Women and Employment in Poland and Other Central European Countries: TABLE 3
| Age | Men (%) | Women (%) | ||
| 15-17 | 5.2 | 1.9 | ||
| 18-19 | 28.3 | 31.7 | ||
| 20-24 | 75.0 | 61.3 | ||
| 25-29 | 93.0 | 74.5 | ||
| 30-34 | 95.1 | 79.5 | ||
| 35-39 | 94.0 | 83.3 | ||
| 40-44 | 89.2 | 82.5 | ||
| 45-49 | 84.4 | 75.6 | ||
| 50-54 | 70.9 | 57.8 | ||
| 55-59 | 49.1 | 29.2 | ||
| 60-64 | 29.2 | 10.9 | ||
| 65 + | 12.2 | 5.4 | ||
| * - These figures include currently employed and those registered as unemployed and seeking employment. | ||||
| SOURCE: Kobiety na rynku pracy (Women in the workforce) | ||||
| Warsaw: Central Statistical Office (GUS), October 2000. |
Ideology of Equality and Reality of Discrimination." The Polish Review 42(4):447–470
Lobodzińska, B. (2000a). "Polish Women's Gender-Segregated Education and Employment." Women's Studies International Forum 23(1):49–71.
Lobodzińska, B. (2000b) "Domestic and External Perception of Family and Women's Issues in Poland and in Other Post-Socialist Countries." The Polish Review 45(3): 258–302.
Malinowska, E. (1995). "Socio-Political Changes in Poland and the Problem of Sex Discrimination." Women's Studies International Forum 18(1):35–43.
Rocznik Statystyczny (Statistical Yearbook). (2000).Warsaw: Central Statistical Office.
Titkow, A. (2000). "Kobieta pod presja, super kobieta, czy kobieta dokonujaca wyborów" (A woman under pressure, a super-woman, or a woman making decisions). Paper presented at the 58th Annual Meeting of the Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences in America, June 16-18, Kraków.
Trafialek, E. (1997). "Glówne wyznaczniki statusu ekonomicznego ludzi starszych w Polsce" (Leading indicators of the economic status of the elderly in Poland). In Przygotowanie do staroci, ed. M. Dziegielewska. Lódz: Zaklad Owiaty Doroslych Uniwersytetu Lódzkiego.
Wciórka, B. (1999). Sytuacja mieszkaniowa w Polsce (Housing situation in Poland). Bulletin no. 2451.Warsaw: CBOS (Public Opinion Research Centre).
Wciórka, B. (2001). Co zawdzi&NA;czamy swoim babciom i dziadkom? (What do we owe to our grandmas and grandpas?). Bulletin no. 102. Warsaw: CBOS (Center for Social Opinion Research).
Other Resources
CBOS (Public Opinion Research Centre). (2000). o polskich rodzinach: preferowany model z dwojgiem dzieci (About Polish families: A preferred model with two children). Warsaw: ONET—Wiadomoci. Available from http://www.onet.pl.
Centre for Europe's Children. (1999). MONEE Regional Monitoring Report 6: Women in Transition. Available from http://eurochild.gla.ac.uk/Documents/monee/.
Majman, S. (2000). "I Am Polish Woman, Hear Me Roar." The Warsaw Voice 21(604). Available from http://www.warsawvoice.pl/v604/View01.html.
Montgomery, K. (2001). "Raport jest, aborcje tez sa" (The report is here, abortions are here also). Gazeta Wyborcza. Available from http://www.gazeta.pl.
OBOP. (1998). Ma&NA;&NA;eństwo i &NA;ycie rodzinne w opiniach Polaków (Marriage and family life in the Poles' opinions). Available from http://www.obop.com.pl.
"Wydarzenia" (Events). (2001). Oka Biuletyn, April. Available from http://www.oska.org.pl/biuletyn.
BARBARA LOBODZIŃSKA
(WITH ASSISTANCE FROM
MIROSLAWA LUKASZEWICZ,
WIESLAW LAGODZIŃSKI, AND
BOZENA GLÓWCZYŃSKA)
Additional topics
Marriage and Family EncyclopediaMarriage: Cultural AspectsPoland - Changes In Population And Demographic Structure Since The 1960s, Legislation Applied To Marriage, The Family, And Working Mothers