Sex is one of the key characteristics considered in the labour market analysis.
A lot of phenomena is discussed in division into men and women. Individual
skills and decisions of employees and job-seekers are also related with sex.
Women often work in different professions and industries than men, receive
different salaries and work in different hours. These differences are due to such
characteristics as level of education, involvement in private life and even expectations from life.
One of the key reasons for these differences are the historic reasons. Until the
end of the 19th century, the right to work was not an obvious right for women.
For example, the 1804 Napoleonic Code allowed women to work only with the
consent of their husbands1. World War I changed the situation. Women took the
roles of men who served at the front. This tendency was reversed by the Great
Depression in the 1930s, when limitations in employing women were re-introduced. It was only the development of economy after World War II that caused
an increase in the professional activity of women. The increase was gradual, as
exemplified by the data on the number of women working in Poland – in 1950
it was approx. 31%, while in 2000 – almost 48%.
SHARE OF WOMEN IN TOTAL NUMBER OF EMPLOYED PERSONS IN POLAND
%
50
45
40
35
30
1950 1955 1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010
Source: The Yearbook of Labour Statistics 2012
Owing to the importance of sex as a characteristic used in the labour market
statistics, the Central Statistical Office of Poland once again publishes a synthetic report that discusses the situation of men and women on the labour market.
1
http://obywatelki.pl/Community/26347,Blog_Wpis,Kobieta_moze_czy_nie_powinna_pracowac_Czyli_historyczne_spojrzenie_na_kwestie_pracy_zawodowej_kobiet.html
Data presented in this report was taken from the representative Labour Force
Survey (LFS, data derived from the fourth quarter of each year), encompassing
persons aged 15 and more, as well as the registers of the unemployed carried
out in the labour offices as well as from the survey on structure of wages and
salaries by occupations.
Description of the methodologies can be found in the thematic publications available on the CSO website at: www.stat.gov.pl/obszary-tematyczne/
praca-wynagrodzenia.
From the point of view of the labour market status, the population is divided
into the economically active and the economically inactive.
The population of the economically active comprise the employed and
the unemployed. The level of economic activity is measured with activity rate
expressing the share of economically active persons (total or for a given group)
in the population aged 15 or more (total or for a given group).
Between 2010 and 2013, the activity rate of women (total) increased by
1.0 p.p. to 48.5%, while for men that rate increased by only 0.5 p.p. to 64.4%
over the same period.
More significant changes may be observed for the population of the employed at the working age: for women, the activity rate increased by 2.9 p.p., while
for men – by 1.4 p.p.
ECONOMIC ACTIVITY RATE BY SEX IN YEARS 2010–2013
Total
Years
women
Production age
men
women
men
in %
2010
47.5
63.9
66.8
76.2
2011
48.0
64.2
67.9
76.6
2012
48.3
64.4
68.8
77.2
2013
48.5
64.4
69.7
77.6
The level of female economic activity is lower than in the case of men. In 2013,
there were 554 economically inactive men per 1000 economically active ones,
while there were 1060 economically inactive women per 1000 economically
active ones. The economically inactive population is significantly feminised –
women constitute over 61% of this population.
WOMEN AGED 15 YEARS AND MORE
BY ECONOMIC ACTIVITY
source: Labour Force Survey, IV quarter of 2013
Employed
43.4%
Economically
inactive
51.5%
MEN AGED 15 YEAR AND MORE
BY ECONOMIC ACTIVITY
Labour Force Survey, IV quarter of 2013
Economically
inactive
35.6%
Employed
58.5%
Unemployed
5.1%
Unemployed
5.9%
The distribution of economic activity by age is slightly different among men
and women. In the case of women, the highest share of the economically active
is observed among women aged 40–44 years (841 per 1000 women were either
employed or seeking work), while in the case of men, the highest share was
observed among men aged 35–39 (937 per 1000 men were either employed or
seeking work).
ECONOMIC ACTIVITY RATE BY SEX AND AGE
source: Labour Force Survey, IV quarter of 2013
%
100
80
60
40
Women
Men
20
0
15–17 20–24 25–29 30–34 35–39 40–44 45–49 50–54 55–59 60–64 65 years +
18–19
The highest level of economic activity characterizes persons with tertiary
education. The economic activity rate for this population of women is the closest to the respective value of the rate for men (the difference comprises about
4 percentage points), while for the remaining education levels that rate is much
higher for men (the differences vary from over 15 percentage points to almost
23 percentage points).
ECONOMIC ACTIVITY RATE BY SEX AND LEVEL OF EDUCATION
source: Labour Force Survey, IV quarter of 2013
%
90
80
Women
70
60
50
40
Men
30
20
10
0
Tertiary Post-secondary ŒVocational
secondary
ŒGeneral
secondary
Basic
Lower secondary,
vocational primary and incomplete
primary
Since 2010, a slight variation in the number of employed women at the working age was observed, reaching over 6.7 million in 2013. The share of women
in the total number of the employed at the working age remained at the level
over 43%.
THE NUMBER OF EMPLOYED WOMEN AT THE WORKING AGE IN THE YEARS 2010–2013
Specification
2010
2011
2012
2013
Working age population
Number of the employed in thous.
6653
6640
6650
6714
In % of the total number
of the employed
42.8
42.5
42.5
42.7
The degree of the labour resources utilization is measured with employment
rate, which shows the share of the employed (total or for a given group) in the
population (total or for a given group).
Employment rate for women aged 15 years and more, both in the entire
population and among persons at the working age, is clearly lower than the
male employment rate. Compared with 2010, the female employment rate in
total increased by 0.6 p.p., while male employment rate – 0.3 p.p.
At the same time, a higher increase was registered in the population of the
employed at the working age: 2.2 p.p. among women, and 1.0 p.p. among men.
EMPLOYMENT RATE BY SEX IN YEARS 2010–2013
Total
Years
women
Working age population
men
women
men
in %
2010
42.8
58.2
60.0
69.4
2011
42.8
58.5
60.4
69.7
2012
43.0
58.4
60.9
69.9
2013
43.4
58.5
62.2
70.4
One of the groups whose condition is specific on the labour market are the
disabled. Compared to the situation on the labour market of the total population, there are less employed in that group, and the majority constitutes the
economically inactive.
The
employment
rate of the disabled
does not exceed 15%
and has remained at a
similar level for the past
4 years. The employment rate for disabled
women – contrary to
the entire population
– is higher than the employment rate for men.
EMPLOYMENT RATE OF DISABLED PERSONS IN YEARS
source: Labour Force Survey, IV quarter of 2010–2013
%
18
16
14
Total
Women
Men
12
10
2010
2011
2012
2013
The structures of the employed men and women by education differ significantly. The employed women most often have tertiary education (40.3% of the
employed), followed by secondary (31.6%). In the case of men, the employed
men with secondary education (33.5%) dominate, followed by basic vocational
(32.6%).
EMPLOYED PERSONS BY SEX AND LEVEL OF EDUCATION
source: Labour Force Survey, IV quarter of 2013
Women
Men
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100%
Tertiary
ŒVocational secondary
Basic vocational
Post-secondary
General secondary
Lower secondary,
primary and incomplete primary
A higher share of women (than men) works in the public sector, and lower – in
the private sector.
EMPLOYED WOMEN BY OWNERSHIP
SECTOR OF THEIR PLACE OF WORK
source: Labour Force Survey, IV quarter of 2013
EMPLOYED MEN BY OWNERSHIP
SECTOR OF THEIR PLACE OF WORK
source: Labour Force Survey, IV quarter of 2013
Public
18.2%
Public
33.9%
Private
66.1%
Private
81.8%
Women and men also differ in terms of the employment structure status.
Among women, the percentage of employees and contributing family workers
is higher, while the percentage of self-employed and employers is lower.
EMPLOYED BY SEX AND STATUS IN EMPLOYMENT
source: Labour Force Survey, IV quarter of 2013
Women
Men
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Employees
Self-employed
Employers
Contributing family workers
90
100%
THE SHARE OF WOMEN IN THE TOTAL NUMBER OF THE EMPLOYED IN A GIVEN OCCUPATIONAL GROUP
source: Labour Force Survey, IV quarter of 2013
TOTAL
Legislators, senior officials and managers
Professionals
Technicians and associate professionals
Clerks
Service and sales workers
Skilled agricultural, forestry and fishery workers
Craft and related trades workers
Plant and machine operators and assemblers
Elementary occupations
0
10
30
20
50
40
70%
60
THE SHARE OF WOMEN AMONG EMPLOYED PERSONS BY SELECTED KINDS OF ACTIVITY OF THEIR
PLACE OF WORK
source: Labour Force Survey, IV quarter of 2013
TOTAL
Agriculture, forestry and fishing
Mining and quarrying
Manufacturing
Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply
Construction
Trade; repair of motor vehicles
Transportation and storage
Accommodation and catering
Information and communication
Financial and insurance activities
Real estate activities
Professional, scientific and technical activities
Administrative and support service activities
Public administration and defence;
compulsory social security
Education
Human health and social work activities
Arts, entertainment and recreation
Other service activities
0
The abbreviated name.
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90%
The occupational groups with the highest shares of females are: Clerks,
Service and sales workers and Professionals. In 2013, women comprised approx
64% of all employed. The lowest number of women were employed in the
following occupational groups: Craft and related trades workers and Plant and
machine operators and assemblers (less than 14%).
Among the most feminised sections of the national economy were: Human
health and social work activities as well as Education, where there were 8 women
per 10 employed persons. A lot of women also work in the following sections:
Accommodation and catering and Financial and insurance activities (190 women
per 100 men). As regards Construction and Mining and quarrying, less than
1 employee in 10 is a woman.
On average, men work 4 hours longer per week than women. It is mostly due
to the fact that twice as many women than men work part-time.
WORKING TIME OF EMPLOYED PERSONS BY NUMBER OF HOURS WORKED PER WEEK
IN ALL PLACES OF WORK
source: Labour Force Survey, IV quarter of 2013
%
60
Total
50
Women
Men
40
30
20
10
0
1–19
did not
work during
the reference week,
but had a job
20–29
30–39
40–49
50–59
60 hours
and more
The largest group of both women and men work 40–49 hours per week. In
the case of that group, there are no significant differences between men and
women. Almost 21% of men and as little as only 7% of women work more than
50 hours per week. In turn, almost every one in three women and one in four
men work less than 40 hours per week.
Employees that work on the basis of employment contracts for unlimited
time period constitute the group that has the highest employment guarantee. Such type of contract is enjoyed by almost 73% of all employees. 8 in 10
employees aged 35–64 have employment contracts for unlimited time period,
while only 30% of the youngest workers (aged 15–24) have such contracts.
Women have employment contracts for unlimited time period just as
frequently as men, yet there are some differences regarding age. Among the
youngest employees, the percentage of men with employment contracts for
unlimited time period is by 7 p.p. higher than women in the same age. In turn,
women aged 45–64 have employment contracts for unlimited time period
slightly more often.
SHARE OF EMPLOYED WITH PERMANENT WORK CONTRACT (UNLIMITED DURATION)
IN TOTAL NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES BY SEX AND AGE
source: Labour Force Survey, IV quarter of 2013
%
100
80
60
Women
Men
40
20
15–24
25–34
35–44
45–54
55–64
65 years and more
In 2010–2013, women have been prevailing among the unemployed registered in labour offices, yet compared with 2006–2007, that predominance
was much smaller in 2013. It was due to a significant increase in the number of
registered unemployed men over the past six years.
According to the Labour Force Survey, the differences between the numbers
of unemployed women and men are lower, with a slight predominance of men
in 2011–2013.
In 2013, the share of women in the number of all registered unemployed
people was 51% and it was the lowest share in the past 11 years.
THE NUMBER OF UNEMPLOYED
WOMEN AND MEN IN 2010–2013
source: Labour Force Survey, IV quarter of 2013
in thous.
900
thous.
1100
1050
850
1000
800
750
UNEMPLOYED REGISTERED IN LABOUR OFFICES
BY SEX IN YEARS 2010–2013
950
2010 2011
Women
2012
2013
900
Men
2010
2011
Women
2012
2013
Men
In recent years, the inflow into and outflow from registered unemployment
in case of women are lower than in case of men. However, positive balance
of inflow into unemployment (except for 2011 for men) was observed in both
groups. In 2013, the predominance of women was only symbolic (less than 500
persons).
REGISTERED UNEMPLOYMENT FLOW OF WOMEN AND MEN IN YEARS 2010–2013
During the period
Specification
2010
2011
2012
2013
in thousands
Women
Inflow
1468
1270
1256
1286
Outflow
1419
1225
1217
1286
Balance
+49
+45
+39
0
Inflow
1574
1321
1399
1423
Outflow
1560
1339
1284
1403
Balance
+14
-18
+115
+20
Men
Women were more often than men threatened with long-term unemployment. According to the data of the labour offices, in 2013, over 41.6% of
registered unemployed women and 34.9% of registered unemployed men had
been jobless for more than a year.
The incidence of unemployment is measured with the unemployment rate
comprising the share of the unemployed (total or for a given group) in the
economically active population (total or for a given group).
UNEMPLOYMENT RATE BY SEX IN YEARS 2010–2013
Based on LFS
Total
Years
women
Working age population
men
women
men
w%
2010
9.9
8.9
10.1
9.0
2011
10.8
8.8
11.1
9.0
2012
11.1
9.3
11.4
9.5
2013
10.5
9.1
10.8
9.3
The female unemployment rate is higher than the male unemployment rate.
Finding a job is more difficult particularly for women re-entering the labour
market after a long break or seeking their first job.
The differences in the unemployment rate in individual age groups looks
similar among men and women: the highest unemployment rate characterizes
the youngest age group, then it decreases rapidly, to become stable at a similar
level for persons aged 30+.
UNEMPLOYMENT RATE BY SEX AND AGE
source: Labour Force Survey, IV quarter of 2013
%
50
40
30
Women
Men
20
10
0
15–19 20–24 25–29 30–34 35–39 40–44 45–49
50–54 55 years and more
In all age groups apart from persons aged 55 and more, the unemployment
rate for women is higher than for men.
The unemployment rate is significantly lower for persons with tertiary education than with secondary, basic vocational or primary education. It pertains
both to men and women.
UNEMPLOYMENT RATE BY SEX AND LEVEL OF EDUCATION
source: Labour Force Survey, IV quarter of 2013
Tertiary
Women
Post-secondary
Men
Vocational secondary
General secondary
Basic vocational
Lower secondary, primary
and incomplete primary
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
20%
However, despite being better educated, the female unemployment rate is
higher than male unemployment rate for all education levels.
UNEMPLOYMENT RATE OF DISABLED PERSONS
IN 2010–2013
source: Labour Force Survey, IV quarter of 2013
%
18
16
14
12
2010
2011
Women
2012
Men
2013
The unemployment rate
for the disabled is at a higher
level than for all persons
aged 15 and more, and it
increased by 3.5 p.p. over the
past 4 years.
In 2013 the unemployment
rate of disabled women was
by almost 1 p.p. higher than
the unemployment rate of
disabled men.
Average wages and salaries of women are usually lower than men's earnings – in October 2012 that
difference was over PLN 700. Men received wages and salaries higher than the
national average by 9.1%, i.e. by PLN 355.81, while women – lower by 9.1%, i.e.
by PLN 355.22. Consequently, it means that average earnings of women were
by 17% lower than the average earnings of men (in 2010 by 15% and in 2008
by 23%).
Men earn more in all occupational groups, even though the difference level
varies. The highest difference in the level of average gross wages and salaries
of men and women in October 2012 was observed in the group Craft and
related trades workers. The relation of the average women's earnings to the
men's earnings in the group amounted to 66.3%. The lowest differentiation
of earnings was observed in the occupational group Clerks, where the average
earnings of women comprised 98.1% of the average earnings of men.
AVERAGE GROSS MONTHLY EARNINGS BY SEX AND OCCUPATIONAL GROUPS IN OCTOBER 2012
TOTAL
Legislators, senior officials and managers
Professionals
Technicians and associate professionals
Clerks
Service and sales workers
Skilled agricultural, forestry and fishery workers
Women
Men
Craft and related trades workers
Plant and machine operators and assemblers
Elementary occupations
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10 thous.
In the majority of the economy sectors earnings of women are lower than
earnings of men. The highest difference is observed in Financial and insurance
activities, where the average monthly earnings of a woman constitutes less
than 63% of the average monthly earnings of a man.
In the case of two sectors: Water supply; sewerage, waste management and remediation activities and Administrative support and service activities the earnings
of men and women are at a very similar level.
Average earnings of women is higher than men's only in two sections: Construction and Transportation and storage. These sections have low percentage
of women among the employed.
RATIO OF AVERAGE GROSS MONTHLY EARNINGS OF WOMEN AND MEN BY EMPLOYER'S ACTIVITY
KIND IN OCTOBER 2012
Men = 100%
TOTAL
Agriculture, forestry and fishing
Mining and quarrying
Manufacturing
Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply
Water supply, severage, waste management
and remediation activities
Construction
Trade; repair of motor vehicles
Transportation and storage
Accommodation and catering
Information and communication
Financial and insurance activities
Real estate activities
Professional, scientific and technical activities
Administrative and support service activities
Public administration and defence;
compulsory social security
Education
Human health and social work activities
Arts, entertainment and recreation
Other service activities
60
The abbreviated name.
65
70
75
80
85
90
95 100 105 110
Apart from the average wages and salaries, it is important to pay attention
to the group of employees with low earnings, i.e. less than half of the average
wages and salaries for the analysed population.
EMPLOYEES WITH LOW EARNINGS (NOT HIGHER THAN 50% OF AVERAGE EARNINGS)
BY SEX AND OCCUPATIONAL GROUPS IN OCTOBER 2012
Legislators, senior officials and managers
Professionals
Women
Men
Technicians and associate professionals
Clerks
Service and sales workers
Skilled agricultural, forestry and fishery workers
Craft and related trades workers
Plant and machine operators and assemblers
Elementary occupations
0
5
10 15 20
25 30 35 40
45 50
55 60%
In October 2012 almost 19% of employees received no more than half
of the average wages and salaries and that percentage was by 3 p.p. higher for
women than for men.
In the groups: Craft and related trades workers as well as Elementary occupations the percentage of women with low earnings is much higher than the
percentage of men. In turn, in the group Skilled agricultural, forestry and fishery
workers the share of men with low earnings is much higher than women.
Edited by Aggregate Publications Sections
Design, proof-reading and typesetting
Demographic and Labour Market Surveys
Department CSO
Lidia Motrenko-Makuch, Robert Chmielewski
Print:
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