The double burden of paid and unpaid work on women in Poland

The vast majority of the Polish population agrees that household duties and childcare activities should be equally shared in a couple. However, in Poland, as in many other countries, the real division of household work and care does not reflect the attitudes towards it. Relying on the information from the Time Budget Survey, in this brief we show that women in Poland spend far more time on household chores and much more often take care of children than men. With relatively high labour market participation rates, and negligible rates of part-time employment, Polish women face the problem of a double burden of paid and unpaid work, commonly pointed out in the literature in the context of the post-communist countries. More equal sharing of domestic work would facilitate greater professional involvement among women and free their time to enjoy more leisure. More active government policies aimed at closing gender gaps along different dimensions could address prevailing constraints as well as social norms and stereotypes, and contribute towards such changes.

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