Gender equality index 2017 : Poland.
Date: 2018-10-01
Institutions: European Institute for Gender Equality
Subjects: Poland, equal treatment, evaluation method, gender equality, sexual discrimination, social indicator, women's rights

Gender Equality Index 2017:  
Poland

The Gender Equality Index 2017 examines the progress and challenges in achieving gender equality across the European Union 
from 2005 to 2015. Using a scale from 1 (full inequality) to 100 (full equality), it measures the differences between women and 
men in key domains of the EU policy framework (work, money, knowledge, time, power and health). The Index also measures 
violence against women and intersecting inequalities. These are satellite domains and are part of the framework of the Gender 
Equality Index, but do not have an impact on the overall score. Intersecting inequalities show how gender intersects with age, 
education, family composition, country of birth and disability. The Gender Equality Index provides results for each domain and 
sub-domain for the EU and its 28 Member States (1).

Progress in gender equality in Poland, 2005-2015

EU-28

PL

PL

56.8

4.4

66.2

4.2

Change in score from 2005 to 2015

In the Gender Equality Index 2017, Poland achieved a score of 56.8 
out  of  100.  This  is  below  the  EU-28  score  of  66.2,  although  pro-
gress is on track with that of the EU on average. Poland’s score has 
increased by 4.4 points. It now holds the 18th place in the Index, 
an improvement of two positions.

The  gender  equality  score  in  the  domain  of  health  has  slightly 
increased  and  is  the  highest  in  Poland.  It  shows  a  relatively  satis-
factory gender balance in access to services.

The  biggest  improvement  took  place  in  the  domain  of  money. 
This score is the second highest in Poland, mostly due to improve-
ments regarding the distribution of earnings and incomes.

The  domain  of  power  has  become  significantly  more  gender 
equal, though its score remains the lowest in Poland. Women’s rep-
resentation in decision-making positions in economic and political 
sectors  has  increased,  whereas  the  situation  in  social  power  has 
regressed.

The  situation  in  the  domain  of  work  has  slightly  improved,  but 
continued  gender  segregation  has  impeded  further  progress. 
Poland’s  score  in  the  sub-domain  of  segregation  and  quality  of 
work ranks among the lowest in the EU-28.

Gender equality in the domain of knowledge has stagnated. The 
gender gap in the share of graduates among the population has 
widened, in favour of women.

The domain of time has experienced a drawback. Women are still 
doing  the  bulk  of  the  caring,  educating,  cooking,  and  cleaning. 
The  situation  has  also  become  more  gender  unequal  in  relation 
to social activities.

(1) 

 The  Gender  Equality  Index  2017  is  based  on  the  data  of  Eurostat  (Education  statistics,  EU  Labour  Force  Survey,  European  Health  Interview  Survey,  EU 
Statistics on Income and Living Conditions, Structure of Earnings Survey), of Eurofound (European Quality of Life Survey, European Working Conditions 
Survey), of EIGE’s Gender Statistics Database (Women and Men in Decision-Making) and of the Fundamental Rights Agency’s Violence Against Women 
survey. The year of reference is 2015 (2014 for data on intersecting inequalities). The age of the reference population for the indicators is either 15+, 16+ 
or 18+, depending on the source.

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1

Work

In the domain of work, greater participation of women and men in employ-
ment contributed to a slight increase in the score.

The employment rate (20-64) is 61 % for women, compared to 75 % for men. 
The total employment rate is 68 % and Poland is close to reaching its national 
Europe 2020 strategy (EU2020) target for employment (71 %).

When the number of hours worked is taken into account, the full-time equiva-
lent (FTE) employment rate of women is roughly 43 %, compared to 60 % for 
men.

Among couples with children, the FTE employment rate for women is 69 % 
compared to 89 % for men, a gender gap of 20 percentage points (p.p.). The 
gender gap for couples without children is half this amount.

The FTE employment rate increases as education levels rise.

Nearly  11  %  of  women  work  part-time,  compared  to  5  %  of  men.  On  aver-
age, women work 39 hours per week, compared to 42 hours for men. 6 % of 
working-age women versus 0.3 % of working-age men are either outside the 
labour market or work part-time due to care responsibilities.

Gender  segregation  in  the  labour  market  is  a  reality  for  both  women  and 
men.  Nearly  24  %  of  women  work  in  education,  human  health  and  social 
work  activities  (EHW),  compared  to  5  %  of  men.  Six  times  more  men  (35  %) 
than women (6 %) work in science, technology, engineering and mathematics 
(STEM) occupations.

Money

Domain of work

EU-28

PL

PL
66.8
1.6

71.5

1.5

Sub-domains

Participation

Segregation and
quality of work

79.5
4.4

56.2
0.5

The  situation  in  the  domain  of  money  has  significantly  improved.  Gender 
equality has improved especially in earnings and income. The distribution of 
wealth between women and men has also improved, and poverty rates have 
decreased.

Mean  monthly  earnings  of  women  and  men  have  increased  since  2005,  but 
women  continue  to  earn  less.  Women  earn  nearly  18  %  less  than  men  each 
month.  The  gender  gap,  which  grows  with  the  level  of  education,  is  even 
bigger among elderly people (45 %), foreign-born people (36 %), and couples 
with children (24 %).

The population of women and men at risk of poverty has decreased over the 
past  decade.  17  %  of  women  and  men  are  at  risk  of  poverty,  although  that 
percentage is higher for lone parents (27 % are at risk of poverty). The higher 
a person’s education level is, the lower their risk of poverty.

Inequalities in income distribution have decreased for both genders. The gen-
der pay gap is 8 % to the detriment of women compared to 16 % at the EU-28 
level. In 2012, women had lower pensions than men and the gender gap was 
25 %, compared to a gap of 38 % at the EU-28 level.

Domain of money

EU-28

PL

PL
73.3
11.9

79.6

5.7

Sub-domains

Financial
resources

Economic
situation

61.4
15.2

87.5
6.1

2

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Knowledge

In the domain of knowledge, the situation has stalled overall.

Domain of knowledge

The  number  of  tertiary  graduates  has  increased,  especially  for  women,  and 
the gender gap in tertiary educational attainment has increased in favour of 
women. Poland is close to its national EU2020 target to have 45 % of people 
aged 30-34 obtain tertiary education.

Only 11 % of women and men with disabilities have attained tertiary educa-
tion, compared to 28 % of women and 20 % of men without disabilities.

The rate of participation of women and men in lifelong learning has decreased.

Gender  segregation  in  study  fields  remains  a  challenge.  The  gender  gap  in 
tertiary  education  in  education,  health  and  welfare,  humanities  and  arts  has 
increased.  37  %  of  women  students,  are  concentrated  in  these  fields,  which 
are traditionally seen as ‘feminine’, compared to only 18 % of men students.

EU-28

PL

PL
56.0
0.7

63.4

2.6

Sub-domains

Attainment and
participation

Segregation

61.3
1.7

51.1
0.2

Time

In  the  domain  of  time,  the  score  has  slightly  decreased.  The  greatest  chal-
lenge  remains  the  division  of  time  for  social  activities  between  women  and 
men, which has become more unequal since 2005.

Women  continue  to  do  the  bulk  of  caring  for  their  family.  The  gender  gap 
was bigger in 2015 than in 2005. 72 % of women aged 25-49 have daily caring 
responsibilities for 1 hour or more, as opposed to 39 % of men.

90 % of women in a couple with children care for and educate their family for 
at least 1 hour, compared to 64 % of men.

65.7

1.0

Domain of time

EU-28

PL

PL
52.5
2.1

82 % of women do cooking and housework every day for at least 1 hour, com-
pared  to  only  34  %  of  men.  The  gender  gap  is  bigger  in  couples  without 
children than in couples with children.

Inequality in time-sharing at home also extends to social activities, although 
to  a  lesser  extent  than  in  many  other  Member  States.  Men  are  more  likely 
than women to participate in sporting, cultural, and leisure activities outside 
the home. On the other hand, women more often participate in voluntary or 
charitable activities than men.

5 % of children under the age of three and 43 % of children between the age 
of three and school age are enrolled in childcare. Poland has not met either of 
the two ‘Barcelona targets’, which are to have at least 33 % of children below 
the age of three in childcare and 90 % of children between the age of three 
and school age in childcare.

Sub-domains

Care activities

Social activities

64.1
1.1

43.0
4.2

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3

Power

The  domain  of  power  shows  a  marked  increase  due  to  a  considerable 
improvement in the sub-domains of economic and political power. However, 
this domain is Poland’s lowest scoring domain.

The  representation  of  women  on  the  corporate  boards  of  publicly  listed 
companies  as  well  as  in  the  central  bank  has  doubled  (to  18  %  and  22  %, 
respectively).

Gender  equality  has  increased  in  the  sub-domain  of  political  power,  due  to 
the increased presence of women in parliament (from 21 % in 2005 to 24 % 
in 2015) and the increased presence of women ministers in the government 
(from 10 % in 2005 to 25 % in 2015).

Just over one fifth of board members of research funding organisations and 
less  than  one  seventh  of  board  members  of  publicly  owned  broadcasting 
organisations are women. The gender gap in decision-making in sport is even 
higher — women comprise just 3 % of members of the highest decision-mak-
ing bodies of national Olympic sport organisations.

Health

In  the  domain  of  health,  the  score  slightly  improved  due  to  better  and  rela-
tively equal access to medical and dental services for both women and men.

87 % of all women and men are able to meet their medical needs and about 
92 % are able to meet their dental needs.

Life expectancy has increased for both women and men. Women on average 
live 8 years longer than men.

The  number  of  healthy  life  years,  however,  has  slightly  decreased  for  both 
women and men.

55 % of women and 62 % of men rate their health as ‘good’ or ‘very good’.

28 % of single women rate their health as ‘good’ or ‘very good,’ compared to 
45 % of single men, indicating a large gender gap among this group. A gap 
is  also  present  among  people  with  a  low  level  of  education,  where  30  %  of 
women and 48 % of men rate their health as ‘good’ or ‘very good’.

Men smoke and/or drink excessively compared to women (almost half of men, 
compared to around one fourth of women). Slightly more men than women 
engage in healthy behaviour (doing physical activities and/or consuming fruit 
and vegetables).

Domain of power

EU-28

PL

PL
35.1
8.8

48.5

9.6

Political

Sub-domains
Economic

46.1
14.0

38.2
18.3

Social

24.4
4.1

Domain of health

EU-28

1.5

87.4

PL

PL
82.2
1.6

Status

86.6
1.7

Sub-domains
Behaviour

Access

67.9
–

94.5
3.6

4

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Violence

Violence against women is included in the Gender 
Equality Index as a satellite domain. This means that 
the  scores  of  the  domain  of  violence  do  not  have 
an impact on the final score of the Gender Equality 
Index. From a statistical perspective, the domain of 
violence does not measure gaps between women 
and  men  as  core  domains  do.  Rather,  it  measures 
and  analyses  women’s  experiences  of  violence. 
Unlike other domains, the overall objective is not to 
reduce the gaps of violence between women and 
men, but to eradicate violence completely.

A  high  score  in  the  Gender  Equality  Index  means 
a country is close to achieving a gender-equal soci-
ety. However, in the domain of violence, the higher 
the  score,  the  more  serious  the  phenomenon 
of  violence  against  women  in  the  country  is.  On 
a  scale  of  1  to  100,  1  represents  a  situation  where 
violence  is  non-existent  and  100  represents  a  situ-
ation  where  violence  against  women  is  extremely 
common,  highly  severe  and  not  disclosed.  The 
best-performing  country  is  therefore  the  one  with 
the lowest score.

Measurement framework of the domain of violence

CONTEXTUAL
FACTORS

• Policies
• Prevention
• Protection and support
• Substantive law
• Involvement of law 
enforcement agencies
• Societal framework

ADDITIONAL
INDICATORS
• Psychological violence
• Sexual harassment
• Stalking
• Forced marriage
• Traﬃcking in human beings
• Female genital mutilation
• Forced abortion and
forced sterilisation

COMPOSITE
MEASURE

One single score

Domain of violence

EU-28

PL

PL
22.1

Poland’s score for the domain of violence is 22.1, which is lower than the EU 
average.

In Poland, 19 % of women have experienced physical and/or sexual violence 
at least once since the age of 15. This is lower than the EU-28 average.

27.5

12  %  of  women  who  have  experienced  physical  or  sexual  violence  by  any 
perpetrator in the past 12 months have not told anyone. This rate is similar to 
the EU-28 average of 13 %.

Prevalence

Sub-domains
Severity

Disclosure

12.4

40.5

13.3

At  the  societal  level,  violence  against  women  costs  Poland  an  estimated 
EUR 17 billion per year through lost economic output, service utilisation and 
personal costs (2).

The domain of violence is made up of three sub-domains: prevalence, which 
measures how often violence against women occurs; severity, which meas-
ures  the  health  consequences  of  violence;  and  disclosure,  which  measures 
the reporting of violence.

(2) 

 This  is  an  exercise  done  at  EU  level  to  estimate  the  costs  of  the  three  major  dimensions:  services,  lost  economic  output  and  pain  and  suffering  of  the 
victims. The estimates were extrapolated to the EU from a United Kingdom case study, based on population size. EIGE, Estimating the costs of gender-based 
violence in the European Union, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg, 2014, p. 142 (available at: http://eige.europa.eu/sites/default/files/
documents/MH0414745EN2.pdf).

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5

Unique features and benefits of the Gender Equality Index 2017

Results show that Poland’s Gender Equality Index score is below the EU-28 average, with considerable room for improvement, 
especially in the domain of time. In order to reach full gender equality, a more targeted and holistic approach is needed.

100

s
e
r
o
c
S

90

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

1

56.8

66.2

EL

HU RO SK HR CZ CY

PT

EE

LT

PL

LV BG MT

IT

AT DE EU-28 ES

SI

LU IE

BE UK

FR NL

FI DK

SE

Gender Equality Index 2015

increase from 2005 to 2015

decrease from 2005 to 2015

The Gender Equality Index:

  monitors progress in gender equality across the EU and over time;
 
 
 
 
 

supports decision-makers in assessing how far Member States are from reaching gender equality;
shows the different outcomes of EU and national policies for women and men;
allows for meaningful gender analysis and comparison between different policy areas;
supports the development and implementation of gender equality policies and legislation;
increases  awareness  among  decision-makers  and  the  public  of  progress  and  challenges  in  implementing  gender  equality 
policies;

  highlights data gaps and calls for harmonised and comparable data that are sex disaggregated and available for all Member 

States.

Read more about the Gender Equality Index 2017

  Main report (2017)
  Main findings (2017)
  A snail’s pace towards gender equality: factsheet (2017)
  Methodological report (2017)
  Measurement framework of violence against women (2017)
 

Intersecting inequalities (forthcoming)

Explore the Gender Equality Index and the full data for Poland at http://eige.europa.eu/gender-equality-index

European Institute for Gender Equality

Contact details

The  European  Institute  for  Gender  Equality  (EIGE)  is  the  EU  knowledge  centre  on  gender 
equality.  EIGE  supports  policymakers  and  all  relevant  institutions  in  their  efforts  to  make 
equality between women and men a reality for all Europeans by providing them with specific 
expertise and comparable and reliable data on gender equality in Europe.

© European Institute for Gender Equality, 2018
Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged.

6

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Paper: MH-02-18-186-EN-C
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