of women in Poland (59.4 percent) remains behind the EU-28 average of 63.5 percent (Eurostat 2016).

Barriers to female labor force participation in transition countries have a complex set of causes with a multiplicity of policy realms playing a part. A look into the recent history of female labor force participation in transition countries offers valuable lessons to understand the current problems: generous maternity leave benefits and state contributions to child-rearing were common instruments of socialist policy and part of a larger pro-natalist policy paradigm (Fodor et al. 2002). Although prewar Eastern European policies expected both men and women to be part of the labor force, a gendered division of caretaking duties was already present. Mothers usually raised their children up to the age of 3, with little possibilities to find formalized caregivers. When grandmothers took over, mothers were expected to take part in the paid labor force again, with the availability of some provisions that permitted a better work-life balance for women (for example, leave when children got sick), enabling their participation yet limiting the quality of their employment opportunities (Fodor 2003).

After 1990, many Eastern European countries, including Poland, reduced the generosity of state support to families, thus putting more burdens on women as caretakers. The fast restructuring of the transition economies was accompanied by a sudden increase in unemployment rates (which affected women the most), while both cash and in-kind provisions by the state to families declined (Fodor et al. 2002). Rates of return to the labor market after childbirth decreased, mainly because of the lower availability of jobs and the closure of many childcare services that used to be provided at the municipal level. Not surprisingly, this period was also marked by a fall in fertility rates.

**In spite of this drop in actual fertility, families maintained their preferences for number of children.** According to opinion polls, between 1996 and 2012, the number of desired children in Polish couples has remained unchanged (CBOS 2012). Nevertheless, the difference between the desired and actual number of children has increased and appears to be larger in Poland than in comparable countries: this points to clear barriers to having children in Poland. CBOS also finds that childbearing and professional plans are closely interlinked.

The relation between labor force participation and fertility is bidirectional and depends on many factors, especially the availability of childcare. On the one hand, one may see high fertility as a cause for lower labor supply. For instance, one-third of women ages 18–45 who have children in Poland “were either forced to give up work or failed to start it due to difficulties in providing care for their children” (CBOS 2013). Women who choose to postpone childbearing exhibit stronger labor market attachment and are more likely to have fewer children (Bratti 2015). On the other hand, the literature points that securing stable employment for women is a driver for couples to decide on having a second child (in light of greater financial security) (Bussolo, Koettl, and Sinnott 2015; Levin et al. 2016). One of the key factors that determines whether women can afford to work relates to those public policies that affect the cost and availability of childcare: these can really weaken or even reverse the relation between childbearing and employment outcomes. Empirical studies from a variety of countries have shown that there are positive effects of affordable childcare on the labor supply of mothers, especially lone mothers (Bauernschuster, Hener, and Rainer 2013; Cascio 2009; Lefebvre and Merrigan 2008) and that generally, when childcare costs are lower, labor force participation of mothers is higher (Anderson and Levine 1999; Blau and Currie 2006).

5