Poland in 2022 edition
The data for 2022 Index is mostly from 2020.
The Gender Equality Index gives the EU and the Member States a score from 1 to 100. A score of 100 would mean that a country had reached full equality between women and men.
Available in:
Progress in gender equality
With 57.7 out of 100 points, Poland ranks 21st in the EU on the Gender Equality Index. Its score is 10.9 points below the EU’s score.
Since 2010, Poland’s score has increased only by 2.2 points. Due to the slow pace of progress, its ranking has dropped seven places. Since 2019, Poland’s score has increased by 1.1 points, improving its ranking by two places. Developments in the domains of power and money primarily drove this change.
Best performance
With a score of 78.1 points, Poland ranks 17th in the EU in the domain of money. In this domain, the country performs best in the sub-domain of economic situation in which Poland ranks 9th among all Member States.
Most room for improvement
Gender inequalities are the most pronounced in the domain of power (34.4 points), in which Poland ranks 20th (three places lower than in 2010). Although Poland has improved its score in the sub-domain of social decision-making (+ 4.0 points since 2019), the country scores only 23.2 points, ranking 27th.
Biggest improvement
Since 2019, Poland’s score has increased in the domain of money by 1.4 points. This counts as the biggest progress in this domain in the EU since 2019. Progress in the sub-domain of economic situation (+ 2.2 points since 2019) has powered this increase. With a score of 92.6 points, Poland’s ranking has improved from the 13th to the 9th place in this sub-domain.
A step backwards
Since 2019, Poland’s score has slightly decreased in the domain of knowledge (– 0.1 points), dropping from the 15th to the 17th place. This setback is due to regress in the sub-domain of attainment and participation (– 0.9 points).
Since 2010, Poland’s score has decreased in the domain of time (– 1.7 points). Consequently, its ranking has dropped from the 17th to the 19th place. Higher levels of gender inequality in social activities (– 3.5 points) and slow progress towards gender equality in care activities have driven this change (+1.1 points).
Focus 2022: COVID-19 in Poland
-
Care work was very unevenly distributed between women and men
In 2021, 42 % of women and 27 % of men reported taking care of and supervising children completely or mostly by themselves, resulting in a gender gap of 15 percentage points (pp). During the pandemic, more women than men (42 % and 28 %, respectively) spent more than four hours a day caring for children aged 0–11.
-
Relatives provided the most support to those with care responsibilities
Most women and men relied on grandparents and other relatives for external support in caring for children (48 % of women and 52 % of men). The share of women and men relying on relatives, neighbours and friends instead of institutional care – such as residential care facilities and day care centres – for support with long-term care work was even higher (66 % and 75 %, respectively).
-
Household work fell primarily on women
In 2021, 67 % of women and 23 % of men reported carrying out household chores completely or mostly by themselves, resulting in a gender gap of 44 pp. Therefore, women spent more time on household work than men, with 24 % of women and only 21 % of men spending more than four hours a day on household chores.