Etnografia Polska (Dec 2014)
UNDERSTANDING LOW FERTILITY IN POLAND: DEMOGRAPHIC CONSEQUENCES OF GENDERED DISCRIMINATION IN EMPLOYMENT AND POSTSOCIALIST NEOLIBERAL RESTRUCTURING
Abstract
After Poland’s state socialist regime collapsed in 1989, the nation’s total fertility rate plummeted from 2.1 to 1.3 by 2013, and is currently one of the lowest childbearing rates in the European Union. Simultaneously, the state reduced motherhood-friendly social services, including subsidized childcare, maternity leave, and healthcare, and restricted access to family planning. This paper draws on research conducted between May and August 2007 in Gdańsk, Sopot, and Gdynia, which investigates Polish women’s reproductive decision-making. The findings reveal that discriminatory practices by employers against pregnant women and women with small children are decisive in women’s decisions to postpone or limit childbearing. The case of Poland demonstrates the need to redress fundamental gendered discrimination in employment before work-family reconciliation policies can be effective. It also suggests that rather than focusing on broad economic theories as explanatory models, a closer analysis of gendered politics is needed to understand fertility decline in Poland.
