Polish startup helps employers overcome paternal stereotypes

Women are under-represented in the global labor market and when they work, tend to earn less than men, according to this year's Nobel laureate in economics, Claudia Goldin.

Goldin's research shows that most of the income gap occurring between men and women in the same occupation arises with the birth of a first child. 

The Polish foundation Share the Care came into existence in 2019 to change this. 

"Companies increasingly realize that parental equality is inextricably linked to equality in the labor market," Karolina Andrian, president of the Share the Care foundation, told DW.

Share the Care's activities are about encouraging employers to build a culture conducive to partnership in parenting — from educating employees, preparing instructions on how men can use parental leave, to working with managers and cofinancing the maternity benefit to increase its amount to 100% of remuneration.

This refects a new attitude to feminism among many women in Poland.

The foundation aims in particular to make the EU's work-life balance directive — transposed earlier this year into the Polish Labor Code — actually a beast with teeth. 

It needs to be, given the predominance of gender-traditional thinking in a country, where — after eight years of rightwing government — women's rights have gone backwards. 

Karolina Andrian says Goldin's Nobel Prize reinforces the foundation members' belief in the validity of the share-the-care' idea.

"Equality in the labor market and equality in parenting are two sides of the same coin, and equal treatment is a basic human right," she said. "The aspirations of Poles are clear. Now we have regulations in place to support that transition."

A harsh reality

While social preferences are shifting toward a more partnership-based family model, a study by the Polish Economic Institute surveying parents of children under the age of nine shows that even in couples where both parents work full time, in 68% of cases the woman is mainly responsible for child care. The situation is similar when it comes to the division of household duties — in 55% of families, it is women who carry out most of the tasks.

Another recent study has shown that in the first quarter of this year 674,000 Polish women — almost every third of professionally inactive women of working age — didn't enter or return to the labor market due to family or care responsibilities.

According to the Polish Economic Institute research, most dads believe their employers would be hostile to them taking parental leave. A rather unfriendly reaction from their supervisor is expected by 42%, and a decidedly hostile one by 18%. Among mothers, these figures are 24% and 6%, respectively. 

"Since it is usually their earnings that are crucial to the family's finances, few choose to take such a ‘risk.' Men earn more, so women take leave for the birth of a child. And why do women earn less? Because childbirth responsibilities significantly reduce the growth rate of their salaries. We are making a vicious circle," Andrian told DW.

Sylwia Ziemacka, a cofounder of Share the Care, thinks in Poland motherhood is already "embedded" in how employers view mothers. "Most of them simply expect to suspend their work at some point in favor of child care. Fathers who would like to become more involved in child care are less likely to be understood by employers," she told DW. 

EU directive

The act transposing the EU work-life balance directive in Poland came into force on April 26. Among several changes, a crucial one is the extension of parental leave, with an additional nine weeks reserved for the second parent. In Polish reality, this means nine weeks of parental leave for fathers. 

A woman taking maternity and parental leave can receive maternity allowance at 100% for 20 weeks and at 70% for 32 weeks, or an average maternity allowance of 81.5% for 52 weeks (12 months). 

When a father decides to take nine weeks of parental leave, the financing of his salary is immediately taken over by the state-run Social Insurance Institution (ZUS). The employer thus retains the salary of this employee in their budget.

Employers will rarely choose to hire a temporary employee to cover the position for nine weeks. This is basically unfeasible given the recruitment or onboarding time.

The directive on gender balance also forces employers to have relevant quotas on management and supervisory boards. In Poland, 43% of managerial positions are held by women, one of the highest figures in the EU. However, at board level, the percentage drops to 17%. 

The effects of the new regulations are already visible in the ZUS data. While in the entire year 2022, 3,700 men took parental leave, this year until September there were 20,900. Still a drop in the ocean but a sign of things changing.

"This proves that regulations shape certain social behavior, in this case in line with the aspirations of many Poles. It is worth noting that everyone will benefit from this change," said Ziemacka. 

Leading by example 

The Dad-Friendly Company ranking — in Polish "Firma Przyjazna Tacie na Etacie” — organized by Forbes Women, the UN Global Compact Network Poland and Share the Care, highlights good examples and practices of organizations. The companies on the podium this year were British bank NatWest, tobacco company Phillip Morris and furniture department store Ikea. 

Philip Morris in Poland has introduced a subsidy for fathers taking parental leave topping up their salaries up to 100% pay during nine weeks of leave.

"We introduced this solution in Poland with reference to the standard adopted by the company globally. It is a unique solution on the Polish market," Ewa Sobiech, from Philip Morris International, told reporters on the launch of the campaign.

Edited by: Uwe Hessler