Women who are planning to become pregnant or are already expecting continue to face hidden discrimination in the labour market. Many experience barriers to promotion, difficulty securing employment, lower pay, or a lack of equal opportunities after returning from maternity leave. One in three Poles knows a woman who has faced discrimination due to motherhood, and one in five is aware of dismissals linked to pregnancy.
The situation of women has not improved following the implementation of the EU Work–Life Balance Directive in Poland, which introduced care leave and extended parental leave. On the other side of the issue are employers—especially small businesses—who are unable to obtain compensation for maintaining a position for a pregnant employee or a parent caring for a child. Meanwhile, women of reproductive age are increasingly reluctant to have children. Poland’s fertility rate is currently half of the minimum required to ensure generational replacement.
“We often talk about violence against women: sexual violence, economic violence, physical abuse. But we rarely talk about hidden violence, which affects especially those women who are considering pregnancy or are already pregnant. Many young women have limited opportunities for promotion, don’t get hired, or lose equal chances and opportunities after returning from parental or maternity leave,” says Elżbieta Łukacijewska, Member of the European Parliament from Civic Platform, in an interview with Newseria.
According to the report “Parenthood at Work”, commissioned by LiveCareer.pl, 30% of respondents know a woman who has faced workplace discrimination because she is a mother of young children. The highest share of affirmative responses came from young adults aged 18–25 (44%). Moreover, over 21% of Poles know a woman who was dismissed from her job because she became pregnant. A worrying trend emerges: the younger the respondent, the more often they notice such behaviour—only 9% of respondents over 59 indicated this, compared with 37% among those aged 18–25. Data published by the European Union show that 5.23 million women across EU member states feel discriminated against in the workplace.
“Women who give birth or plan to become mothers are often treated as a burden by companies. It is unacceptable that these women receive lower pay, are more frequently dismissed, or not hired at all. Later in life, this translates into lower pensions. The pension gap between men and women is nearly 30%. Of course, employers see it as a problem when a trained employee goes on parental leave, but from my experience women often work more efficiently than men—they can accomplish more in a shorter period of time,” adds Elżbieta Łukacijewska.
In May 2023, the EU adopted the Pay Transparency Directive, aimed at strengthening the principle of equal pay for men and women for the same or equivalent work. The deadline for implementing the directive into Polish law is 7 June 2026.
Earlier, in 2019, the European Parliament approved the Work–Life Balance Directive, which strengthens the rights of parents and caregivers and facilitates the reconciliation of work and family life. Its implementation in Poland in 2023 introduced a number of changes, including:
- five days of care leave per year to support a close family member,
- a ban on assigning overtime without consent to parents of children under eight,
- a ban on employing such parents during night shifts, in split-shift systems, or delegating them outside their regular workplace,
- an extension of parental leave to 41 weeks for one child and 43 weeks for two or more children,
- extended leave for parents of children with disabilities (65–67 weeks),
- nine weeks of non-transferable parental leave for each parent.
However, these expanded parental rights were not accompanied by incentives or compensation for employers who hire and retain workers with young children. As a result, the perspective of many businesses—especially small firms—remains unchanged: they must maintain positions for employees who may be absent for many months.
“Punishment is not a solution. We need platforms that highlight these situations and perhaps compensation for businesses that have invested heavily in training an employee who then goes on maternity leave. But when we consider the long-term benefits—more children being born, more future workers contributing to the pension system—this is not a loss but an advantage,” argues the MEP.
Meanwhile, according to Poland’s Central Statistical Office, the fertility rate has been steadily decreasing for years. In 2017 it was 1.45; in 2023 it fell to 1.16; and in 2024 to 1.11. A recent study by Birth Gauge predicts another drop this year—to 1.01, far below the 2.1 threshold required to sustain population levels. Furthermore, 68% of respondents aged 18–25 in the LiveCareer.pl survey said they were willing to postpone parenthood because of their career ambitions.
“There should be a special status for pregnant women in companies: after returning from maternity leave, they must have the same career path, opportunities, and chances for promotion and pay raises as male colleagues. This would encourage women. When a woman returns from maternity leave and is treated as a second-class employee, it discourages her. I often hear: ‘I’d rather stay at home than be treated this way.’” says Elżbieta Łukacijewska.
According to the MEP, the situation is especially difficult for women running micro-businesses as sole proprietors. In some cases, the Social Insurance Institution (ZUS) suspends a woman’s right to maternity benefits due to a short period of business activity before pregnancy. ZUS often interprets this as establishing a business solely to receive benefits—particularly when the declared contribution base (which determines the benefit amount) is very high.
“I have seen many cases where ZUS caused enormous stress for women—women who run businesses, create jobs, and should not be treated unfairly or given fewer opportunities when they become pregnant, go on maternity leave, parental leave, or sick leave. There is still a lot of work to be done here, although change is happening slowly,” admits the MEP.
