Published: 21/07/2025

In most Polish families with young children (63%), mothers perform more household duties than fathers. Only 27% of women say that responsibilities are shared equally in their households, while in just one in ten homes, men do the majority of housework. Over three times as many women as men are dissatisfied with the current division of responsibilities (36% vs. 11%). Fathers are more likely than mothers to believe that an unequal division in their favor is justified. While 69% of women want an equal split of duties, only 56% of men share this view. At the same time, satisfaction with the division of household and caregiving responsibilities influences decisions about expanding the family—parents who are very satisfied are 16 percentage points more likely to consider having another child. These are the main findings of the Polish Economic Institute’s report “Division of Household Responsibilities and Its Consequences for Fertility.”

Women do more unpaid work than men

In Poland, as in many other countries, women bear a disproportionate share of household and caregiving responsibilities, despite increasing female workforce participation and shifting social expectations around gender roles. Poles report some of the highest levels of unpaid work in Europe: women spend an average of 37 hours per week on household and caregiving tasks, while men spend 22 hours. In comparison, in Denmark and the Netherlands, the figures are just 19 hours for women and 13 for men.

According to 2023 data from Statistics Poland (GUS), Polish women spend 4.2 hours per day on unpaid domestic work, compared to 2.4 hours for men—resulting in a 15-hour weekly gap. Although male involvement has increased in recent decades, disparities remain stark. Among parents of young children, 63% of mothers say they do most of the housework and caregiving, compared to only 10% of fathers. Just 9% of women report that their partners take on the majority of such responsibilities, and only 27% of mothers and 36% of fathers believe the division is equal.

“Research results indicate that although recent decades have seen an increase in men’s involvement in household duties, inequalities remain pronounced. While gender inequalities persist also among childless individuals, mothers are much more burdened with domestic and caregiving responsibilities than fathers or childless women. As many as 63 percent of women and only 10 percent of men report doing the majority of household and caregiving work. Only 9 percent of women state that their partners take on most of these duties. The belief that family responsibilities are shared equally is held by just 27 percent of mothers and 36 percent of fathers of young children,” notes Iga Rozbicka, senior analyst in the behavioral economics team at the Polish Economic Institute.

Although an equal division of duties is achieved in only about one-third of the surveyed households, 64 percent of women and as many as 89 percent of men declare satisfaction with the current arrangement. This means that, despite the growing popularity of egalitarian attitudes, equality in the division of duties is not a determinant of satisfaction.

Impact of Household Duties Burden on Decisions to Have More Children

Satisfaction with the division of household and caregiving duties is positively associated with the desire to have another child.

“One of the key factors increasing the willingness to have another child is satisfaction with the division of responsibilities between partners. People who are highly satisfied with the division of duties are about 16 percentage points more likely to want to further expand their family than those dissatisfied with the division. It is worth noting that the desire to have another child depends strongly on satisfaction with the division of responsibilities, rather than on their actual distribution. Even in cases of equal division, if respondents are dissatisfied, they do not declare a greater willingness to have another child,” notes Dr. Agnieszka Wincewicz-Price, head of the behavioural economics team.

The desire to have another child also depends on the respondent’s gender, the number of children they already have, the age of the youngest child, and whether they live in the same household with their parents or parents-in-law. An analysis conducted by the Polish Economic Institute (PIE) shows that men more often express the desire to have another child than women. Parents of one child are the most willing to expand their family. The age of the youngest child is also significant—the older the youngest child in the family, the less likely the decision to have another child. Additionally, living together with parents or parents-in-law encourages the decision to have another child.

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The Polish Economic Institute is a public economic think tank with a history dating back to 1928. Its main research areas include macroeconomics, energy and climate, the global economy, economic foresight, digital economy, sustainable development, and behavioral economics. The Institute prepares reports, analyses, and policy recommendations on key areas of the Polish economy and society, taking into account the international context.

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