A C T A U N I Y E R S I T A T I S L O D Z I E N S I S FOLIA OECONOMICA 65, 1986
Jadwiga Florczak-Bywalec*
SOCIO-ECONOMIC ASPECTS OF WOMEN'S EMPLOYMENT IN INDUSTRIAL AGGLOKERATION
(FINDINCrS OF ODESTIONNAIRE SURVEYS)
1. Determinanta of Women’ 8 Professional Aotiyity
Dyneunics of women's employment in the eocialized economy in Poland waa oyer two times faster than dynamice of men’a employ ment. While in 1950, evary fifth woman in working age was pro- fessionally active, today almost a half of all women in this age group are employed ln the socialized economy. Problems connected with their professional activity have been an object of studies and discussions among various specialists for many years.
No matter how different are the opinions on this matter and despite attempts at periodical dieactlyation of certain groupa of women, their professional actiyity ia a permanent phenomenon and ia most likely to he raaintained at a high leyel. This ia primarily due to three reasons,
First, it reeults from the fact that professional work is one of the basie functions performed by women in the society. It is important both from the point of view of the entire economy and of women themselvea.They are increasingly better educated, They want to work and, for their most part, irrespective of their family situation, The economic independence, obtained owlng to their profesaional work, enaures a higher place for them in the hierarchy of aocial prestige.
Sacrodly, in the present conditions, maintemuice of the- eon- eumption level per one inhabitant or itB eventual ińcreaae are largely dependent on a high leyel of women"s professional ac- tivity. :
Dr, Lecturer, Department of Planning and Economic Policy, Uniyeraity of Lodz.
Thirdly, in the light of tho situation preyaiiing in tho la bour market, any decline in the leyel of women’s profeaaional actiyity would not be fayourable for the national eoonomy.
It should be remembered, howeyer, that mass partioipatlon of women in the economic and social life apart from its positiye features oarries also negatiye effects.They are conneoted,first of all, with the neoessity of performing simultaneously family and, especially, matemal funotions by women. This results in a disonanoe between their basie social and .:eoonomlc funotions, Its scalę depends upon liying conditions ofwcfflen, and prlmarily on effectiyeness of these Instruments whloty should contribute to alleyiating oollisions reeulting from the.ęarrying out of their
. . . .
dual duties by women.
The aboye mentioned problems assume a speoial significance in big industrial agglomerations, which conoentrate, as a rule, majorlty of working women. The town of Loda and reoently also the present urban administratiye proyinoe of Xods belong to suoh industrial agglomerations. Acoording to data for the end of 1983, women acoounted here for oyer a half (50.1 per oent) of the en- tire work force employed in the socialized economy. This was tie highest share in Poland. Por ezample, the oorresponding in- dez for the metropolitan administratiye proyinoe'' of Warsaw was 48.6 per cent, for the urban proyinoe of Craoow > 4 5 . 1 per cent, and for Poland, as a whole - 43.6 per oent. It should be added here that all these indloes were a little higher in 1983 thsn In 1977* which refleots a oontinued, although much slower than before, feminization of employment in Poland.
The feminization of employment in industry la most prcnounoed. ilso in this case,the urban administratiye proyinoe ranka first as women represented 47.9 per oent of the industrial work foroe here in 1983 as oompared with 39.2 per oent in the metropolitan proyinoe of Warsaw, and 36.9 per oent in the urban proyinoe of Cracow, with the national ayerage amounting to 39.2 per cent1. Sooio-economic aspeots of women*s professional work are d o d e l y oonneoted with the structure of employment. Such a structure of
1Estimated on the basie ofi Statistical Tearbook 1984* Table 8(91), p.60.
employment in the socialized sector of the urban admlnietratiye proyinoe of Loda according to sex and sectors of the national economy is presented ln the table below.
T a b l e 1
Snployment in the sooialized economy of the urban adminiatratiye proyinoe of Loda in 1983
(data for 31at Deoember)
Sectora of national
economy Total
including women Struoture number X employment Total in this: 441,223 t •, 221,322 50.1 100.0 Industry 210,875 1 0 1 , 1 1 0 47.9 45.7 Construction 34,525 7,106 20.6 3.2 Agriculture 5,039 1,821 36.1 0 .8 Porestry 920 275 29.9 0 . 1
Transport and Communica
tions 23,673 6,989 29.5 3.2
Trade 41,389 28,567 69.0 12.9
Munlcipal economy 13,986 .3 .2 1 0 22.9 1.5 Houslng economy and non-
material munlcipal
seryioes 12,914 4,803 32.7 2 .2
Science and deyelopment
of teohniąue 8,254 3,937 47.2 1 .8
Education 34,248 24,341 71,0 1 1 . 0
Culture and art 5,238 2,869 54.7 1.3
Health cara and sooio-
welfare assistanoe 28,822 23,568 81.7 10.7 Sport, tourism and
reoreation 3,376 1,638 48.5 0.7
State administration and
Juriadiction 3,345 3,162 60.6 1.4
Pinance and Insurance 5,583 3,046 8 5 .0 1.5 Othera
a. . . . . . . .
9,165 T ~
---4,880 53.2 2 .2 odioally empJLoyed} and in pari-tlioe Jobs ln their malm work place*
S o u r o es Statistical Yearbook of Lodz Administratiye Proyince, Proyincial Statiatical Office in Lodz, 1984, Table 2
In many sectors of the national eoonomy, women constitute a considerable part of all employees, and ln some - a yast majari- ty. A characteristic feature of the administratiye proyince of lodz is a very high share of women among those employed in in dustry. lt could be said that structure of the eeonomy and, es- peoially, the struoture of industry aocording to branches are a j.actor accounting here for a high leyel óf professional actiyi- ty among women2 . The most significant role is played by pre- dominance of light Industries and, first of all, textil« Indus tries relying heavily on employment of women. The eeonomy^ Structure is closely connected in our region with another factOr behind women*s professional aotivation, namely, the family»0 materiał situation. The sectors of the national eeonomy, indu3~ tries and occupations with predominanes of women are,as a rui a, lesc renumeratiye, and part i o ipat i on of women in the work foroe ia oonsidered to be one of the factors determining wage propor- tions*.
As it can be seen from Table 2, the sequence of the nation al eeonomy's sectors according to the level of mean wages is completeły different from their seguenoe according to eraployraent of women. The sectors, whioh hołd l*ading places with regard to tho level of raean wages are also those in whioh the share of women is the lowest. This rełationship between feminization of employment and wagea is also oonflrmed by the data concerning industry. Mean wage in the feminized industry of lodz adminis tratiye proyince amounted to 14 ,3 7 8 zloty in 19 8 3, while the national raean wage in industry reached 16,552 zloty and was, thus* much higher.
See: H. Mortiner-Szymczak. Bnployment (in:) Crban Adminis- trak.ive Proyince of lodz, Monograph.Outline of History, Present ^tuation, Proopecte for Deyelopment (in Połish), lodz 1982,
3 .
Jacukowicz, Wagea and Educational Background (in Poliah), Zycie Gospodarcze, Np.34, 1971.
l a b i e
Seotorsof the national eoonomy aocordlng to mean wages (from the hlgheet to the lowest)
and aocordlng to employment of women in 1983
Seotora of the eoonomy
Poland Administratiye
proyinoe of Lodz Seąuenoe Seąuenoe Seąuenoe Seąuence acoording aooording acoording according
to mean to share to mean to share wages of women wages of women in employ- in employ
ment ment
Industry 1 10 2 8
Construction 2 13 3 15
Transport and Com
munications 3 11 5 13
Porestry 4 15 1 12
Hunicipal eoonomy 5 14 4 14
Agrioulture 6 12 7 11
Soience and deyelop-
ment of techniąue 7 8., ii 8 9
State administration
and juriediction 8 5 6 5
Sport, tourism and
reoreation 9 7 10 7
Trade 10 4 9 4
Houaing economy and non-material municl-
pal seryicea 11 9
i, '.f ;■
12 10
Finance and Insurance 12 1 13 1
Education 13 3 14 3
Culture and art 14 6 11 6
Health care and socio-welfare
assistance 15 2 15 2
■,n0AS S uJ.r ? . Estimated on the baais of Statistioal Yearbook 19! & Central Statistioal Office, Table 7(90), p.59 and 4(206), P* 155 (in Polish), and Statistioal Yearbook of Lodc Administra tiye Proyinoe, Proyinoial Statistioal Office in loda,1984,Table 2(41), pp.146-147, and Table 2(76), p.188 (in Polish).
A growing level of women*s ąualificationa ia also an esaen- tial factor promoting their professional activation. On the other hand, a oharacteristio feature of women employed in Loda eoonomy waa a relatiyely Iow level of their qualificationa. The share of women with the acaderaic, aeoondary-achool yooatlonal, and basio vooational background of education waa the loweet here in comparieon with other towns. A high dynamloaof growth in the number of qualified women employees haa created fayourable changea decreasing substantlally differencee between Lodz and other major oentrea concentrating profesaionally aotiye women. The ehare of educated women among tha entire work force in the socialized economy ia oonatantly growing. The number of women with academic diplomaa is growing particularly faat. Between 1975 and 1983, their ehare among all women employed in the so cialized eoonomy in Lodz proyince went up from 6.3 to 10.5 per cent and attalned a elightly higher leyel th&n the correspond- ing inder for the whole Poland - 9.9 per cent4 .
It could be sald here that a high leyel of women*a Profes sional actiyity in lodz administratiye proyince is a permanent phenomenon. This is due to the fact that they haye been under- taking work despite lack of "formal" ąualifications more often here than in other industrial centrea. The probabllity that those of them who have obtained such ąualificationa or will ob~ tain them in the futurę la all the bigger.
2. Analysis of Queatlonnaire Suryeya-* 2.1. Deacrlption of the Sample
The auryeys enompaaaed 951 women employed Jn 94 enterprises belonging to tha central maororeglon. The biggaat ahare of them (43.2 per cent) had aecondary-school background, followed by
Sstiicated on tho baaio of Statistical ?ćearbook of Lodz Ad- ..miniatrative .Proyince ..., op.ait., Tabls 7(46), p. 152, and
utatifiticai yeurbocK 198+ op.cit., Tabls 10(93), -p*ó1. The te ta surycys were oarried out in 1983 within the re- aearch project No. MR.ilI.,4 entitled "Man and Hia Work. Work Humanization".
Soclo-Eoonomic Aspecta of Women* 0 Bnployment
women with academic diplomas (33.4 per cent), with the smallest share of those with basie rocational education (23.4 per cent). Married women represented a predominant majority (62.7 per cent), and unmarried women - 28.7 per cent,
loung women,under thirty years of age, acoounted for almost a half of the entire sample (48.2 per cent). Only 6 per cent of the respondents were inthe oldest age group (46 years and morę). The women with basie yocational education were the younge3t (60 per cent ln the age group till 30 years), a little older were those with secondary school background (almost 48 per cent in the age group till 30 years), and the oldest were with academic background (41.5 per cent respectively).
Almost 60 per cent of the respondents had children, with 60 per cent of them having one child and almost 40 per cent — two ohlldren. Only a few women had more than two children.
As regards the learned professions, the respondents with academic background were most often eoonomists (42.8 per oent) and engineers (39 per cent). Among the women with secondary- school background, almost 50 per cent were in the professional categoty "techniclan in technical professions", and 27 per cent - ■techniclan-economiat". Almoat 90 per cent of the women in the third group were graduates of basie yocational sehools in technical professions.
37 per cent of the respondents with academic diplomas and 12 per oent with eecondary-school diplomas held managerial posts. Only 7 per cent of all the respondents liyed ln rural areas. The others lived in towns, with over 50 per cent of them livlng in Lodz.
2.2. Motives of Ondertaking Professional Work
From tfca viewpoint of causes behind decisions to undertake werk. Icbour resourees could be divided into two groups. The źiret group ineludes lonely persona and maln family supportera, who b.£vc to undertake work at a certain moment irrespective of their sez. The ecaaomlc compulsion constitutes a universal cause here. The situation of other family members able to work la dif- ferent, and especially as regards married women with maternal
duties. In their case, tho motiyes for undertaking profeaaional work are more differentiated. These motiyea were an object of many earlier atudies^, Economic motiyes were predominant among them, whiie non-material motiyea were giyen the more freąuently the higher She respondenta1 level of education.
In our eury^o, the respondenta were aaked two ąueationa concerning direotly their motives of undertaking work. Oae of the ąueations waa to proyide Information about the respondenta* opinlona about cauaea of women*a profeBsional aotiyation,
gener-"'f/i? "
ally, and the other ąuestion concerned oauBea of undertaking work by the respondenta themaelyea.
r - ■
In their opinion, the main motive in undertaking work by women is the nece3Sity of aupplementing the famliy*e budget. It was giyen by 85 per cent of all the respondenta who anawered thia gueation. Moreover, lt was a dominant motive in all the eramined groupa regardleas of eduoational leyel, poaition held, and marital statua. Another major motive waa a deaire to obtain
"materiał independenoe" (53.3 per oent of the respondenta anawer- ing the ąueation). Non-material motiyea were soldom ąuoted, and they were giyen,first of all, by women with academlo background.
ku regards the oauses of undertaking work by the respondenta, almost 70 per oent of them appeared to haye undertaken work for
economic reasona. Every fourth respondent stated that it had been a neceasity, every fifth that the fanily*a budget had to be aupplemented. The lower the eduoational level the nore often appeared the eoonomic motiyea, but they prevailedin all three groupa of the reapondenta. The cauaea, called by ua "economio compulaion", were ąuoted by almoet 40 per cent of the respond enta with basio yooational education, 25 per cent with seoonda- ry-school education and 14 per oent with acadetaio background, " tr
°See: K.Jakubowicz, Economic and Sociological Peaturea of Professional Activation, Pindinga of an Etnpirical Study (in Pol- iah), Studia i Materiały, Instytut Pracy i Spraw Socjalnych , Warsaw, 1978, yol.3 (79); H.Mortimer-Szymozak, J. PIorcaak-Bywa lec, E.Sadowakaf So cio-Eeonorj i o Problems of Professional Activ&- tion of Women in Lodz (in Polish), Materiały i Studia, yol.7111, Hada Naukowa przy Prezydencie m.Łodzi, Lodz, 1977. An ertensiyo reyiew of findinga of atudiea on this aubject can be found in A. Eurzynoweki*a book; Professional Aotiyation of Marri-id Wo men in tho People*a Poland, Geneais - Deyelopment Pactors - Prospeota (in Poliah), Warsaw, 1979, pp.203-220.
Non-material motiyes were eeldom encountered. Their number was growing ałong with leyel of education. They were a cause of undertaklng work by 13 per cent of all the respondents,while in the group with academic background, 27 per cent of the respond ents ąuoted such motives.
The findlngs of our suryeys conceming motiyes of undertak- ing professional work by women generally confirm the results produced by other atudies on this subject^. There could bc ob- eerved, however, a stronger role of economio faotore. The "eco nomic compułsion" was morę often mentloned, and not only the
supplementing of the family's budget.This must be a conseąuence of the socio-economic situation in Poland at the time thes* eurveye were conducted.
In our opinion, howeyer, the impact of materiał faotors is not so strong as it could be judged on the basis of responsas to the direct ąuestion about caueos of undertaklng professional work. If we compare these responses with women*s readiness to interiupt their work when their families' materiał situation lmproves (the materiał factor ceasea to operate or its influence is much weaker), lt will appear that a considerable part of the respondents, especiałly those with academic background, would not give up their work, The economic motiyes were giyen by all the respondents, while work was interrupted by 10 per cent of them with academic education, 25 per cent - with secondary- school education, and 29 per pent with basie vocational educa- tion.
The aboye remarks indicate that women undertake work for non-material reasons more often than they admit it. This may be due to the faot that they are not always aware of lt when undertaklng work, and this awareness comes when a deoislon to eyentually interrupt work must be taken.
Sees footnote 6, and also: Socio-Profeasional Situation of Women in 1983, Central Statistlcal Office,Statistics for Poland (in Polish), Materiały Statystyczne 21, Warsaw, 1984, pp. 64-66.
2.3. Women*s Professional Work and Their Household Duties The economic aepect of women*a professional work is connect- ed with neceosity of reconciling this work with their maternity and household dutiea. We were interested to hear the respondenta’ opinions ahout difficulties encountered hy them in reconciling
O • these two hasio funotions .
Almoat a half of them claimed that their professional work had no influence on fulfilment of their family and household dutics. One third of the respondents stated that it affected negatiyely fulfilment of theae duties^. The anewers were dif-ferentiated acoording to the respondents* educational background, their marital status, whether they had ohildren or not and how many. The higher the level of education the more often they would perceiye negatiye conseąuencea of their professional work. Such responses were proyided hy 37 per cent of the women with academic background, 3t per cent with secondary-school and 28 par cent with basie yocatlonal education. Women with high-leyel qualifications more often hołd responsihle positiona, and they would like to perforuj their professional and household duties well, whieh proves to he yery diffioult in practioe. Hence,oon-flicts are more acute here, and successes in professional work
10
are achieyed at the cost of thair homes .
The negatłre impact of professional work on fulfilment of household duties was mentioned hy 41.2 per cent of the married and only by 12.4 per cent of the unmarried respondenta. Such a view was shared by 45.6 per cent of mothers (the more children the more numerous such answers) and 25*5 per cent of ohildless women.
The respondents, who perceiyed these difficulties, would as- sociate them in moBt cases with lack of time for their family.
---See: H. Mortimer-Szymczak, J. Plorczak-Bywalec, E. Sadow ska, Socio-Economio Problems ...» op.oit., pp. 16-17.
^The others failed to giye any answer,
'"'See: Women’a Work and Professional Promotion (Aspiretions, Attitudes, Opinions), R*;sponaes to the Queationnaire of the In-stitute of Work and Socio-Walfare Affaire (in Polish), ed. by 1 nuta Graniewaka, Vol.2T, Studia i Materiały,Wareaw,1979»3(100).
Thia problem was mentioned by almoat 70 per cent of the women with academic background, 60 per cent with secondary-school and 50 per cent with vocational education. The second difficulty ąuoted by many respondents were difficulties with shopping, which were ąuoted by 13 to 15 per cent of the respondents ao- cording to the group, and thus much less freąuently, lt could be supposed that other famlly members were helping them in shop ping, whlle nobody could replace women ln their contaota with
children. Conaeąuently, they felt most acutely laok of time for their children. Other difficulties were lleted in very few
11
casea .
In spite of difficulties *ensuing from their dual duties, women undertake professional work. Their professional activity level in Poland is very high. Besides many objective factors affecting this level, it should be added that women work outside their homes and, aimultaneouały, bring up their children and perforta household chores, because - as it la confirmed by the surreya - these are the most important valueo ln their llyes. Asked about especially important values in their life, the re spondenta would chooae most often, from among nine poaaibili- tlea, “children and family" (ca. 80 per oent) and "interesting Job" (ca. 50 per cent).
Accordingly, it la neceasary to keep searching for further solutions maklng lt easier for women to reconcile their dual duties ao that their decision about a temporary or permanent interruption of work or its continuation was not compulsory but a reault of their purpoaeful choice. One of such solutions could be differentiation of employment forma, which will be discussed below.
2.4« Forma of Bnployment aa an Instrument of the Polioy of Women*e Bnployment
Women employed ln the socialized eeonomy usually work ln fUH- tlme Joba beginning and endlng their work at atriotly fiied tlmea. This la not always the beat form of employment for them.
^Seej Socio-ProfesBional Situation of Women in 1983» «•», op.elt., pp. 80-82.
Sklllful use of employment forma should become a mało Instru ment in the employment policy, and eapeolally in the case of women's employment. Such forras of employment as flex time,part- tlme jobs or putting-out system are still not very popular in Poland, although for many years now they haye been widely pub- lioized as these forms whioh may alleviate negatiye oonseąuences of charging women with too much work.
The aim of the studies was to oollect opiniona of women on the applied forms of employment. It appeared that to a ąuestion what form of work the respondents would choose if such a possi- bility arose, most of them pointed at full-time work with flex- ible working hours. They tended to display llttle interest in part-time jobs, and even less - in putting-out system. In our previous economio praotioe, these forms - as it was already mentioned - have not enjoyed big popularity either. In fact,
interest in them has been smaller in Poland than in other coun- tries. The share of women employed in part-time Jobs ia very high in eome oountries. Por example, in Great Britain and Ben- mark, it exceeds 40 per oent12. From among socialist countries, this form of employment is most developed in the German Demo- cratic Republlo, where women working in this system constituted a high 32.6 per cent of all working women in 1975. ^ It should be noted here that for a considerable part of those employed ln half-time jobs in Poland, this form of employment is a supple mentary work> In 1983, they acoounted for 35 per cent of this group of empioyees. The share of persons, for whom such form of work was the maln occupation acoounted for 3.6 per cent of all those employed in the socialized economy. This share amounted to 3.4 per oent in the case of men, and for 4.6 per cent in the case of women.
It must be added here that employment in this form is not feminized in Poland. In 1983, women represented a half (50.4 per
12eeC labour Porce Surve7, 1977} ąuoted after Social Trends 10, 1980 Edition, London HKSO, p.123.
^Z.Dach, Profe33ional Activity of Women ln Socialist Coun- trie3 (ln Polish), Cracow, 1980, p.72.
cent) of all persona in part-tlme Joba, whioh were the main form of employment for them.14
. The problem of different forma of employment was alao in- oluded into another ąuestion in this ąuestionnaire. Aa it is known, economic motiyea are the main motiyes behind the under taklng of professional work by women. We were interested in be- hayiour of women when their materiał situation improved (e.g. higher earnings of a husband). There prsvailed answers showlng that iaproyement in the materiał situation would haye no influ ence on deoision about the respondents* professional work (40 per cent). In other worda, they would continue working. On the other hand, it was interesting to obserye a considerable intor- eat in haif-time Joba. One third of the respondenta expreased their willingneaa to work in auoh system. The biggest interest in such Joba waa erpreased by women with academio background (46 per cent).
The analyaia of women*a viewa on different forma of employ ment allowa to formulate a few conołusions for the futurę em ployment policy.
Differentiation of employment forma should be utiliased morę effectiyely aa an inatrument of the employment polioy. Formerły, part-time Joba and putting-out syatem were.firat of all, an in strument allowing to liąuidate uurplusea of female labour foroe in the labour market, and not a form of assistance for women already employed and bringing up smali children1'’. Today, this inatrument 8hould play a different role - it ahould aocoraodate the intereat of women, and espeoialły of mothers haying smali children, with the intereat of the eoonomy, a subatantial pro- portion of women take child-care leayea and face financial dif- fica.ltiea. On the other hand, they could go to work on certain week daya when aome member of the family ia at home. Thia refera alao to women who finiah their child-care leayea and often face the problem of finding aomabody to łook after their children.
1*Eatimated on the basia of Statistical Yearbook 1984»Table 7(90), p.59.
^ S e a i W,. Olędzki, Half-Time Joba for Mothera (in Poliah), Życie Gospodarcze, No.24, 1973.
Properly organiaed part-time Jobs would make it posaible for many women to reconoile their professional work with household and family duties. There should be enhanced attractlyeneaa of work in this system being expressed in higher earnings, diyer- eity of offered Joba, and differentiated organization of working time. lt is important that there should be offered an increas- ingly bigger number of such Joba, whieh require high skllls, aa the greatest interest in these jobs was diaplayed by women with academic background. They appreoiate contaot with work and peo ple but, at the same time, they realize the significance of extra time, whlch they will be able to devote to their home and, especlally, children. This will also paye the way for higher rationality in utilization of female labour resources. A part of women with hlgh-level ąualifioations will not haye to inter- rupt their work to look after smali children.
Horeoyer, work of women in part-time Jobs may become one of
the souroeB allowing to diminish labour deficit. Apart from a
detailed programme that should be elaborated here it is Impor
tant to ensure that Information about possibilities and adyan-*
tages of work in such a fora reaches potential candidates for
these Jobs.
As regards puttiog-out work, we do not see such big possi bilities of utillzing this form of work in practice.Thia ls due not only to smali interest shown in it by women but mainly to humanistic aspects of work. Such a form is a necessity ln many cases. It concerns particularly handicapped persons and women who find it impossible to ensure assistance for their smali children. Women often prefer to haye their day diyided into professional work, household duties and leisurej they also ap- preciate contact with other people, whlch is not giyen by put- ting-out work. In our opinion, putting-out work should be in- troduced according to deoanćl for it aa it constltutes the only form of e&raing their liying for these women who cannot wock out side their hc.mss.
The reseai*ch findings indicate that women would moat will- ingly work in full-time Jobe with flex time. Thie ia the fora of employment whlch should recelye more attention in enterprises
and labour offlces poasibly soon. Introduction of flex tiae on a wider scalę calls for quite M g organizational efforts. It ia worth making theae efforts to enable women overburdened with their dutiea to reconcile, at least a little more easily, their functions reeulting from two basio rolea aa performed by them.
3, Conclusions
The professional actiyity cf women involvee numeroua positive and negative elements. It certainly representa an important step on the way of ensuring equal rights and economio independance for them, Participation in profeaaional work atimulates them to improye their ąualifications. A very big share of women in the total number of profeesionally actiye population implies that their work has become in Poland one of foundations for tha func- tioning of the national economy parallelly with men*s work. The preaent situation seems to be of pennanent charaoter due to the factors whioh haye shaped it as well aa due to demand of the national economy for women*s work, Conseąuently, there ia Con
solidated the model of woman haying very many dutiea and yery littla free time, In this situation, it becomes necesaary to keep searching for further posaibilitiea and create conditions, which would facilitate performance of dual duties by women. What is meant here are espeoially wideły-understood aeryioes for the family and differentiation of employment forma. Howeyer, it should not be aasumed in adyanoe that no women will wiah to in- terrupt their work after childbirth for a certain period of time to look after children themaelyes, Thua, attemptB should be made to reduce the pressure of economio odds sometimes forctng women to undertake professional work, They should ba allowed to deoide for themselyes whether they want to interrupt or continue their werk aftsr childbirth and be giyen a possibility of making such a choics. Th® aboye problems ooncern all profeesionally actiye feaali&s, howeyer, they are felt most acutely in major aggrega- tions of working women, to which the urban administratiye pro- yince of Lodz belongs. That is why it is here that they are an
object of studiea more often that in other regiona, whlle con- cluaions afforded by theee etudies are of a more generał sig- nlfieanoe.
Jadwiga Florczak-Bywalec
SPOŁECZNO-EKONOMICZNE ASPEKTY ZATRUDNIENIA KOBIET W WIELKOMIEJSKIM OŚRODKU PRZEMYSŁOWYM
(WYNIKI BADAS ANKIETOWYCH)
Wielkomiejskie ośrodki przemysłowe, do których należy woje wództwo łódzkie,są skupiskami kobiet pracujących zawodowo* Pod stawowym azynnikiem decydującym o wysokim poziomie aktywności zawodowej kobiet na tym obszarze jest struktura gospodarki, zwłaszcza struktura gałęziowa przemysłu.
W opracowaniu przedstawiono wyniki badail ankietowych, któ rymi objęto 951 kobiet zatrudnionych w 94 przedsiębiorstwach makroregionu środkowego. Przedmiotem badań były motywy podej mowania praoy zawodowej, trudności w godzeniu obowiązków do mowych z pracą zawodową oraz poglądy kobiet na stosowane formy zatrudnienia. Analiza uzyskanych wyrdków pozwoliła na sformuło wanie pewnych postulatów pod adresem polityki zatrudnienia ko biet.
