Factors affecting men’s and women’s earnings in Poland

The situation of women in the labour market is subject to European Union policy. This is due to prevention of discrimination and promotion of sustainable growth and development. There is a large body of literature describing national and regional labour markets; however, research on the situation in post-communist countries is not provided so often. The goal and contribution to the existing literature is to fill the gap concerning investigation for the Polish labour market. The aim of the research is to identify determinants influencing wages in Poland and to find out if wages obtained by men and women depend on the same factors. Analysis is provided applying statistical analysis and ordered logit models based on the individual data from the Polish Labour Force Survey. The main determinants of wages in Poland are: gender, age or job seniority, level of education, size of firm and occupation. However, the influence of these factors in the following periods and samples (containing all, female and male employees) may be different. Women earn less than men in all education classes and in all NACE branches (NACE - Statistical Classification of Economic Activities in the European Community) branches and this disparity has increased over time. The most important factor of gender income inequality is female segregation into low-wage jobs.