Female unemployment trends in rural areas of Poland in 2008-2012

This paper, firstly, identifies the scale and spatial differentiation of registered female unemployment in rural areas of Poland, defined according to the new Degree of Urbanisation (DEGURBA) classification of LAU2 regions used in the European Union (EU) for the Labour Force Survey, since the onset of the global economic crisis, and secondly, investigates the reasons for the occurrence of very high female unemployment rates that are either stable or increasing and very high gender gaps in unemployment rates. Quantitative analysis identified 27 rural communes in Poland affected by such problems. Most are situated in the north and several in the south-east of the country, mainly in post-state-owned farming areas. The results of semi-structured telephone interviews with representatives of local authorities of nine of those communes indicate that despite the different locations and different types of LAU2 regions, female unemployment is caused by similar factors: liquidation of state-owned farms not followed by any new job opportunities, peripheral location not attractive for external (out-of-commune) investors, lack of entrepreneurial skills, experience and finance to start own businesses, low income or poverty of inhabitants significantly limiting the purchase of goods and services, thus limiting the demand that could be met by local SMEs, and finally liquidation of enterprises, quite often the only employers in the commune. The problem of female unemployment cannot be solved by local authorities as they lack sufficient legal and financial resources, and needs to be addressed by both the government and the EU within actions of the Europe 2020 Strategy.