Polish women face labor discrimination

WARSAW, Poland, Dec. 20 (UPI) -- A U.N. report said Polish women are underprivileged in the labor market, facing more problems than men to get important jobs.

The first extensive inquiry by the U.N. Development Program on gender equality in Poland indicated women are more often affected by poverty due to unemployment than men, Polish Radio reported Thursday.

The U.N. Development Program report covered a wide range of social fields, from macro-economy to trade, administration, health, education and human rights. Beata Balinska, a program official said the position of women in all those fields is complicated and far from ideal.

Warsaw University Professor Malgorzata Fuszara, one of authors of the U.N. Development Program report on gender equality, said the participation of women in politics was very small and such a small group of women hardly can do much for the cause of women.

"Almost in every country in the world, and Poland is no exception, wages of women are lower than those of men, and nobody is trying to rectify the situation and improve the position of women," Fuszara said.