Seventy percent of women describe their level of interest in politics as medium or low; 15% report a high level of interest and 15% report none, according to a poll by CBOS, Poland’s Public Opinion Research Center. The survey also found that women are less likely than men to declare right-wing views and more likely to lean left.
“Since the start of our measurements, we have observed less interest in politics among women than among men. Currently, seven in 10 women describe their level of interest in politics as medium (45%) or low (25%), while another 15% say they have no interest in politics,” the pollster said.
It noted that very high or high interest in political life applies to 15% of women, with 3% describing it as “very high” and 12% as “high.”
“If we look at men, more than one-fourth (27%) report very high or high interest in political life combined (6% very high, 21% high),” CBOS said.
The survey shows that women in the oldest age groups are the most interested in politics. “We can even speak of a certain relationship: the younger the women, the less interested they are in political life. The share of women ages 65 and older with a high or very high interest in politics is 21%, while in the 25–44 age group it is only 10%, and among those ages 18–24 it is 14%,” the report reads.
It added that “if we look at 2026 (…), the shares of women reporting no interest in politics have risen fairly noticeably in the youngest groups surveyed.” “Among women ages 18 to 24, that share has increased by 5 percentage points since last year (from 14% to 19%), while among women ages 25 to 34 it has risen by as much as 7 points (from 13% to 20%),” the report reads.
However, CBOS noted, lower interest in politics does not translate into lower voter turnout; according to the center’s data, declarations of intent to vote have been at a comparable level in recent years.
The center also pointed to a link between women’s level of interest in politics and their education. “Practically throughout the entire period of our measurements, we have observed the following relationship: the higher the level of education, the greater the interest in politics. Women with primary or lower secondary (gymnasium) education are more than three times as likely to report no interest in politics as women with higher education. In 2026, we also see more frequent declarations of no interest in politics among women with primary or lower secondary education and with basic vocational education (an increase of 4 percentage points in both cases),” it said.
CBOS also notes that women living in the largest cities (with more than 500,000 residents) follow political events most eagerly. “In 2022–2026, more than one-fourth of women in the largest cities reported very high or high interest in politics. At the same time, we see declining interest in politics among respondents living in villages and the smallest cities,” CBOS said.
At the same time, according to data for the first half of 2026, a combined 47% of women in rural areas and 44% of women in the smallest cities report little or no interest in politics.
As for political views, according to CBOS data, “women are less likely than men to declare right-wing views and more likely to lean toward left-wing beliefs.” “This trend is most visible in the youngest age groups, among women with higher education and among those living in the largest cities,” the center said.
“The highest share of left-wing views in the youngest group of women (ages 18–24) was recorded in 2020 and 2021, when it exceeded 40%. This can be seen as an effect of the tightening of abortion law (the Constitutional Tribunal’s ruling of Oct. 22, 2020). In the following years, that share stabilized at 36% to 38%,” the center noted. (PAP)
