Poverty in Poland
In the last decade there has been a lowering trend, as in general Polish society is becoming wealthier and the economy is enjoying one of the highest growth rates in Europe.
During the Second Polish Republic, deep poverty characterized the country's farmers, who made up 70% of the population, a feature that worsened with the Great Depression.
In 1930–1931, farm laborers earned 54% of their low wages of two years earlier, with one noting his family's diet consisted of unseasoned potatoes, that the unaffordable price of soap meant they were covered in lice, and that a slice of bread was only for special occasions.
Urban consumers were aided by falling food prices, but jobs became scarcer, with industrial production in 1932 at 58% of the pre-depression level, and unemployment above 40% in 1932–1934.
[4] After the Peace treaty of Riga, the already numerous Jewish minority of the Second Polish Republic was joined by several hundred thousand refugees escaping pogroms in the East.
New job opportunities were mostly nonexistent before Poland's industrialization of the mid-1930s – although Jewish per capita income among the working population was more than 40% higher in 1929 than that of Polish non-Jews.
Family dysfunctions such as serious illness, elderly loneliness, abuse and alcoholism were correlated with poverty, as well as dramatic incidents in people's lives.
Those living in poverty tended to have substandard housing, an inability to seek help from institutions, low education levels; they sometimes turned to crime and excessive drinking.
[12] Poverty was sometimes very deep, close to the subsistence minimum; this was the case for single, old and disabled pensioners; other times, it was partial, not affecting people's entire lives.
In the 1980s, as economic depression and the shortage economy took hold, poverty changed from afflicting the marginalized and the maladapted, to include those willing and able to work.
It was dismissed as a remnant of the previous regime or a byproduct of transitional difficulties; poverty and the poor were labeled with euphemisms such as "sphere of deficiency" or "low-income groups".
Book or report titles prior to 1989 never used the term "poverty", while the neglect it received can also be seen in the lack of policies or related legislation.
Scientific investigations were limited, with the most important research taking place in periods of relative openness: the time after the Polish October, the early 1970s, and 1980–81.
[16] Poverty in Poland rose briefly in the period of 1990-1992 and has been largely diminishing since; it did however rise again in the late 1990s, following the slowdown in economic growth.
Shortly after assuming power it is launched successful 500+ programme giving monthly monetary benefit of 500zł per child to all families with two or more children.
This has attracted significant criticism especially from the main opposition liberal party Platforma Obywatelska, and some international media, as the way to buy votes and as populist, anti-liberal agenda.
[16] Beblo et al. (2002) note that poverty in Poland is primarily caused by unemployment, insufficient aid to families with multiple children or from marginalized groups, and poor earnings in agricultural sector.
[16] Brzeziński (2011) notes that the rise in poverty in late 1990s and early 2000s can be attributed to stagnant wages and pensions, and growing unemployment, and its subsequent decline, to economic growth and welfare policies.
