Publication: Growth, Employment and Living Standards in Pre-Accession Poland, Volume 1
Date
2004-03-22
ISSN
Published
2004-03-22
Author(s)
World Bank
Abstract
This report builds on the wealth of
existing literature on living standards and inequality in
Poland and is intended to continue the ongoing debate. The
focus is on lack of access to economic opportunities as the
most important dimension of poverty in Poland and one that
is strongly associated with social exclusion, vulnerability
and other dimensions of poverty. The report ' s main
objectives are to: (i) describe what happened to Polish
living standards after the " shock therapy " of
the early 1990s and in the less prosperous last five years;
(ii) highlight the main factors behind the recent increase
in poverty and inequality; (iii) identify the main risk
factors associated with social exclusion and "
transient " and " permanent " poverty in
pre-accession Poland; (iv) address the growth of a hard-core
of chronic poverty; and (v) point to policy measures that
may help Poland to move closer to the Lisbon targets for
employment and social inclusion. This report consists of two
volumes. Volume 1 presents the main findings and their
policy implications. It begins with a general overview of
the macroeconomic climate and its changes over the
transition period. It then moves on to address the links
between economic growth and poverty reduction in the high
growth years (when poverty declined considerably) and in the
following slow-down in growth (during which poverty
increased). A description of the poverty profile and its
changes over the last decade follows and leads to an
analysis of the strong link between skills levels,
employment opportunities and social inclusion as a way of
avoiding poverty. Particular attention is paid to the
growing divide between the chronically poor and the rest of
the population. The role of social transfers as an important
safety net for the most vulnerable (but also a potential
barrier to effective long-term poverty reduction) is then
discussed, along with the role currently played by civil
society and informal networks as non-governmental safety
nets. Finally some options are presented on policies that
may help to meet the European Union targets for employment,
social inclusion and reduction in inequalities.
Citation
“World Bank. 2004. Growth, Employment and Living Standards in Pre-Accession Poland, Volume 1. © Warsaw: World Bank. http://openknowledge.worldbank.org/entities/publication/6d596bba-84af-5707-ac36-e6b1f6922d1e License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”