Are Poles mediocre and who will pay for the welfare of the poorest?

According to a study published in October 2024 by The European Anti-Poverty Network (EAPN), "Poverty Watch Poland 2024In Poland, 2.5 million people live in utmost poverty, or 6.6% of the full population. This indicator was last recorded in 2015. The number of people affected by homelessness crisis, including children in particular, is besides increasing. There are more than half of them than in the erstwhile period considered (in 2019 there were 992 people). The exile crisis caused by the war in Ukraine revealed fresh dimensions of homelessness which do not include government surveys of homeless population. Poland faces major challenges so that there is no deeper and worse situation.

The EAPN reports an alarming increase in poorness and states that Poland is on the verge of a social crisis. Social exclusion, or the sphere of poverty, is growing. The social minimum in the first 4th of 2024 was 1773.44 zł or 1746.80 zł for a single household depending on its type. As many as 17.3 million people are affected by social exclusion. utmost poorness among children has risen from 5.7% to 7.6% and in practice affects more than half a million children. Among the aged there was an increase in utmost poorness from 3.9% to 5.7%. This includes 430 000 people.

There has been a marked increase in full homelessness, and this problem includes not only Polish citizens and children, but besides becomes peculiarly bright if we pay attention to the hidden homelessness of Ukrainian women and refugees in collective accommodation centres.

In practice, almost 1 in 15 Poles live in utmost poverty.

Source: EAPN

What is EAPN?

Founded in 1990, European Network for Combating poorness (EAPN) is simply a large group of national, local and European NGOs and groups working to combat poorness and social exclusion. Its backing comes mainly from grants from the European Commission and is possible through the EU Programme for employment and Social Innovation (EaSI).

In each of the 31 countries of the EAPN network, there are respective or even respective twelve organisations fighting poverty. An example is the APF Malta (Anti-Poverty Forum Malta), which includes a network of 17 cooperating groups. The German Anti poorness Conference, the German Conference on Combating Poverty, was founded in autumn 1991 as a German section of the European Anti poorness Network and includes national social welfare associations. The Polish Committee of the European Anti poorness Network (EAPN Poland) has no legal status. Its office are located in the WRZOS-Working Community of NGO Social Associations. He was appointed in 2007 and brings together 16 organizations, specified as Caritas of the Kielce Diocese, the Federation of Polish Food Banks, the Salvation Army, the National Workers' Association of the Labour Confederation, the Sports Association for Social Integration "Barka", the MONAR Association, the St. Brother Albert Society of Aid.

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What is poverty?

EAPN captures poorness in categories beyond its economical manifestations. So it takes into account not only underincome or mediocre surviving conditions, but besides the impact of poorness on physical and intellectual health, matrimony relationships, educational and professional achievements. The link between poorness and the perception and treatment of mediocre people by local communities, employers and local institutions, the link with negative stereotypes, discriminatory behaviours or the impact of poorness on social activity is besides being explored.

We talk about absolute or utmost poorness erstwhile individual lacks basic means to survive, specified as clean water, appropriate housing, clothes, medicines or food.

Worth knowing besides the meaning of the word "relative poverty" due to the fact that it is equally frequently utilized in the debate on poorness in the European Union. comparative poorness occurs erstwhile the way of life and income of any people are far lower than the general standard of surviving in a given country. For this reason, people are excluded from participating in the economic, social and cultural activities of the region. In practice, comparative poorness will mean something completely different in different communities, depending on the standard of surviving in them.

However, specified “official” definitions are not adequate to capture the essence of life in utmost poorness and the problems faced by people in hard circumstances. That is why the debate on poorness always speaks to those who experience it. “I can only afford inexpensive food; fruit and vegetables for children are besides expensive; fish are unattainable; ‘healthy food’ is besides costly for me” [self-translation – ed.] – is simply a message by 1 specified individual whose words are quoted on his EAPN website. It indicates that basic needs are not met. The message of another associate of the EAPN "I cannot afford a regular newspaper; books, especially technological ones, are besides expensive" reveals isolation. They besides point to disrespect and hope: “The way people look at you is humiliating. You are not considered human.” Not only are the consequences of poorness for the individual but besides for society: “I am working illegally. Not due to the fact that I think it's good – I'm full aware of the consequences – but it's the only way I can get a job.”

It is vital to see that poorness affects us both at the level of individuals, families and full societies. The poorness of individuals and families are careers interrupted, diseases and inefficient workers. The economy then develops less. People with health, household and social problems may not go to elections or vote for parties promising false solutions to their problems. This all translates very negatively into the condition of democracy and politics. Worse still, mediocre social policy and incorrect choices of political decision-makers will in the future translate into a deepening of poorness and mediocre society. We are dealing with a vicious ellipse and a deteriorating situation.

On 17 October 1987, more than 1 100 1000 people gathered in Trocadéro, Paris, at the same place where the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was signed. They paid tribute to the victims of utmost poverty, force and hunger. In this way, the yearly celebration of the global Day for Combating poorness began. 1992 UN General Assembly officially established 17 October global Day for Combating Poverty.

Why are we talking about poorness in the European Union?

Comparing life in Europe to the conditions in many places in the world, especially the alleged Global South, we frequently feel that we live on an idyllic island. However, despite the general prosperity and advanced level of civilization improvement poverty is present in the European Union and increasing rapidly. More than 118 million people, or 23.5% of the EU population, face the threat of poorness and social exclusion.

The scale of this problem is not seen by the general public and political decision-makers.

As a result, insufficient action is taken to reduce it. poorness in the European Union limits fundamental human rights, narrows the anticipation of exploiting the full possible of individuals and generates advanced costs for society and hinders sustainable economical growth.

Poverty exposes the unfair way of distributing goods and resources. In specified an organized society, there is simply a hazard of deep rooted inequality and expanding contrasts between wealth concentrated in the hands of the few, and marginalisation and poorness experienced by the poorest. The economical crisis has been observed to be the most marked by countries with lower redistribution of goods and weaker social safety systems.

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Weak points of investigation on homelessness in Poland

The EAPN study is based on data from 2 GUS studies. The first was a survey of household budgets (BBGD), which was conducted according to the Polish methodology. These data present results with a two-year delay. This means that data dated 2023 published in 2024 are de facto related to the year 2022.

None of these studies take into account people surviving in places classified as non-residential or in institutions specified as homeless shelters, homes of a single mother, foster centres, social assistance homes, etc. The CSO provides information on utmost poverty, but this data does not apply to homeless people, as data for investigation are obtained only from households.

So how small do we know about utmost poorness in Poland if homeless people are excluded from research, that is, people so mediocre that they do not even have a place to live?

Home budgets of Poles in 2023 and the first half of 2024.

According to the EAPN study in 2023, we experienced a crucial economical downturn. GDP growth was only 0.2%, which represents a immense decrease compared to growth of 5.3% in 2022. besides inflation in 2023 remained advanced at 11.4%. Meanwhile, the monthly income per individual increased in real terms by only 2.1% compared to 2022. The consequences of this situation for respective years have been described as dramatic.

3 percent of Poles cannot afford the most basic products, specified as bread.

7% of respondents stated that they were incapable to pay for the media, and 8% admitted problems with the rent.

The situation on the labour marketplace is rather stable. In 2023, employment in the national economy increased by 0.1% and in the enterprise sector by 0.3%. The unemployment rate remained at 5.1%, but not in all regions of the country. It is besides crucial that people at hazard of poorness are key not only to occupation availability but besides to their quality and stability.

It is worth noting that the increase in wages has not spread evenly among the various socio-economic communities. This has resulted in a deepening of income differences.

Interesting in this context seems to be the optimism seen in respondents' responses, which indicated a slight increase in the sense of prosperity. As many as 62% of Poles, according to investigation from July 2024, inactive consider their material conditions to be good.

Poverty in Poland in 2023

Although inflation slowed down in the first half of 2024, the economical consequences of the past fewer years are inactive devastating to the poorest. The most susceptible are susceptible groups, specified as children, the aged or people with disabilities.

In 2023 utmost poorness of Poles increased by 47 percent. There was an increase from 4.6% to 6.6%, from 1.7 million to 2.5 million people. This consequence has not been recorded since 2015. In Poland, we talk about utmost poorness erstwhile farm expenditure per individual is lower than the minimum of existence. This threshold in 2023 was PLN 835 per person.

Being in specified a situation for more than 2 months endangers physical health.

EAPN studies besides revealed an increase in social exclusion from 41.1 percent to 46%. This means an increase in the number of people excluded from 15.4 to 17.3 million. The sphere of social exclusion in the study is defined as a social minimum, which in the first 4th of 2024 amounted to PLN 1773.44 or PLN 1746.80, for a single household depending on its type.

In the last fewer years, we have faced another dangerous situation twice. In 2022 and 2023, the statutory poorness line was lower than the utmost poorness line. This resulted in the fact that any people who were highly mediocre were not entitled to social assistance benefits, which should be intended for the poorest people. As highlighted in the report, this should never happen. The study besides presents an analysis of possible trends in utmost poorness in Poland from 2024 to 2025. According to the most likely scenario, utmost poorness will stay at around 6.5-6.7% in 2024, and will only fall to 5.5-6 percent in 2025.

Source: EAPN

One of the policy objectives of the government facing the household 500 Plus Programme was to reduce poorness for families with children. The consequence was to reduce the number of children surviving in poorness or social exclusion by 300,000 by 2030. However, in 2023 this rate did not decrease, but it increased from 2021 to 2023 from 16.5 to 16.9 percent.

The percent of socially excluded children indicated a evidence score of 52.2 percent, or 3.6 million children.

For the first time since the Central Statistical Office has published specified research, this rate has exceeded 50%.

More than half of the children in Poland live in families below the social minimum.

Source: EAPN

In the case of utmost poorness surveyed in the elder group, in 2023 it besides increased dramatically, as much as 50 percent: from 287 1000 to 430 1000 people. There was besides a very crucial increase of 615 000 in the social exclusion zone: from 2.7 million to 3.3 million people. Unfortunately, these drastic changes are not seen in investigation into material and social deprivation of aged people, due to the decline in the size of this social group.

The erstwhile government in social policy preferred older people, but this policy was misdirected and the simplification of utmost poorness among seniors failed.

The year 2023 was named by the EAPN a year of disaster in the policy of reducing kid poorness and a year of disaster in protecting the aged from utmost poorness in Poland. besides utmost poorness in households with disabled people increased from 6.7 percent to 9%, a major negative change.

Hidden utmost poorness or homelessness

Despite the immense influx of refugees from Ukraine since February 2022, counted in millions, there was no corresponding increase in homelessness in Poland. The real scale of homelessness and housing exclusion has increased dramatically. Unfortunately, there is no investigation that shows, for example, various types of poorness among refugees from Ukraine. Yet, the largest group are women with children.

On the another hand, it is known that the goal of Polish governments is to reduce the homelessness of children by at least 15% by 2030. The problem of homelessness among the youngest has not been solved. On the contrary, the rate of homelessness among children has increased by 54% over the last fewer years.

The inability to capture the problem of homelessness in Poland is affected not only by the measurement method utilized by the Central Statistical Office, which does not conduct investigation in non-residential places. The threat of utmost forms of homelessness has besides resulted in legal changes introducing co-payments and withdrawing the 40 PLN allowance for accommodation of refugees.

The work to co-pay for a stay at collective accommodation points gives emergence to the hazard of evicting persons who are incapable to pay these charges and make a hazard of street homelessness.

As estimated by the EAPN in the autumn of 2022, there could be more than 1.5 million refugees from Ukraine, of which 300,000 lived in poverty. In this, any people lived in utmost poorness while surviving in mass shelters. By a newer global Rescue Committee study of 2024 About 40% of Ukrainian refugees are in collective accommodation centres. Almost 50% of respondents experience problems with access to specialist services and general doctors. This is peculiarly the case for older people with more than 70 000 refugees.

A recipe for a crisis

The EAPN study not only cites statistical data, but besides diagnoses the causes of poorness in Poland and gives recommendations to the government regarding its fight. Among the essential tasks were the improvement of a comprehensive strategy to combat homelessness, including addressing the exile problem or reforming the professional activation system.

The issue of social assistance deserves peculiar attention.

At present, 1 of the biggest problems is the inadequacy of the income criteria utilized in determining how social assistance benefits can be used.

These criteria are presently at a very low level and are further lowered over time due to erroneous verification mechanisms. The main sin of fresh governments was to make decisions on income criteria on a discretionary basis all 3 years, causing income thresholds to fall below the utmost poorness line. The tragic consequence is that any people surviving in utmost poorness do not qualify for aid, which should in rule defend the poorest.

There is so an urgent request to institutionalise the approach to poorness simplification so that the strategy is not based on immediate policy decisions and that it is not susceptible to political or economical change.

The benefits to children highlighted the deficiency of adequate valorisation of the educational provision resulting from the voluntary decisions made by subsequent governments and the neglect of household benefits for mediocre families. Since 2016, Polish governments have been freezing the level of income and benefits criteria. As the EAPN points out, educational benefits should be valued automatically all year. akin yearly verifications should be made for care, income criteria, levels of household benefits, part of care and social assistance benefits.

The EAPN study besides asks why the income criteria for housing allowances are so advanced for those with social assistance or household benefits.

Another problem of the Polish social strategy is the deficiency of compliance with European standards. It means not only lower benefits, but besides the issue of social assistance funding, due to the fact that social services in Poland will be financed mostly by the European Social Fund.

The non-compliance of the Polish social strategy with European standards of social rights creates a serious structural barrier. Poland has not ratified Article 13(1) of the European Social Charter on the right to social and medical assistance. The deficiency of ratification is due to shortcomings in Polish social assistance regulations. Nor have we ratified the revised European Social Charter.

The structural discrepancy between the Polish minimum income strategy and European social rights standards limits the improvement of this system.

For example, we should change the law in specified a way that unemployment benefits amount to 50% of the minimum wage, in line with global Labour Organisation standards. Meanwhile, in Poland in 2022 the unemployment benefit was lower than the minimum wage by PLN 200. In 2024 it is lower by 488 PLN.

The EAPN study besides highlights the request to rise public awareness of the reasons why poorness should be combated. It is incompatible with human rights. The European Union has set itself an work to combat it and has set circumstantial objectives that associate States should systematically implement. poorness threatens the welfare of our full society, including economical recovery. The fight against poorness must so be seen in terms of economical investment alternatively than luxury spending.

This is why monitoring poorness is so crucial and, if diagnosed, immediate implementation of countermeasures.

The state of individuals and families translates into the state of the full community. The low state of political awareness and the poorness of individuals is simply a mistaken social and economical policy, which consequently leads to even greater material and social deprivation of individuals, families and full communities.

Source:
R. Szarfenberg, "Poverty watch 2024. Monitoring poorness and social policy against poorness in Poland 2023-2024", Polish Committee of the European Anti- poorness Network (EAPN Poland) 2024, pp. 1-81.