W artykule dokonano przeglądu literatury dotyczącej zarówno koncepcji teoretycznych, jak i badań empirycznych poświęconych zmianom klimatycznym w powiązaniu z procesami ludnościowymi. Z dostępnej literatury wynika jednoznacznie, że istnieją związki pomiędzy postępującymi zmianami klimatycznymi a przebiegiem procesów ludnościowych. Liczba ludności świata, struktura wieku populacji, liczba i rozmiar gospodarstw domowych oraz postępujący proces urbanizacji przyczyniają się do wzrostu emisji gazów cieplarnianych, a co za tym idzie, do tempa szeroko rozumianych zmian klimatycznych. Te zmiany z kolei wpływają na płodność, stan zdrowia ludności, umieralność oraz migracje. Należy jednak pamiętać, że te powiązania różnią się znacząco zależnie od położenia geograficznego, poziomu rozwoju gospodarczego oraz kontekstu społecznego i kulturowego.
The book entitled Why Demography Matters (written by Danny Dorling and Stuart Gietel-Basten) describes the role of demography in shaping humans’ perception of the world. It tries to highlight the excesses of competence, too hasty conclusions, and mistakes in the assessment of the world around us and in visions of what the future of mankind will look like from the demographic point of view.
Zmiana systemowa oraz instytucjonalna, która dokonała się w Polsce po 1989 roku, wywarła znaczący wpływ na wiele aspektów życia społecznego. Jednym z jej przejawów był gwałtowny spadek liczby rodzących się dzieci wynikający, między innymi, z opóźniania decyzji o założeniu rodziny a także co raz częstszego wyboru modelu rodziny 2+1. Niniejszy artykuł stawia sobie za cel wyjaśnienie niektórych aspektów tej zmiany demograficznej z wykorzystaniem teorii klas społecznych w ujęciu zaproponowanym przez francuskiego socjologa Pierre’a Bourdieu. Istotną cechą zaproponowanego ujęcia jest potraktowanie klasy społecznej jako czynnika różnicującego nastawienie Polaków do posiadania dzieci, ich wychowania, wykształcenia a także wartości przekazywanych młodszemu pokoleniu. Wykorzystanie teorii klas społecznych w demografii nabiera na znaczeniu ze względu na zjawisko tzw. ekspansji edukacyjnej, czyli, między innymi, wzrostem udziału osób z wykształceniem wyższym. Zacieranie się różnic w poziomie wykształcenia niekoniecznie musi prowadzić do ujednolicania się wzorców reprodukcji stąd wykorzystywanie klas społecznych jako dodatkowego miernika różnicującego jednostki ze względu na wartości, postawy i zachowania może nabierać na znaczeniu.Analizy zaprezentowane w artykule wykorzystują dane z badania GGS zarówno do analiz opisowych jak i do konstrukcji modeli statystycznych w których zmiennymi wynikowymi są liczba posiadanych dzieci, intencje prokreacyjne oraz normy i wartości. Wyniki sugerują, iż główne osie podziałów między klasowych przebiegają w sferze manifestowanych wartości mniej zaś w obszarze dzietności planowanej czy zrealizowanej.
Imigranci po 60. roku życia – przypadek Polski Streszczenie: Niniejszy artykuł, ma na celu przedstawienie skali zjawiska, jakim jest imigracja osób starszych do Polski, struktury demograficznej przyjeżdzających i kierunków imigracji w ostatniej dekadzie. Można przypuszczać, że Polska wzorem krajów, które wstąpiły do Unii Europejskiej kilkanaście lat wcześniej, tj. Irlandia, Grecja czy Hiszpania, po fali emigracji zarobkowej swoich obywateli, stanie się krajem o wzmożonej imigracji. W XXI wieku obserwujemy rosnącą mobilność przestrzenną seniorów, często z Północy Europy na Południe. Część tych przemieszczeń stanowią migracje powrotne. W przypadku Polski, imigranci-seniorzy to najczęściej osoby przed siedemdziesiątym rokiem życia mające polskie obywatelstwo. Świadczy to, iż mamy do czynienia w dużej części przypadków z imigracją powrotną. Rozkład przestrzenny napływu z zagranicy i kraje, z których pochodzą starsi imigranci, sugerują, iż mamy do czynienia z reemigracją Polaków wyjeżdzających jeszcze w XX w. Immigrants over 60 - the case of Poland Abstract: This article aims to present the scale of the phenomenon of immigration of elderly people to Poland, the demographic structure of people arriving and the directions of immigration in the last decade. It can be assumed that Poland, following a wave of economic emigration of its citizens, will become a country with increased immigration, following the example of countries that joined the European Union several years earlier, e.g. Ireland, Greece or Spain. In the 21st century, we observe the growing spatial mobility of seniors, often from the North of Europe to the South. Part of these movements are return migrations. In the case of Poland, senior immigrants are usually people under the age of seventy who have Polish citizenship. This proves that we are dealing, in a large part, with return immigration. The spatial distribution of the inflow from abroad and the countries of origin of older immigrants suggest that we are dealing with the re-emigration of Poles leaving as early as the 20th century.
Różnice przestrzenne w zaawansowaniu procesów starzenia demograficznego ludności Polski, sugerują występowanie silnego regionalnego zróżnicowania popytu na usługi opieki długoterminowej, w tym na świadczenia rzeczowe (usługi pielęgnacyjno-opiekuńcze). Obserwowane obecnie zróżnicowanie demograficzne województw jak również konwergencja bądź dywergencja określonych czynników demograficznych istotnych z punktu widzenia potrzeb opiekuńczych powinny więc wpływać na oszacowania poziomu wydatków publicznych na opiekę długoterminową, w tym również na zmniejszanie bądź zwiększanie dyspersji regionalnej w tym zakresie. Celem artykułu jest identyfikacja kluczowych zmiennych kształtujących poziom wydatków publicznych na świadczenia rzeczowe opieki długoterminowej sektora ochrony zdrowia i pomocy społecznej oraz zbadanie występowania konwergencji bądź dywergencji tychże wydatków w ujęciu regionalnym. W badaniu wykorzystano trzy miary konwergencji: sigma, beta – absolutną i beta warunkową. Do weryfikacji statystycznej istotności wybranych zmiennych wykorzystano metodę regresji panelowej na danych rocznych dla województw.
In order to reduce the spread of the SARS-COVID pandemic a set of measures was recommended to reduce the spread of disease and protect individual health. In this article we analyse what factors are associated with utilisation of preventive measures: washing hands, using disinfectant and covering cough among the population of men and women aged 50+. Using Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement data we estimate logistic regression models for the increased utilisation of each of the preventive behaviours on demographic, socio-economic and psychological characteristics. The results indicate that the likelihood of taking health precautions depends on age, education, level of conscientiousness, and staying isolated. For men it also matters whether they live with a partner. We discuss what the findings mean for managing preventive behaviours.
The aim of the paper is to identify discourses related to the pro-natalist goal of the “Family 500 plus” programme, which is the largest family cash benefit scheme ever introduced in Poland. The paper presents an analysis of the conventional discourse based on Internet forums devoted to this programme. The analysis of 47 forums and over 3,000 posts shared between November 2015 and June 2019 allowed the author to distinguish fourteen dominant conventional discourses which were classified into three groups labelled as follows: (1) discourses of the state’s/individuals’ responsibility (2) discourses concerning policy making (3) discourses of (in)efficiency and (in)effectiveness. The research also indicates the leading role of the social perception of parents-beneficiaries in the debate on the “Family 500+” programme. The key to gaining social support, and, more broadly, for the legitimation of the welfare state in Poland, seems to care for a positive image of parents eligible for the benefit. The paper reveals complexity and interdependence of arguments concerning chances of the programme in terms of supporting increases in fertility in Poland. To the best of the author’s knowledge, this paper is the first attempt to analyse online forums in terms of social policy instruments.
The aim of this paper is to describe daily patterns and changes in time use of people dealing with elderly informal care in Poland. Based on Time Use Survey 2004 and 2013 we show that with increasing population of adults requiring care the profile of average caregiver also changes. We observe more caregivers. More often they are women and more often are retired. In consequence average time spent on caregiving also increases. We conclude that this trend will continue and therefore both market and state suppy of the caregiving services is required.
Since the 1990s, life expectancy at birth in Poland has increased by over three months on average each year for both sexes. However, in recent years there has been a decrease in life expectancy, and the number of deaths increased by 6% for men and 8% for women between 2016 and 2018. The aim of this study is to identify the subpopulations most sensitive to the recent changes in mortality in Poland. The increase in deaths is described with regard to changes in age distribution of the population and age at death contributing to life expectancy changes in recent years is analysed. The findings serve as a basis for making references to theoretical knowledge and proposals for future research directions as well as recommendations for public statistics and social policy. The increase in the number of deaths is a new phenomenon that cannot be accounted for by the size differences between the cohorts born between the two world wars and during the Second World War or the ageing of the baby-boom generations. The greatest contributors to the decreasing life expectancy are deaths at older age. This and the fast growing population aged 85 years and more indicate a need to devote more research attention to analysing mortality in the oldest age groups. It is also emphasised that the elderly are potentially the most prone to various threats associated with an excessive number of deaths, including inadequate health care funding.
Purpose: In this article we apply the age perspective to assess the quality of life (QoL) of persons with disabilities. Using a single measurement tool, we compare age profiles in the quality of life of persons with disabilities to the population without disabilities. By doing so, we examine whether the general patterns (such as U-shaped profile) are observed also among the population with disabilities, hence assessing how heterogenous this group is. Methods: We have constructed a multidimensional measurement model identifying overall and nine dimensions of the quality of life using structural equation modelling. The model conceptually is based on the Eurostat guidelines. All analyses are based on EU-SILC survey data, carried out in Poland in 2015. Results: The quality of life for both groups has inverse, right-skewed U-shape. The maximum value is achieved for the age group of 30–34 and after this threshold a constant decline is observed. The QoL scores for the population with disabilities are obviously significantly lower. Additionally, they are more heterogenous, and with greater variation between men and women. In a majority of the domains we also observe lower scores for persons with disabilities. However, people with disabilities are similarly diversified by age as persons without disabilities. Conclusion: Our study suggests that people with disabilities are similarly diversified by age as persons without disabilities. Therefore, disability means something different for younger and older persons and this difference is reflected in their quality of life. It means that public policy for persons with disabilities should also be diversified, avoiding ‘one-for-all’ policy.
The below replacement fertility, persisting in many industrial countries, impacts the decrease in the population dynamics and consequently, the population decline. It also imposes the durable shifts in the age composition, which result in distorting relationships between subsequent generations (children, adults, old people). Therefore, fertility growth has become an increasingly highlighted goal of family policy. The article presents the situation in Poland in terms of changes in births and fertility on the one hand, and family policy reforms on the other hand. The attempt to evaluate whether family policy reforms implemented since 2008 might be considered as supportive for demographic renewal refers to numerous comparative studies on fertility effects of different policy measures. In the conclusion, a strong statement is formulated that to evaluate adequately the effects for demographic renewal from a longer time perspective, policy panel surveys on family relative behaviours and childbearing decisions are needed.
In recent decades, the issue of life quality and its determinants has been increasingly discussed in the scientific literature. One of the key determinants of subjective well-being is the fact of being in a relationship (formal or not) as well as its quality. The results of analyzes for other countries show that people who have a partner have a higher subjective well-being than people who do not live with their spouse, while divorced people have the lowest (and the highest level of depression). In addition to being in a relationship, its quality is also important: people more satisfied with marriage declare greater well-being than those less satisfied. The aim of the study is to analyze quality of life (expressed in terms of well-being and depression) among older people in Poland, putting emphasis on their individual (e.g. age, sex, health status, level of education) and household (financial situation) characteristics. Importantly, the analysis takes into account the quality of the marriage approximated by the satisfaction with marriage declared by both spouses separately. For the purposes of this study I use data of ‘Social Diagnosis’ study carried out in 2015 in Poland. The final sample was limited to partnered older people aged 65+. Basic individual socio-demographic and economic as well as household characteristics were controlled for. The results show that older partnered men in Poland have higher subjective well-being than older partnered women. Also, older partnered men report significantly higher levels of marital satisfaction than older partnered women do. Moreover, it should be underlined that higher levels of marital satisfaction among older spouses may be beneficial for their own quality of life expressed by well-being and depression. Thus, better opinion about marriage may increase subjective well-being and decrease depression level. However, this relationship is different for older partnered men and women. Positive relationship between marital satisfaction and well-being is stronger for partnered women when subjective well-being is taken into account and for men when well-being is understood as depression level.
Projekcje ludnościowe dla Polski wskazują na nieuchronny spadek liczby ludności i przyśpieszenie procesu starzenia populacji, a także zmniejszanie się potencjalnych zasobów pracy i ich starzenie się. Jak pokazano, nieunikniony jest w związku z tym również spadek i starzenie się podaży pracy - niepewność dotyczy tylko tempa i skali tych zmian. W artykule dyskutowane jest lepsze wykorzystanie malejących zasobów pracy oraz potencjalne rezerwy podaży pracy wynikające z relatywnie niskiej aktywności zawodowej w Polsce. Za pomocą rachunków symulacyjnych dokonano również oceny wpływu wzrostu aktywności zawodowej różnych grup ludności według płci i wieku na przyszłą liczbę aktywnych zawodowo. Pokazano, że brak jakichkolwiek działań w kierunku aktywizacji osób pozostających poza rynkiem pracy (stała aktywność według wieku i płci na poziomie z 2018 r.), oznacza zmniejszenie się zasobu pracy o 15% w ciągu następnych 20 lat, o 24% do roku 2050 i o 33% do 2070 r. oraz spadek współczynnika aktywności zawodowej o 10 pkt. proc. w perspektywie następnych trzech dekad. Gdyby aktywność według wieku i płci w Polsce mogła wzrosnąć do najwyższych poziomów obserwowanych w krajach Unii Europejskiej w 2018 r., współczynnik aktywności ogółem byłby o 15 pkt. proc. wyższy niż faktycznie odnotowany w 2018 r. i nie obniżyłby się do odnotowanego poziomu do 2070 r. pomimo niekorzystnych (i nieuchronnych) zmian wielkości i struktury wieku populacji. Faktyczne rezerwy podaży pracy w 2018 r. wynosiły prawie 5 mln osób (29% liczby aktywnych zawodowo). Właściwe rozpoznanie powodów pozostawania biernym zawodowo, zróżnicowanych według płci i wieku, może dostarczać wskazówek co do koniecznych instrumentów polityki społecznej, które umożliwiłyby ich wykorzystanie.
The main aim of the paper is the investigation of the relationship between family and social networks and subjective well-being and loneliness among people aged 65 years and more in Poland. For the purpose of our analysis, we used the 6 th wave of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) carried out in 2015. We employed linear regression and ordered probit models. Our results showed that unpartnered older adults, especially men, were less satisfied with life and more lonely than partnered individuals. Moreover, the quality of the relationship between partners, expressed here by the presence of a spouse in social networks (SN), seems to be important as well. Older adults who listed a spouse in SN felt less lonely than the others, and those married who did not have a partner in SN were less satisfied with life. Aged individuals having children had higher subjective well-being than the childless, although this result was insignificant. The presence of children in SN contributed to a lower life satisfaction and an increased loneliness level (especially for women). Furthermore, the association between having siblings and subjective well-being and loneliness is not clear-cut.
Our study, availing the new, agreed by the OECD and Eurostat, lists of preventable and treatable causes of death, seeks to quantify the contribution of avoidable causes to premature mortality and its dynamics in Poland and Central European countries – Czechia, Hungary, Lithuania and Slovenia, in comparison with Sweden serving as a benchmark country in 1999–2017. We calculated age standardised death rates for the broad groups of avoidable causes and more specific ones, which comprised preventable and treatable cancer and diseases of the circulatory system (DCS), preventable injuries and alcohol-related diseases. Deaths from not avoidable causes were also analysed. The analysis of time trends in the death rates and calculation of the Average Annual Percent Change (AAPC) for the overall trend were performed with joint-point models. The contribution of changes in mortality from avoidable causes to increase life expectancy during 1999–2017 and contribution of the difference in mortality from these causes to the difference in life expectancy between five countries and Sweden were based on the decomposition of temporary life expectancy between birth and age 75 [e(0-75)]. For the calculation of life expectancy, we used the classic Chiang method and the decomposition of life expectancy by the death causes and age was conducted with the Arriaga method. The AAPC of death rates from avoidable causes in 1999–2017 was similar in all the countries but Lithuania, where the decline started later. The decline in the death rates from not avoidable causes is much slower than the rates from avoidable causes. Mortality from treatable causes was decreasing faster than from preventable causes in most populations. In 1999–2017, the average rate of mortality decline for preventable cancer was greater among men than among women, while for treatable cancer the sex-related differences were much smaller and in favour of women. As for preventable and treatable death from DCS, their decrease was faster among women than men in all the countries but Sweden. Improvements in mortality from causes that could be avoided through prevention or treatment made substantial positive contributions to the overall change in life expectancy in all the countries. The differences in temporary life expectancy e(0-75) between the analysed Central European countries and Sweden were much smaller in 2017 than in 1999, due to the reduction of the gap in mortality from avoidable causes. Our results show that among men, and to a lesser extent among women, mortality from preventable causes contributes more than mortality from causes that can be effectively treated to shorter life expectancy in the countries of Central Europe than in Sweden. This indicates that in reducing the health gap between the inhabitants of Central Europe and Western Europe, the healthcare system should consider disease prevention even to a greater extent than just treating them.
The main aim of the paper was the investigation the relationship between family situation and subjective wellbeing and loneliness among people aged 65 years and more in Poland. For purposes of our analysis we used the 6th wave of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) carried out in 2015. We employed linear regression and ordered probit models. Our results showed that unpartnered older adults, especially men, were less satisfied with life and more lonely than partnered individuals. Also, the quality of relationship between partners, expressed here by the presence of a spouse in SN seems to be important as well. Older adults who listed a spouse in SN felt less lonely than the others, and those married who did not have a partner in SN were less satisfied with life. Aged individuals having children had higher subjective wellbeing than the childless, although this result was insignificant. The presence of children in SN contributed to a lower life satisfaction and an increased loneliness level (especially for women). Furthermore, the association between having siblings and wellbeing and loneliness is not clear-cut.
The aim of the article is to find patterns in the gender gap in life expectancy at birth in European post-communist countries. The analysis covers the years 1990–2018. Larger differences occur in the countries of the former USSR, smaller ones on the Balkan Peninsula. Belonging to the USSR (larger gap) and the Ottoman Empire (smaller gap) in the past has a great influence of the gender gap. In half of the analysed countries, the gender gap decreased. In a quarter, after an initial increase, there was also a decrease in the gender gap (some countries of the former USSR). Moreover, in a quarter of the countries, these changes were ambiguous (some countries on the Balkan Peninsula). One can see here the impact of an improving economic situation of the population. An attempt to link the gender gap and life expectancy with the ’homo-sovieticus’ requires further research.
In recent decades, many publications devoted to the relationship between working time and health have been written. Available sources characterise different methodological approaches and different research perspectives, and the conclusions presented have not been unequivocal yet. The literature refers to both direct research on the impact of working time on health and to descriptions of wider phenomena indirectly related to the issue. Most studies in this area face a potential bias of the sample and the problem of the inverse causality of the impact of working time on health. Due to the reform of the labour law in France that shortened working time while maintaining a constant income, the analysis of the impact of working time on health carried out on the example of this country has overcome the difficulties faced by previous publications in the area. It has been shown that the reduction in working time has positively contributed to the health of the French.
Today, international migration is one of the main factors that determine functioning of families. Transnational families and transnational parenting are becoming increasingly more common and have been gaining considerable interest of researchers and social practitioners. One perspective that may be useful for examining transnational families is the practice-based approach. The concepts put forward by Morgan and Finch (‘doing’ and ‘displaying’ family) help to analyse families not as structures, but as everyday practices which constitute them (Morgan) and which must be associated with a system of meanings to be displayed (Finch). In the article, the analysis of transnational family practices will focus on the ‘tools’ for displaying (Finch) that are characteristic of transnational family life, and it will be based on the results of Polish and international studies. The article will discuss the tools proposed by Finch, such as physical objects or the use of narratives, as well as the use of technology in communication and taking care of children, as these practices are specific to transnational families. Those ‘tools’ for displaying show that transnational families are flexible, they are constantly happening, and by being embedded in broader systems of meanings, they become acceptable.
