In-Work Poverty in Poland : Diagnosis and Possible Remedies

Lewandowski, Piotr ; Kaminska, Agnieszka

World Bank Group, Washington, DC and Institute of Structural Research, Warsaw

关键词: ABSOLUTE POVERTY;    ABSOLUTE POVERTY LINE;    ABSOLUTE TERMS;    AGRICULTURAL WORKERS;    CALORIES PER PERSON;   

RP-ID  :  93693

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

In this paper the authors analyze theevolution and the determinants of in-work poverty in Poland,according to three poverty lines: relative, absolute, andthe 1998-adjusted poverty line. The authors find that behindmoderately high in-work poverty incidence in Poland there isvery high in-work poverty in agriculture and modest in-workpoverty in all other sectors. Workers are much less likelyto be poor than jobless individuals, especially theunemployed. In fact, the share of adults out of employmentis a much stronger predictor of households' risk ofpoverty than the level of wages at which they work.Moreover, the share of jobless adults or of agriculturalworkers has become an increasing determinant of in-workpoverty over time. The risk of in-work poverty is alsoinversely related to the educational attainment and thestability of employment of an individual, which isespecially important considering that the incidence oftemporary contracts in Poland is the highest across bothEuropean Union (EU) and Organization of Economic Cooperationand Development (OECD) countries. Existing fiscal andbenefit policies have not been sufficient to address in-workpoverty and some of its underlying causes in the labormarket: the author presents four policy recommendationsaimed at tackling in-work and total poverty, and atincreasing labor market participation and employment.