Although Poland’s standard of living and employment rate have
moved significantly closer to the EU average, a number of challenges remain. At the end of the third quarter, the employment
rate stood at 72.8% - still lower than the EU average, although
the gap is now less than one percentage point and shrinking.
The rate of unemployment has continued to fall, reaching just
5.8% in December 2018. However, Poland is still facing the
problems of a rapidly ageing population and high emigration.
The unfavourable demographic trends are already reflected in
a decline in the working-age population. The percentage of elderly
people in the entire population is expected to grow from 20.9%
in 2010 to 58% in 2050, according to the European Commission’s Country Report Poland 2016.
Much progress has recently been made in addressing inequality
and poverty. The number of individuals affected by poverty or
social exclusion has steadily decreased since 2008. The Gini
coefficient of income inequality, which measures the distribution of (equivalised) disposable income across the society, has
fallen from almost 0.36 in 2005 to less than 0.30 at the end of 2017,
thus moving Poland significantly below the EU28 average.
Although this metric has decreased steadily across the last
decade, it has gained new momentum in the last two years,
as the government has introduced new social transfers and
favourable labour regulations.
The increase in the minimum wage, changes in civil contracts
and – above all – a huge programme of new social benefits
for families (PLN 500 monthly allowance per second and each
subsequent child, extended to the first child in case of indigent
families, PLN 300 yearly allowance for school starter kits) has
radically improved the situation of many vulnerable groups,
particularly those of lower social and economic status.
Digital exclusion is one of the factors leading to social exclusion.
Internet access is nowadays not only a convenience, but often
a precondition of full participation in social, cultural and professional life. According to the Central Statistical Office
(in Polish Główny Urząd Statystyczny - GUS), 84.2% of
Polish households had access to the internet (and 79.3%
had a broadband connection) in 2018. According to the GUS
survey “Information Society in Poland in 2018”, the key barriers
to broader internet use are lack of motivation (65.7% of non-users)
and lack of the relevant skills (51.3%) – although the share of
non-users giving these reasons is decreasing. About 17% of
households say that for them, the barrier to internet access is
financial, while technical provision at the place of residence is
almost never an issue. On the other hand, we have observed
an interesting new trend: a growing share of people deliberately
eschewing the internet, and expressing their aversion to the
medium as a main reason for not being connected. This group
has grown from 7.3% of non-users in 2015 to almost 12% in 2018.
Use of the internet and modern technologies varies with social
and demographic factors, especially age and education. The
internet is used by the great majority of young people and very
few seniors. Internet use and ICT skills are also correlated to
wealth and size of town, though the role of these factors has
been declining.
As a telecommunications company, we must respond to the
diverse needs of our customers, both the older ones, who are
less convinced of the need to adopt new technologies, and
the younger ones, who are used to constant online presence
and try to keep up with the latest technological trends. Telecommunications expenditure is a permanent component of any
household budget, and we try to ensure that each customer,
regardless of their income, can find a suitable offer for them
and their relatives. Nowadays, it is no longer network access
itself but rather the ability to use new technologies wisely and
safely which has become a social challenge.