- The declared reasons for not saving for retirement in the light of nationwide surveys
Persistently low household savings rate with early professional deactivation means poverty in old age under the conditions of the Polish general pension system. The article deals with the issue of Poles' failure to save for retirement purposes, based on the research data of the Social Insurance Institution "Knowledge and attitudes towards social insurance". Thanks to the use of descriptive statistics and binary logistic regression, we answer questions about the frequency of the phenomenon and its determinants. 75% of Poles do not save for retirement, of which about 2/3 are due to financial reasons (lack or insufficient income). The statistically significant determinants include the income per capita and the spending strategy in the household, employment history, knowledge about the pension system and selected world outlook variables. However, it turned out to be irrelevant, among others demographic characteristics, type of contract on the labor market, trust in the pension system or views on the caring role of the state. This is in part due to the universality of the phenomenon, and in part probably due to the complexity of human motivations. Regardless of the above, and without a significant change in patterns, the risk of mass poverty grows significantly, while the rising median age of voters will put pressure on politicians to ad hoc solutions.
- Estimation of the amount of the future retirement pension of the mother of a professionally disabled child and the retirement pension of the mother receiving the nursing benefit
A mother who decides to completely resign from work to care for a disabled child receives a nursing benefit. Pension insurance contributions are calculated from the amount of this benefit, but the calculation basis is lower than in the case of a professionally active mother. The time for calculating contributions is also shorter. The article presents the estimates of the amount of the old-age pension for the professionally active mother and for the professionally inactive mother. In the case of a working mother, at the end of 2021, the partial pension will amount to PLN 793.68, and for a non-working mother, PLN 355.64, which is 63% and 28% of the minimum pension in 2021, respectively. The retirement pension after reaching 60 years will amount to 3691.26 PLN for a working mother and PLN 930.56 for a non-working mother, which is 191% and 48% of the minimum pension in 2043, forecasted at PLN 1,935.34, which means that the state (in accordance with the currently applicable regulations) will increase the old-age pension mother not working to a minimum height. The amount of the nursing benefit, the amount of the retirement pension and the subsidy to the retirement pension of the economically inactive mother are costs covered by the state. Considering this and the fact that professional activity is a factor supporting the quality of life of families with a disabled person, steps should be taken to enable a mother looking after a child with a disability to take up work. The article also estimates the level of old-age pension according to the pessimistic and optimistic scenarios.
- The role of social economy entities in the area of employment and the labor market in the Polish economy. Contribution
The entities of the social economy are assigned three basic functions in socio-economic life: social, economic and political. The aim of this article is an attempt to analyze the economic role of social economy entities in Poland. The main conclusion from the analysis is that social economy entities play a marginal role in the Polish economy. At the same time, they are of little importance in the area of employment and the labor market. Due to the limited scope of the article, the analysis necessarily focuses on selected aspects and areas of economic activity of social economy entities. Therefore, the article is not a comprehensive study of the topic, but rather a contribution to further discussion and in-depth considerations. The first part of the work presents the concept of social economy, its entities and functions. The second part is devoted to an attempt to outline the economic role played by social economy entities in the Polish economy. First, statistical data on the size of the social economy sector, its role in the area of employment and the labor market, the size and sources of income and the economic situation were discussed. In the final part of the article, the specificity of social economy entities as economic organizations and the barriers to their development were outlined - as far as the permissible volume of work allowed.
- Values of the threshold of social intervention and income support for families and their role in Polish social policy
This article focuses on two benefits in social policy: benefits from the social welfare system and family benefits. The common feature of both of them is the income test. Income limits are verified in a substantive manner based on the estimates made using the basket method. It is about designating two categories with this method: the threshold of social intervention (PIS) for social assistance and income support for families (WDR) for family benefits. The aim of the article is to present the results of research on the verification of these models, completed in the first months of 2021, in comparison with the values from the survey three years ago, against the expenditure of poor households (1st and 2nd quintile groups). On this occasion, the role of these indicators in the social policy of 2004–2022 was analyzed. This was achieved by comparing the estimates of the PIS and WDR values with the actually applied income criteria giving access to these benefits. The year 2022 is a period of rapid inflation growth, unprecedented in Poland and Europe for a long time. It is possible that the thresholds for social intervention will quickly fall below the annual minimum subsistence level. In this situation, the Social Dialogue Council may propose to speed up the assessment of the PIS and WDR thresholds in order to adjust the income criteria more quickly. The approach of the authorities to this problem may prove to be a test of how long the pro-social trend in access to these benefits will continue, and to what extent we will witness its retreat.
- Subsistence minimum in the first quarter of 2022
The article presents the subsistence minimum estimates for the conditions in the first quarter of 2022. They take into account the scope and manner of satisfying the needs in the so-called typical conditions. Due to the lack of data on changes in household consumption in 2022, the specific conditions of COVID-19 have not yet been taken into account. When they are known and it is necessary to change the assumptions of the model, the value of the subsistence minimum for this period can be re-estimated. The external conditions were relatively good: the registered unemployment rate in March was 5.4% (similar to December last year), the average salary was PLN 6,665.64 (an increase of 0.3% compared to December data) , inflation in the first quarter was 3.8%. The subsistence minimum values increased more than inflation. It was from 3.9% (on a 3-person household with a younger child) to 4.9% (on a farm of two retired people). The increase in expenditure on food was in the range of 6.4–6.7%, with the CPI for this group amounting to 4.6%. The increase in expenditure on the use of housing and energy sources ranged from 4.2% to 4.5%, depending on the size of the farm, with higher CPI dynamics for this group (7.7%). On the other hand, the dynamics of home furnishing costs (4.4–6.4%) was higher than the CPI value for this group (2.3%).
Polityka Społeczna (Social Policy) - the whole list