Labour market and social policy development in Poland

"The article describes (concentrates on the description of) the employment development and social problems related to labour market situation in Poland during the transition period (before the EU accession). It consists of four parts. The first gives an overview of basic tendencies in labour changes and explains periodical development in the labour market situation with negative effects: reduction in employment levels and increase in unemployment scale. We can observe very dynamic structural changes in the general tendencies: from industry to services with limitation of agriculture, from public economy to private one and from low labour productivity to a high one with the phenomenon of jobless growth. The second part of the text presents general tendencies among the most risk groups from the unemployment perspective: disabled people, young and elderly people, women, people living in the countryside and in underdeveloped regions. The relatively bad labour market situation of these risk groups is strongly influenced by their low level of skills and qualifications. In the third part of the paper basic social consequences of the difficult situation on the labour market are being presented: willingness to emigrate, growth of the grey economy and rising poverty and social exclusion. The author points out, that the disadvantages of the current policy afflict first of all the young generation. The fourth and last part of the paper analyses labour market and social policy: as well the national as the EU policy. It depicts weak points of active labour market policy (ALMP) in Poland and high transfers for elderly people threatened by unemployment because of the dynamic restructuring of the economy. Support for the employment priority, necessary to Fight unemplyoment and social exclusion is being seeked for in the European Employment Strategy. Research results presented in the study were collected mainly during the work on the UNDP Report NHDR 2004 'W trosce o prace: ('Caring for a job'), which was prepared under the leadership of the author." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))Arbeitsmarktentwicklung, osteuropäischer Transformationsprozess, Sozialpolitik - Entwicklung, Arbeitslosigkeitsentwicklung, Arbeitslosenquote, Arbeitsmarktrisiko, Behinderte, ältere Arbeitnehmer, junge Erwachsene, Frauen, strukturschwache Räume, ländlicher Raum, Niedrigqualifizierte, soziale Situation, Massenarbeitslosigkeit - Auswirkungen, Schattenwirtschaft, Armut, soziale Ausgrenzung, Arbeitsmarktpolitik, regionale Disparität, Erwerbsquote, Lohnentwicklung, Sozialleistungen, europäische Integration, Jugendarbeitslosigkeit, Arbeitslosigkeitsbekämpfung, Emigration, Polen

State Social Policy and Social Expenditure in Central and Eastern Europe

Social policy pursued in the transition period to date can be divided into two phases. The first phase covers the times of economic crisis on the onset of transition period. Social policy in that time created, on the one hand, new instruments replacing those from the period of real socialism, which were subject to liquidation or limitations. On the other hand social policy pursued then soothed new social problems caused by economic crisis. In most countries the second path of changes was followed, except for the Czech Republic, where creation of new instruments and social sphere institutions was considerably more distinct.social policy, public expenditure, transition, Central Eastern Europe

The System of Long-Term Care in Poland

In the field of social protection, Poland belongs to the EU group of countries with the family-based welfare model, what is extremely visible for the long-term care where family is the main care provider for elderly individuals with limitations in activities of daily living. At the same time the proportion of elderly in the coming decades is projected to be among the highest in the European Union, what raises questions on the design of the long-term care. For the moment the system is highly unregulated and disintegrated between social assistance and health care services. But it is the health sector that concentrates policy debate with a proposal of an introduction of nursing insurance. In the social sector, the significant changes that were favorable to LTC services development were introduced by the law on the social assistance (2004) and family benefits (2003) widening the scope of care available at home and in adult day care centers. But still provision of services is insufficient and a market of private services, paid out-of-pocket rapidly develops. It seems that main problems of the long-term care development in the future will be raising demand against insufficient resources and diversified priorities of the health care system

The Development of Long-Term Care in Post-Socialist Member States of the EU

Long-term care (LTC) in the new EU member states, which used to belong to the former socialist countries, is not yet a legally separated sector of social security. However, the ageing dynamics are more intensive in these states than in the old EU member states. This paper analyses the process of creating an LTC sector in the context of institutional reforms of social protection systems during the transition period. The authors explain LTC’s position straddling the health and social sectors, the underdevelopment of formal LTC, and the current policies regarding the risk of LTC dependency. The paper is based mainly on the analysis of information provided by country experts in the ANCIEN project

Investing in Health Institutions in Transition Countries

This study presents an overview of the health care systems in postcommunist countries with its resources and operations, in addition to proposing steps that should be taken in order to overcome the health crisis associated with transition and increase the effectiveness and efficiency of health care systems. At the beginning of the 90's, the crisis of transition had a significant impact on the low level of funding in health care, declining in proportion to the fall of GDP or even faster. The continued crisis and slow recovery also affect the low political preference for funding the health care sector during the GDP allocation process. There is excessive competition from other important socio-economic goals and health care frequently loses the battle.transition economies, health status, health care system reforms, health care funding, financing methods of health care, health sector resources

Rational Pension Supervision.First Experiencies of Central and Eastern European States in Comparison with Other Countries

The subject of our consideration are the experiences relating to pension fund regulations from the point of view of their safety of operations in five countries of Central and Eastern Europe. These countries represent two groups. The first includes Hungary and Poland, where the decision to establish pension funds was made earlier on. Thus, they can now share their own, though modest, experience, especially Hungary. Moreover, the debate in both countries was very extensive and heated [Ferge, 1998; Golinowska/Hausner, 1998]. The second group includes Bulgaria, Estonia and Lithuania, the countries that passed laws on pension funds in 1999. In this period, it was the issue of introducing regulations on the safety of operations and on guaranteeing a specified level of benefits from pension funds that was extremely relevant. In analysing the socially safe functioning of pension funds, special attention has been devoted to institutions supervising the pension funds. The present work was developed in the following order. The first step involved the identification of risks and their ranking according to the degree of danger (cf. Part 1). In the second chapter we discuss the instruments for safeguarding against and reducing the appearance of risk. For these instruments, it was important to define them, as well as to analyse the legal regulations, administrative standards, financial management standards, codes of ethics, the formula and competence of supervisory institutions, and the working of the market. Before presenting the principles and means of balanced supervision over pension funds, in Part 3 we have pointed out the basic dilemmas of achieving a balance between economic and social goals. Next, we have attempted to show the proper balance between regulatory instruments and self-regulation in order to achieve a fund's balanced operations in terms of both effectiveness and safety (cf. Part 4). The fifth part of the report shows the practical experience of other countries, including those with much more experience in this area than can be found in Central and Eastern Europe. Taking into account the history of pension funds' development in these countries, we observe two roads of development of safety institutions.pension funds, Eastern Europe

Health Status, Functional Limitations and Disability: Changes in Poland

The social changes in Poland over the last two decades have had an impact on many dimensions of life, including on important elements of human capital, such as health and functional and instrumental daily activities. This article contains an overview of the available data and indicators on health status, morbidity and disability. It presents the changes in the level of functional and legal disability and aims to show the reasons for these trends. Functional disability is highlighted as one of the major challenges for social and health policy in the next few decades in the context of dynamic aging

Health Expenditure Scenarios in the New Member States – Comparative Report on Bulgaria, Estonia, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia. ENEPRI Research Reports No. 43, 19 December 2007

The objective of this comparative report is to present the model of future health care system revenues and expenditures in selected Central and Eastern European countries which are now the new EU member states, and to discuss projection assumptions and results. Health expenditure analysis and projections are based on the ILO social budget model, a part of which is the health budget model. The model covers health care system revenues and expenditures. It is suitable for the analysis of impact exerted by demography (especially ageing) on health care system revenues and expenditures. The objective of AHEAD project is to examine those factors. Up to date, data and information sources in new member states that could be used for the long-term comparative projections have been limited

Health Expenditure Scenarios in the New Member States: Country Report on Poland. ENEPRI Research Reports No. 47, 19 December 2007

The objective of this report is to present the model of future health care system revenues and expenditures in Poland, and to discuss assumptions for the projection and projection results. Expenditure analysis is based on ILO social budget model, part of which is health budget model. The model takes into account the revenue side of health care system as well, which is consistent with the above-mentioned discussion on health care system funding and its sustainability. The first part of the Report is dedicated to social, and especially health-related, expenditure models and projections applied in Poland. Following, detailed description of data and information used in the current projection is presented. Baseline projections of main demographic and macro-economic variables and indicators used in the model are shown, and the assumptions for the development of these indicators and their inter-relations are discussed. Three scenarios are presented: the baseline scenario, death-related costs scenario, and the scenario with different longevity improvements. Projection results cover both the revenue and the expenditure side of health care system. Finally, conclusions are made and policy recommendations are formulated, based on projection results

Development of Scenarios for Health Expenditure in the New EU Member States: Bulgaria, Estonia, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia

The report is a result of the Ageing, Health Status and Determinants of Health Expenditure (AHEAD) project within the EC 6th Framework programme. The objective of the research was to present the model of future health care system revenues and expenditures in selected Central and Eastern European countries (CEE) which are now the New EU Member States, and to discuss projection assumptions and results. Selected countries include Bulgaria, Estonia, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia. The projections are based on methodology adopted in the International Labour Organization (ILO) Social Budget model. The projection examines impact of demographic changes and changes in health status on future (up to 2050) health expenditures. Next to it, future changes in the labour market participation and their imact on the health care system revenues are examined. Results indicate that due to demographic pressures health expenditures will increase in the next 40 years and health care systems in the NMS will face deficit. Moreover, health revenues, expenditures and deficit/surplus are slightly sensitive to possible labour market changes. Health care system reforms are required in order to balance the disequilibrium of revenues and expenditures caused by external factors (demographic and economic), and decrease the premium needed to cover expenditures. Such reforms should lead, on the one hand, to the rationing of medical services covered by public resources, and on the other, to more effective governance and management of the sector and within the sector.health care system, demographic projection, health care system revenues and expenditures projection, CEE, NMS