While the purchasing power of the majority of Polish people is tumbling at an unprecedented pace in the 21st century, the income of the financial elite is growing more rapidly than ever.
“In 2022, amid surging inflation, income inequalities were bound to rise. The earnings of a significant portion of society either stalled or only increased at rates much below the soaring prices,” said professor Michał Brzeziński from the University of Warsaw.
According to the professor, the hardest hit by the economic situation were those who rely on long-unadjusted benefits like pensions.
An analysis of data from Poland’s statistics office (GUS) has shown that 2022 saw a 13% hike in wages, comprised by 30% boost for the few and several percent increase for the majority.
As a result, the incomes of more affluent entrepreneurs, managers, and select groups of specialists, making up only a small percentage of society as a whole, have continued to grow steeply.
Professor Brzeziński notes that the primary factors contributing to the social stratification in Poland include globalisation, technological advancement, financial sector deregulation, erosion of labour unions and a less progressive tax system.
Honorary president of the Polish Economic Association, Professor Elżbieta Mączyńska, seconds those claims, saying that the underlying cause behind social stratification is the rise of the so-called technological aristocracy.
She explains that the ‘digital world’ pays more than the real world and those who can’t work from home don’t reap gains from global digitalisation.
A 2014 OECD study found that income inequality is one of the factors obstructing economic growth, as it impedes equal education opportunities for children, decreases social mobility and hinders skills development.
According to OECD, in its 38 member states, including Poland, it takes nearly five generations for children from low-income families to reach the average income level in their country.
(pjm)
Source: Forsal, OECD