This chapter provides some background information about Poland as a whole, giving the context for the more detailed examination of livelihoods in specific Polish locations that follows in Chapters Three to Seven. The term ‘post-communist’ is used, the adjective preferred by political scientists, in preference to ‘post-socialist’, a label used by some sociologists and anthropologists. The Polish political system from 1944-89 was far from ‘socialist’, as social democrats understand the term. Communist party rule, however, was a reality.

Social and economic change since 1989

After the collapse of the communist regime in 1989, the Polish government immediately introduced ‘shock therapy’ to reform the economy. Although in the short term this created a deep recession, Poland also returned to growth more quickly than the rest of East-Central Europe, and by 1996 gross domestic product (GDP) had outstripped 1989 levels. During the recession of the early 1990s, factories closed and others laid off workers: registered unemployment rose steeply from 0.3% in January 1990 to 16.9% in July 1994. It then began to fall, before rising again from 1998, peaking at 20.6% in January-February 2004, on the eve of EU accession. As the economy recovered (and perhaps also as a result of migration) unemployment then began to fall, arriving at a low of 8.8% in October 2008. With the global economic crisis, unemployment climbed to 11% by April 2009. So many Poles have experience of unemployment (37% in late 2007) that it is not surprising if they are anxious about losing their jobs and pessimistic about the Polish labour market.

National opinion polls show growing satisfaction with living standards over the 1990s, followed by increasing discontent around the turn of the century. When asked to compare their social standing in 2004 with their position in 1994, 38% of respondents in a national poll felt they had dropped down the social ladder, 46% believed their status was unchanged and only 17% believed that their position had improved. Again, it is easy to see why many Poles believed, around the time of EU accession, that migration would be a better livelihood strategy than staying at home. Economic growth in the 21st century and greater political stability since 2007 has promoted increasing optimism.