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Unemployment in Poland ‐ causes and remedial measures
Author(s) -
Sobis I.
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
scandinavian journal of social welfare
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.664
H-Index - 47
eISSN - 1468-2397
pISSN - 0907-2055
DOI - 10.1111/j.1468-2397.1995.tb00095.x
Subject(s) - unemployment , legislation , seekers , work (physics) , government (linguistics) , remedial education , discouraged worker , labour economics , employment protection legislation , official statistics , economics , communism , demographic economics , political science , economic growth , politics , unemployment rate , law , mechanical engineering , medicine , linguistics , philosophy , engineering , pathology
This article describes unemployment and labor market policy in Poland after 1989. The analysis is based on official statistics, legislation and Polish social science literature. The unemployment situation in Poland is continually changing. Conclusions drawn by social scientists in 1991 and 1992 no longer give an adequate account of labor market trends in 1995. Steeply rising unemployment is the most traumatic upheaval in post‐Communist Polish society. At the end of 1989, the number of people looking for work in Poland was far less than the number of available jobs. But by the end of 1992 there were 62 job‐seekers for every job opening, dropping to 56 in September 1994. The social problems associated with unemployment vary from region to region. Women and young people predominate among the unemployed. The Polish government set up a Work Fund in January 1990 to alleviate unemployment. The Work Fund is the first real measure taken to assist the unemployed, but new legislation is needed if it is to become more effective.