Life is good – we all know it. But let’s take a look at some statistics.

Money (pieniądze), while it cannot buy happiness (szczęście), is an important means to achieving higher living standards. In Poland, the average person earns 14 508 USD a year. But there is a considerable gap between the richest and poorest – the top 20% of the population earn more than four times as much as the bottom 20%.

In terms of employment (zatrudnienie, praca), 59% of people aged 15 to 64 in Poland have a paid job. Some 66% of men are in paid work, compared with 53% of women. People in Poland work 1939 hours a year. Approximately 7% of employees work very long hours, with 11% of men working very long hours compared with just 3% for women.

Having a good education (dobre wykształcenie) is an important requisite for finding a job. In Poland, 88% of adults aged 25-64 have earned the equivalent of a high-school degree. This is equally true of men and women.

In terms of health (zdrowie), life expectancy at birth in Poland is 76 years. Life expectancy for women is 81 years, compared with 72 for men.

Concerning the public sphere (sfera publiczna), there is a moderate sense of community and level of civic participation in Poland, where 90% of people believe that they know someone they could rely on in time of need. Voter turnout, a measure of public trust in government and of citizens’ participation in the political process, was 54% during recent elections.

In general, Poles are pretty satisfied with their lives!

Do następnego razu… (Till next time…)