The structure of unemployment in Poland and the European Union between 2000 and 2012

High unemployment in Poland is an important socio-economic problem. The unemployment rate in Poland reached 16% in 2000 and decreased to 10.1% in 2012, but still is higher than in such countries as the Netherlands, Austria, Luxembourg, and Germany, where rates of unemployment were between 4-5% in 2012.

Cyclical fluctuations in economic activity in the Polish economy were one of the determinants of changes in unemployment in Poland between 2000 and 2012. In the years 2000-2003, unemployment was increasing (unemployment rate amounted to 19.3% in 2003) as a result of a recession in the Polish economy. A recovery between 2004 and 2008 implied declining tendencies in unemployment (unemployment rate was 6.7% in 2008). The global crisis caused a slowdown of economic growth in Poland in the years 2009-2012 which implied a substantial increase in unemployment.

Unemployment in Poland is mainly structural, which is reflected in structural imbalances between labour demand and labour supply with respect to vocational qualifications, occupations and regions. This unemployment is caused by structural changes in the Polish economy, which are connected with transformation and EU integration of Poland’s economy.

There are two main objectives of this paper. The first objective is to show changes in unemployment and unemployment rates in Poland and other European Union countries and to explain why the Polish rates are relatively high. The second goal is to analyse the structure of unemployment by gender, age, levels of education and duration of unemployment. Polish unemployment structures are compared with analogous structures in other European Union countries.

The analysis will identify labour force groups with a high risk of unemployment. Among the groups at high risk of unemployment are women, youth, people with low skills and the long-term unemployed.

Key words: unemployment, labour market