SOCIETY

Demographics: Not Just a Challenge for This Decade

Poland’s population is changing just like that of many European societies, which are ageing rapidly. One in five residents of Poland has reached the age of 65, and the proportion will increase to one in four or even one in three in a dozen years. Migration is playing an increasingly important role

There are 1.6 million more seniors in Poland than children and young people. The gap will only continue to grow. Meanwhile, there will be more and more empty houses and flats in many regions of Poland.

Even now, the younger generations are less numerous because fewer children are being born. Poland had an average of three children per family 30 years ago whereas now there are mostly single children. Even if many women decided to have two or three children, this would not ensure generation replacement where younger generations are as numerous as older generations. Secondly, the average life expectancy is getting longer. It has gained seven years in three decades. There are now more people who are over 65 and those who are over 80. What does this mean for social life? People will live longer in increasingly smaller families. A third development of relevance to demographics is that migration, both outgoing and incoming, is playing an increasingly important role.